It is fast becoming apparent - to this reviewer at least - that the PlayStation Portable's better games are based in the puzzle genre, closely followed by titles, with third-person and first-person offerings stumbling about blindly somewhere in the far distance. Launch title Lumines has stood the test of time, and the recent Ridge Racer 2 and Ford Street Racing: L.A. Dual are certainly holding their own where the word 'portable' and 'videogames' are concerned. So it therefore comes as little surprise to find that Ignition Entertainment's Mercury Meltdown, which gives players the opportunity to test their grey matter, and to a degree, their racing skills, emerges as a pretty darn impressive addition.

Essentially, Mercury Meltdown places the player in charge of a shimmering blob of silver mercury and then plops them into more than 160 progressively complex puzzle levels. These levels involve safely navigating moving platforms, pressure switches, teleporters, conveyors, air jets, propellers, gravity benders, colour-changers, various pesky enemies, and even state-altering devices that render the liquid metal more easily separated (hot), harder and slower to manoeuvre (cold), and even temporarily solid. Points, bonuses, and new levels (set across eight 1950's cartoon-style 'Lab' environments including the 'Chem Lab' and 'Astro Lab') are earned by reaching exits with as much of your mercury intact as possible. Some levels even impose a minimum amount limit that must be met to guarantee progress.

Of course, gameplay is not simply a case of guiding a wobbly silver blob through precarious 'Mousetrap' style environments, and the genuine cerebral challenge of Mercury Meltdown comes into play when the player is forced to split their blob into multiple smaller blobs and guide ALL simultaneously in order to solve tiered puzzles. That's when dexterity, quick wits, and a pair of eagle eyes will quickly separate the winners from the losers. Yet, despite the frequent bouts of head-scratching inspired by some of the game's levels, Mercury Meltdown does offer an in-depth gameplay tutorial that's easily absorbed (can be revisited) and provides all the player will need to know, and remember, to muddle through before a real human 'meltdown' occurs.

Mercury Meltdown's content consists of the longevity-loving single-player mode, which, apart from making up the main meat of the game, also provides performance-dependant access to a selection of separate Party Games that arrive in the form of Rodeo, Race, Metrix, Shove, and Paint. Then there's the Playground, which exists as a level that can be neither won nor lost, but simply enjoyed and used as a free-play practice area to assist players in growing more proficient with the game's many obstacles and devices. The options on offer are perhaps a little limited, with only two players being able to play head-to-head wirelessly or via game sharing. The versus Battle Mode pits players against each other on the game's main game levels, but bonus items are replaced with Battle pick-ups that can be used to aid progression or hinder an opponent's. Furthermore, should the general Battle Mode begin to pale, then the multiplayer action can also be taken into the Party Games.

In terms of presentation, Mercury Meltdown is endlessly slick, its menus and level atmosphere feel as though they've been taken straight out of the Power Puff Girls, and everything is coated with a cartoon polish that's never anything short of pleasing on the eye. There are no flashy cut scenes, no self-indulgent rendered sequences, just consistently well thought out design pizzazz that ably supports ridiculously addictive gameplay. Game is predictably bouncy and lightweight; though it never pushes forward and imposes itself atmospherically, which isn't a problem because the on-screen action and ticking clock certainly provide plenty of that. Effects, both visual and aural, are oddly otherworldly and suitably befitting of the game's varied laboratory environments.

Any videogame should be mainly gauged on the strength of its gameplay, and, in that sense, Mercury Meltdown is a standout performer. Once the handy tutorial has been mastered and its basic controls and obstacles outlined, the game's difficulty curve moves forward at a gentle pace while gradually introducing more and more challenges and obstacles to continually squeeze the brain of the player and also test reactions. The beauty of Mercury Meltdown is that proceedings never get old, levels and labs always feel fresh, colourful and appealing, and the personal need to play 'just one more level' never seems to diminish as time flies by, bus stops are missed, meals are skipped, and seasons change. While there will be players who might wish for something more from Mercury Meltdown, it is after all little more than a sequence of evermore-complex levels where moving a liquid metal blob through traps and obstacles is the player's sole goal, but, in this case, single-minded simplicity is most definitely a commodity rather than a restriction.

Intrinsically simple yet consistently challenging, with slick presentation, attractive aesthetics and level designs that always raise an appreciative smile in tandem with any sense of puzzled frustration, Mercury Meltdown is the perfect game to dip in and out of whenever on-the-go. There may not be much content on offer outside of the hefty single-player mode - 160+ levels remember - with the multiplayer aspect perhaps being a little weak, and the bonus Party Games only creating minimal distraction, but Mercury Meltdown does what it does so well that it's incredibly hard not to love it based on its core alone. Plus, more than just being a candidate for the quintessential portable puzzle videogame, and beautifully engineered to complement the PSP platform, Mercury Meltdown transcends the general pick-up-and-play ethos and can effortlessly suck away many couch-bound hours should you want it to. Priceless.

90%

90%

By Stevie Smith

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