QuickLook.Technobrains

Ever since I noticed that Pocket Mini Golf 2 had been released on the iPhone I wondered “where’s Meltdown?”  After all, while Pocket Mini Golf 2 was a good game on the PocketPC, Meltdown had the perfect control scheme for an iPhone game – one button that controls everything.  Not to mention the fact that the game is just a whole lot of fun.  Thankfully they must have finally read my mind (though it certainly took them long enough), and now we have Meltdown for the only mobile platform I currently play with any regularity.  And you know what?  It’s just as fun as I remember it from my PocketPC days.

In Meltdown you play Emgee, a maintenance droid for nuclear power plants.  Your job is to travel through a series of plants, deactivating each of 5 reactors within a given plant to ensure that the plant doesn’t go into meltdown.  To deactivate a reactor you must press all the red switches that exist in the reactor.  The task is simple, but the execution can certainly prove to be a challenge.  Each level is timed, and your only respite to the timer are cooling rods that you pick up in some levels, though these rods only add 5 seconds to your time.  You also earn a rod for each reactor you successfully shut down in a plant, and these rods can be used in subsequent plants.  Rods found within a level can be used in the plant you’re currently working on.  The down to the rods is that they are automatically used when your time runs out, so if you’re on a level you know you aren’t going to complete anyway – too bad.  That’s one caveat I wish they would have changed from the PocketPC version.

Give It Some Thurst

Besides the time limit, timing plays a major factor in Meltdown.  Emgee is in constant motion, and the only thing that can change his direction is colliding with something.  While you can’t directly affect his left / right movement, you can provide him with some upward mobility.  Emgee can jump, and when he’s already in the air he can use a jetpack to get some additional lift.  Both of these actions are initiated by pressing the screen, and the longer you hold the more powerful each action becomes.  Keep in mind that the jetpack can only be activated while you’re in the air, however, so if you start the meter with the intention of using the jetpack but don’t let go until Emgee touches the ground, you’ll simply jump instead.  It’s also important to remember that just because you can fill the meter, it doesn’t mean you should.  Learning how to judge jumping / jetpack strength will be key to solving a lot of these levels.

You didn’t think that would be all that’s standing in your way, did you?  In the beginning you can flip the red switches in any order you want.  As you get further along in the game, however, you must start flipping switches in a particular order.  Additionally, there are electric barriers that must be deactivated, pools of reactor coolant that must be jumped, and nuclear gremlins that can’t wait to take a byte out of your circuitry (sorry, had to be punny there).  It certainly won’t be a breeze walking through some of the later levels in this game, but what fun is a game without any challenge, right?

Gremlins Are Everywhere

Meltdown has very nice graphics if you look in the background.  The foreground layer is actually kind of blah, but there are some nice details in the parallax levels scrolling behind you.  Emgee himself is pretty cool looking, and I still think he’d make a great mascot.  The nuclear gremlins aren’t too shabby either.  The sound effects compliment the atmosphere perfectly.  I especially like the voice of Emgee, though I wish he’d say more.  The music has a nice rock beat to it which fits perfectly with the frantic pace of the game.

I was happy to see Meltdown finally get ported to the iPhone, and I’m not disappointed at all by the translation after having spent some time with it.  There’s plenty of challenge as you progress through the plants, and it amazes me how they can make such a playable game with basically one button for control.  There are two difficulty settings that determine how many reactors you must deactivate to save a plant, and Crystal integration gives you a bunch of nice achievements to work towards.  Meltdown is certainly worth adding to your iPhone collection.

Final Verdict: Recommended
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[All About Quick Looks]

Momentum Games

Meltdown from Momentum Games
Reviewed by: Eric Pankoke

After playing Pocket Mini Golf 2 from Momentum Games, I had high expectations for Meltdown. Then, as I started seeing rather positive reviews from industry veterans that I greatly respect, the bar was raised. I am here to let you know that I was not in any way disappointed. Let the race to reactor core meltdown begin!

The premise behind Meltdown is simple. You play the part of Emgee, a nuclear power station safety control robot. Your job is to make sure that power stations run flawlessly. Unfortunately, this is not your day, as power station after power station is beginning to fall apart from rust and corrosion. To make matters worse, your legs won’t stop moving! You can’t let that slow you down, however, as you must deactivate a certain number of cores in each power station before they melt down and cause a nuclear explosion! Are you up to the task?

Emgee’s main two tools at his disposal are his super jump and his flight pack. Each has a meter on it, and the longer you hold down the button the more distance you’ll get out of the given tool. The caveat is this: the jump is only available when you’re on the ground (of course), but the flight pack is only available in the air. As soon as your feet leave the ground you can start charging your jet pack, but as soon as your feet touch the ground again that charge will be converted to your jump. Still sound pretty easy?

Here’s the element that binds the whole game together: timing. Sure you could charge your tools to full capacity every time, but you’ll never pass most of the levels that way, as you’ll continually overshoot targets (or undershoot, if a strong launch causes you to hit a pipe in the ceiling, for example). You may have to play through levels several times as you determine how much power will get you where you need to go, when you need to start powering up, and when you need to release the button. This goes for both jumping and flying. It’s also important to learn to use your environment. A low hanging platform may be your friend if you just want to turn around instead of making a long jump. Oh, and did I mention that each level is timed as well?

In addition to the clock and your perpetual movement, there are plenty of other obstacles as well. In the early levels you get simple things, such as core switches that have to be deactivated in a certain order and pools of coolant that will cause you to short circuit. As the levels progress you get more challenges, such as electric barriers that must be deactivated and radioactive gremlins that would like nothing more than to sample your circuits. Fortunately, some of these obstacles simply force you to start back at the beginning of the level, while keeping any already-triggered core switches flipped. However, anything that causes you to travel over parts of the level again wastes time, and time is definitely not on your side.

Meltdown

Meltdown

Pros:

Excellent Graphics
Spot On Sound
Unique, Challenging and Addictive Gameplay

Cons:

- Can be quite challenging for the less skilled player, even on “Easy” mode
- Have no control over when to use isotope rods
 -Have to replay all levels of a station to beat undefeated ones

Score: 9/10