Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
Mercury Meltdown has already appeared on the PSP and PlayStation 2, and the Wii will be getting in on the liquid metal action very soon. We spoke to Ignition’s Banbury Studio Manager, Ed Bradley, about the game’s arrival on Nintendo’s new console.
Pro-G: Can we expect to see any visual upgrades over the PlayStation 2 game?
Ed Bradley: Yes, we’ve added 480p and widescreen support, and added some new renderer features such as bump and gloss maps.
Pro-G: Do you think the Wii-mote makes the game better than previous versions or simply a different experience?
EB: Different, certainly. I’ll leave the “better or not?” decision to the players.
Pro-G: Does the game require the Wii-mote and the Nunchuck?
EB: Just the Wii-mote, or the Classic Controller if anyone prefers to use a joystick. This may seem a strange choice, but the game is played with the Wii-mote held horizontally with the D-pad to the left. If we had supported the nunchuck and Wii-mote we would have had the situation where players would have to switch controller positions in the menus between levels, as we did not have enough development time to make the game magically detect what control-setup you’re using and adjust the menu controls automatically
Pro-G: Other than the inclusion of Wii-mote controls, what exclusive extras will be included in the Wii game?
EB: Other than the renderer features listed above, we’ve added some new levels and new textures that don’t appear in the other versions.
Pro-G: What challenges have you faced in developing the game for the Wii?
EB: Mainly the usual things you get when dealing with a new platform: scarcity of dev kits and slightly flakey compilers 🙂
Pro-G: We understand that development of Mercury Meltdown Revolution began on the GameCube. How noticeable was the step up to the Wii when you finally got hold of development units?
EB: It was a fairly straightforward transition. Finding a way to make sensible use of the extra power was the main thing.
Pro-G: Mercury made its debut on the PSP, but it’s the Nintendo DS which appears to be winning the handheld battle. Do you have plans for a DS version?
EB: We’d love to do a DS version but we have no definite plans for it at this stage.
Pro-G: So, you’ve almost completed a Wii version of Mercury, and this leaves the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as obvious platforms for a new game in the series. Are you ready to make a leap to such powerful hardware?
EB: We are a games developers, so we’re always keen to get our hands on the newest toys!
Pro-G: Online play is all the rage these days. Have you thought about how the Mercury series could expand into this area? Via Xbox Live Arcade perhaps?
EB: We’ve certainly thought about it! 😉
Pro-G: What about possible Mercury spin-off games? We’re thinking a cop-based action game. Instead of good-cop, bad-cop, it’ll be soft-cop, hard-cop.
EB: Hmm, that’s not bad but I’m still pushing for a brown-mercury game called “Action Poo“.
Pro-G: When can gamers get their hands on Mercury Meltdown for the Wii, and what one aspect of the game should they be most excited about?
EB: Spring 2007 is about as precise as I’m allowed to be, I think. It’s full of tilty goodness and at over 160 levels you get a LOT of game for your money.
