Game Review: Mercury Hg

Mclatchy -Tribune News Service

For: Playstation 3 (via Playstation Network) and Xbox 360 (via Xbox Live Arcade)

From: Ignition Entertainment

ESRB Rating: Everyone

Price: $5

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To get a quick picture of "Mercury Hg," imagine the classic Labyrinth board game in which you rotate the game board to move a ball around and (ideally) keep it from peril while guiding it to the exit. Now replace the ball with a temperamental glob of mercury that's prone to wobbling, shape-shifting, spilling and splitting into multiple smaller globs you must manage simultaneously. Then replace the square board with bizarrely-shaped boards teeming with numerous useful and dangerous gadgets that alter the glob or place it in peril, and set that board to bounce to the beat of the game's music or your own custom soundtrack.

 At long last, you have "Mercury Hg," a reboot of the awesome PSP and Wii puzzle series that feels right at home on PSN and Xbox Live. "Hg" receives a predictable graphical bump with the move to HD, but it's the other amenities - a better analog stick (or, if you prefer, adjustable SIXAXIS support on the PS3), custom soundtrack support and two sets of online leaderboards (clear time and total score) per level - that benefit it most.

At 60 deep, "Hg" doesn't have as many levels as the last retail "Mercury" game, which had 160. But at $5, it also doesn't cost nearly as much, and the leaderboard support - along with how easy "Hg" makes it to replay a level in hopes of shaving just a few seconds off that last clear time - means these 60 levels go a longer way than those 160 ever did.

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