It’s another trip down memory lane this week. A game I fondly remembered – Archer MacLean’s Mercury, one of the launch titles for the PSP – has been re-imagined, updated and released for Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network.
The premise is simple – you control a silver blob of mercury. You have to guide your little liquid pal to safety across 60 fiendish levels, full of obstacles, traps, perils and more. It plays a lot like Super Monkey Ball, or for those a little older – Marble Madness. Only instead of controlling a little glass ball (or a monkey filled ball) you have to take the dynamics of a blob of fluid into account.
Much like Lemmings – there are strict targets for how much of your blob must be saved for each level. It is easy to lose little drops of it here and there – taking a corner too sharply, or letting the edge of your blob fall off the side of a level. Sometimes you have to split your blob up, to negotiate multiple puzzles, sometimes you have to stick all the mercury back together. And so on...
The graphics are arguably simple – but they are very clean and hi-res. The frame rate is super smooth and the whole effect is pleasing. The menus are beautifully presented and there is a great selection of tunes playing at all times. In particular, the game encourages you to use your own music collection in the game – setting your own playlists and watching the levels and backgrounds pulse and beat in time to your tunes. You can also integrate it with your Last.fm playlists on Xbox live. Nice touch.
But most of all it plays well – it’s simple to grasp and difficult to master. It’s an addictive little game, with an excellent set of tutorials and a large selection of levels to try. But best of all is the price – just 400 Microsoft Points or £3.99 on the Playstation Network. At that money it’s a no-brainer, just download it. Here’s hoping you do and I hope you enjoy another original, enjoyable game from UTV Ignition, released to too little fanfare...
8.5/10
Mercury Hg is out now to download on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network
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