Among the qualities I’m most often seeking in games are some originality and delivering an experience I haven’t had before. Nuclear Blaze, which features a mix of firefighting, puzzle solving, platforming, and timing-based challenges is a game that really hits that nail on the head nicely. Starting out you’ll simply learn the ropes for what limited but effective moves you have, how to optimally control fires, and how to use your equipment. Then, once you get fully started, it becomes a series of varied challenges where you’ll continue to acquire new gear and abilities, do your best to scour levels for hidden feline friends to rescue, and sometimes just generally stay alive. The most difficult challenges tend to be rooms or zones where you’ll be up against the clock, needing to maximize both your efficiency and accuracy in order to get things under control before they’re able to spread further or come back to life where you’d already cleared. To add even more value, finishing the game will unlock a new Hold My Beer mode with even more secrets and challenges awaiting. The fact that you’ll then be able to continue to piece together a narrative concerning what the facility you’re in was doing, and what’s going on is a welcome bonus as well, all of the above helping to take what could have just focused on arcade-like action and infusing a bit more of a special feel to the experience.