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The PSP puzzler hits the PS2 with 40 new stages. While the addition of the 40 stages and the underlying core gameplay make this game easy to recommend, there is definitely something lost in translation.
For those who don’t know, Mercury Meltdown Remix is a lot like the Super Monkey Ball games. You control a blob and you have to move this blob from the beginning of a stage to the end. You don’t control the actual mercury ball but simply tilt the world around it using the left analog stick. As expected, the game gets markedly more challenging as you clear stages. The game introduces switches (some color-cored), narrower ledges, and even traps along the way. To combat this, your reflexes have to get tighter as you split/merge your blob (or blobs) and even turn them into different colors. Additionally, the game plays up the mercury element since you have to alter the blob’s density by cooling or heating it.
The game rewards you with new worlds and stages the more you play. The game does open with a fair amount of stages so you have some leeway in choosing which one to play. As you play, you’ll build up a mercury meter and once this is full, you’ll unlock a new world. The PS2 remix includes over 200 stages although you have to play through most of the old ones before you find the new ones. Aside from the main game, Mercury Meltdown Remix has some party games. Metrix, a Tetris-esque game, is the best of the group. Instead of being presented with pieces, though, you create them by merging different blocks into a piece. Other minigames include a racing game, a curling game, and others but none of these are particularly engaging.
The core gameplay, as I mentioned above, is fantastic and works quite well. A lot of thought was given to the stages and you’ll notice that the difficulty gets progressively and satisfying more difficult. However, the move to the PS2 does affect the game in some ways. For one, it’s easier. The game was built with the inaccurate PSP nub in mind and the sudden accuracy of the PS2’s analog sticks makes the old stages too easy. The new stages compensate for this and are more challenging, but the game, overall is noticeably less challenging. For another, you lose multiplayer support for the party games.
Most puzzle games aren’t particularly great looking and this is especially true of a PSP-to-PS2 port. While the game looked fine on the PSP, its technical shortcomings are magnified on the PS2. Nonetheless, this is a colorful, stylish game that looks fine despite its simple technical aspects. Aurally, the game’s music is okay and the sound effects are good but nothing mind-blowing.
Although it may sound like Mercury Meltdown Remix isn’t worthwhile, the game is still recommended based on the strength of the core gameplay and puzzle designs. It’s just that the game was designed to play in short bursts on the PSP, and it’s still superior on that platform. If you don’t own a PSP, though, Mercury Meltdown Remix is still a solid puzzle title. -- Jake Wilson, PGNx Media
---- Jan 30, 2007
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