PSP gamers are probably familiar with Mercury Meltdown for Sony’s sleek handheld gaming system. The title challenges players to roll a blob of mercury through mazes of obstacles and up and down challenging platforms. Just weeks ago, Ignition’s Banbury studio announced that a Wii version of Mercury Meltdown is in development for Nintendo’s brand new next-gen console, Wii.
AMN recently chatted with the studio’s manager, Ed Bradley, about the upcoming Wii title. You’ll find our interview with him below.
What’s more, you can also head over to our media pages for six new screenshots of Mercury Meltdown Revolution.
Q: First off, thanks for taking the time to talk to us about Mercury Meltdown Revolution. Can you start off by introducing yourself and telling us what you do at Ignition?
My name is Ed Bradley and I’m Studio Manager for Ignition Banbury.
Q: What about the Wii, as a platform, has attracted you to creating this new entry in the Mercury Meltdown franchise for it and not for either PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360?
As soon as we saw the tilt-sensitive controller the lightbulbs appeared over everyone’s heads. We developed a tilt-sensor of our own as part of the original Mercury R&D process and it worked very well. We also had a half-finished GameCube engine lying around so we dusted that off and got to work before even mentioning the project to Nintendo.
Q: Can you explain to our readers, who might not know all about it, what the Mercury Meltdown franchise is all about? For example, how do the titles play?
It’s very simple: navigate your blob of Mercury through a number of 3D mazes without losing any!
We’ve made sure it’s easier said than done, of course 🙂
Q: Obviously, some of our hardcore Nintendo and Wii fans might draw comparisons between Meltdown and SEGA’s Super Monkey Ball series. What are the main differences between these two franchises?
Monkey Ball and the old Marble Madness game are two most frequent comparisons, sure. You’ll find controlling a single sphere is a lot different to controlling a blob of liquid, though. And we put a lot of stuff in that takes advantage of your ability to split the blob up and recombine it.
Q: In detail, can you explain the controls for Mercury Meltdown Revolution? How does the game use the Wii remote?
We’ve made it so you hold the remote sideways with the d-pad to the left. Then you simply tilt the remote and this controls the level, not the mercury. As the level tips the mercury simply rolls along powered by gravity. The d-pad and buttons are used to control the camera position and that’s all there is to it!
Q: Is the controller’s speaker being used in any way?
No. We couldn’t find a compelling reason to use the speaker or the pointer capabilities of the remote so we instead opted to leave them alone and preserve players’ batteries 🙂
Check out more new screens in our media section
Q: Is this a port or remake of the PSP/PlayStation 2 versions of Mercury Meltdown or is it a wholly new entry in the franchise?
It’s largely a port but we have altered a good chunk of the content. There are new graphics and a different selection of levels from the other versions.
Q: What kinds of new things does Mercury Meltdown Revolution do that past games in the series didn’t? Are there any new features or modes, for instance?
It finally allows players to play the game in the way it was originally intended – with Tilt!
Q: Any kind of multiplayer?
Not in this version, no.
Q: Are there any difficulty settings in the game?
Not as such. There is a base-line way to complete the game (get any amount of mercury to the end of each level) and then more advanced challenges such as collecting bonus items, beating level time-limits, and retaing all 100% of your mercury on each level.
Q: There are said to be 150 different stages in Meltdown Revolution. How long would you say it takes on average to complete a stage?
It varies from a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the level content and the ability of the player.
Q: Why call it Mercury Meltdown Revolution when the system’s no longer called Revolution? Is this the final title for the game? We had to ask.
That’s not a decision I was part of, so I’m not really sure 🙂 It’s definitely the final title, though.
Check out more new screens in our media section
Q: Does the game support 480p and 16×9 widescreen?
Yep! Both!
Q: When is Mercury Meltdown Revolution releasing for Wii?
Again this isn’t something I have much input into so I can’t answer 🙂 Although, I heard that we are planning for late Q1.
Q: Is there anything else our readers should know about Mercury Meltdown Revolution in closing?
Over 150 levels in the main game alone and loads of tilting fun – it’s a lot of game for your money!
