Mercury

Written by John Scalzo  on March 16, 2005

Final Glimpse: Just like a portable T-1000!

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I think almost everyone had one of those Labyrinth boxes as a little kid. You remember -- the box with the maze and the metal ball that you had to get from one end to the other by twisting and turning and tilting the box without letting the ball fall down any of the holes that littered the maze. It was a simple toy that could entertain for hours. And now, Awesome Studios and Ignition Entertainment are trying to bring a souped up version of this toy to the PSP.

Mercury comes from the mind of pool hall wizard Archer Maclean, and replaces the little metal ball with the glob of liquid mercury. The physics however, are exactly the same. The goal is to get the goopy liquid from one end of the maze to the other using only the analog stick to tilt, twist and turn the whole level. I believe Ignition is going for that "simple to learn, difficult to master" style of gameplay that has made Tetris, Dr. Mario, and Super Monkey Ball hits over the years.

From this simple premise players must control the mercury through 72 levels, and some are not just simple mazes. Some levels feature traditional trapdoors and pits, but others will feature color-locked doors or warp holes. Much like Doom and every other First Person Shooter after it, Mercury will feature colored locks with colored keys. Except, instead of finding a key, you'll have to turn your mercury a certain color and use it as a key. Other levels take your mercury and fling it around the level at warp speed. Others still even have reappearing/disappearing blocks that you have to navigate to reach the end of the level.

Mercury will make full use of the PSP's Wi-Fi features, as each of the 72 levels will be playable in two-player variations. In one or two-player mode, players will be able to take on Mercury in Race Mode, Percentage Mode and Task Mode. In Race Mode you're expected to get your mercury to the bottom of the maze as quickly as possible, spilling as much as you'd like. But in Percentage, players have to get the mercury to the bottom while keeping a certain percentage from spilling off the edge. Two different ways to play the game could make things interesting. Task Mode is something else entirely, as the game then requires you to perform tricks and solve puzzles with your mercury to move on.

The graphics in Mercury are about what you'd expect from a handheld puzzle game. But the liquid metal that is your mercury ball looks cool. Its entire style is what originally drew me toward Mercury in the first place. The way the liquid metal shines and moves is enticing. Mercury may not be the most visually impressive PSP launch title, but it has the coolest "look" by far.