Mercury

[Gadfly2317]

Anyone else get this one? I came damn close to cancelling and moving my pre-order money over to something else ($39 for a handheld puzzle game getting review scores in the mid 70's really just chaps my ass.) But something about the game appealed to me enough I went ahead and got it.

Irritation over the price aside, its a really damn cool game. I'll post more later, but if you liked Super Monkey Ball at all (the main game) you will love this game. So far I haven't seen the camera issues or frustrating stages that the reviewers talk about, but I'm only half-way through the second world.

It is a beautiful game, probably the prettiest one yet, and will be one to show off the PsP with (especially since you can essentially use one buttone, anyone can play this right off.)

Camera just doesn't seem like an issue. . .you can zoom in and out with the shoulder buttons, and spin the camera angle with the round buttons.

Lots of challenges. I'll post about those later. We need to take up Lara's suggestion and actually go to the review section of this site and write some reviews for these games.

[The Prince of Darkness]

Anyone else get this one? I came damn close to cancelling and moving my pre-order money over to something else ($39 for a handheld puzzle game getting review scores in the mid 70's really just chaps my ass.) But something about the game appealed to me enough I went ahead and got it.

Irritation over the price aside, its a really damn cool game. I'll post more later, but if you liked Super Monkey Ball at all (the main game) you will love this game. So far I haven't seen the camera issues or frustrating stages that the reviewers talk about, but I'm only half-way through the second world.

It is a beautiful game, probably the prettiest one yet, and will be one to show off the PsP with (especially since you can essentially use one buttone, anyone can play this right off.)

Camera just doesn't seem like an issue. . .you can zoom in and out with the shoulder buttons, and spin the camera angle with the round buttons.

Lots of challenges. I'll post about those later. We need to take up Lara's suggestion and actually go to the review section of this site and write some reviews for these games.

I got my copy last night too. I just played a bit over an hour, and it only got me through the tutorial world. You are right---so far it is a damn cool game. I think that the camera is no problem at all. Hell, I was downright surprised after reading the reviews at how good the camera is. I agree with you about the graphics of the game too, but more specifically, the way that the mercury moves. Is that cool or what? Also, it is not terribly frustrating so far. I did get stuck on the last level for a little while, but it was not bad. I do, however, see frustration potential when it comes to moving your mercury over small bridges and planks. You could end up with some cheap deaths because of the analog stick, but like you said in a previous post, those are the breaks with handheld gaming. See...I told you you should give it a chance.

[Aylmer]

I got it yesterday, and had to hunt for it, finally finding it a Babbages, and they had it behind the counter. I'm only through the tute world, but it seems like Super Monkey Ball meets Marble Madness with a bit of Wetrix thrown in.

Archer McClean knows how to apply physics to a game. He did Pool Paradise, an excellent game, and it has similar camera control.

What I like about Mercury is that you can go in and spend time really checking out a stage beforehand with the camera controls. I haven't seen them yet, but I've read that the higher levels are a real booger to get past.

[Gadfly2317]

How often do reviewers get to review puzzle games? Not that often. And its a pretty specific taste. This new handheld war has unleashed a slew of puzzle games and I'm loving it. I swear, I think the neg reviews are because these guys are rushed to get through games for reviews, and miss the slow, stumping pleasures of a complex and challenging puzzle game.

Blaming the problems on the PsP Analog nub-thingy? That's cheap. No, it's not as precise as a full sized thumb stick, but then a brain surgeon has got to be pretty precise under less than ideal circumstances, especially when there's blood everywhere and the bullet is deeply lodged. Mercury is brain surgery, and the controls work well. Send these Neg-Reviewers back to med-school.

Ok, score-wise, I see where some reviewers are knocking some points on replay and mini-games (after Monkey Ball's wealth of extras, I see where the griping out about no "Mercury Target" "Mercury Golf" and "Mercury Bowling" are coming from.) But get real, this is a launch title puzzle game with a huge ambient soundtrack, gorgeous graphics, addictive gameplay, and it is NOT falling blocks you make dissappear. And frankly, a bunch of unlockable mini-games might not work well with the specific and odd physics of a ball of mercury.

I can understand the 80 scores (but not the 70 and lower), the game is not perfect. But give it a +10 tilt if you like puzzle games and especially if you like Marble Madness and Super Monkey Ball. This is a massively refreshing and orignal update on the "Point A to Point B" challenge, with incredible physics. It is literally like messing with a ball of mercury.

And there are a hoard of obstacles, the most annoying so far to me are the little pacman like creatures that like to eat away at your mercury blob (and I thought the only creatures that LIKED more mercury in their diet were Bush voters!!!!) Between the originality of the obstacles, puzzles, color filter gates, switches and the mercury physics, this as original as possible while still working with in the precedents set by Marble Madness and Monkey Ball.

Nearly through world three and I'm hooked. I see this one getting hard enough that I'll be in danger of smashing my PsP into the opposite wall, and while maybe not having the eternal replayability of some of my favorite handheld games, all in all, this is a first rate PsP title, original, different than console gaming, beautiful to look at and listen to, and I'm not even feeling all that chapped about the $39 anymore.

Replayability--Lets put it this way, it's like Yoshi Touch n' Go for me, it's one of those you want to just get a little bit better than the time before. Getting a high score on a level is HARD but the balance is such that you keep getting close. . . you must nail perfection, and that is damned addictive; there may be no "mercury target" mini-games, but there is plenty of reason to replay levels.

Scoring the game at the 30% complete mark (my opinion on a few things might change with more play):

9.0 Graphics
9.0 Gameplay
8.0 Control
9.0 Sound
7.5 Replay
7.5 Camera
6.5 Unlockables (some movies, and a few extra levels)
5.0 Load times--from turning on to actual play is eternal.

Overall, This is a solid 8, and the Biased score, if you have a bias for killer ambient music and trippy puzzle games, you will find this to be a 9 and well worth your time and money. While Lumines is flawless, I think I like this one better despite its flaws, because of its ambition and originality.

[theWacoKid]

Its unfortunate that the tilt sensor won't be making it here. Also, the game was scaled back. Apparently, they wanted to include several more stages. Looks like Canada gets the short end of the stick again. Haven't seen it locally here yet.

[Gadfly2317]

Its unfortunate that the tilt sensor won't be making it here. Also, the game was scaled back. Apparently, they wanted to include several more stages. Looks like Canada gets the short end of the stick again. Haven't seen it locally here yet.

I wonder how well the tilt sensor worked. Would like to have tried it, but oh well. It's damned fun regardless.

[Gadfly2317]

Resurrecting an old dead thread, and "old" PsP game. Specifically, I was thinking of Glock and his three games. . . there's not much new coming out worth a crap, and Mercury is a sweet title. . .I got it out again and remain impressed, despite the longish load times.

Beautiful graphics, cool music, clever puzzles, distant cousin of Marble Madness and Monkey Ball.