A must-own for fans of the first game, despite it being less polished overall.
Take the challenge modes. It's still engaging due to the great gameplay, but it may have taken a couple of backwards steps. Skins from the original game appear way too frequently, and I think they should have been separated into their own class and put the rest into two challenge modes(think Mario Kart). The VS. CPU mode is the same story, as a couple of skins are carbon copies from Lumines 1, down to the order. In other words that swiss cheese skin is the second opponent you face. This is simply a joke; I had to check the box to make sure it didn't say EA on the cover. Granted this becomes less and less of an issue as you unlock skins and employ the skin editor, but it seems like this could and should of been easily avoided. It makes the first few hours less exciting then they should be. Another peculiar quirk is the difficulty settings, which are barely distinguishable. People who haven't played the original will not find much relief in the beginners mode. There is a savior, and it goes by the name skin edit. Get through the challenge modes and you really have no reason to go back, since you can create your own custom playlist. Seriously, this is an extremely important new feature. Since the game features many Lumines 1 tracks you'll be able to have the best songs(except stuff like lights and shinin) from that game alongside the best songs from this one. Not bad.
Something else that's new is the Sequencer. I played with it for a minute and exited the program. Its way to restricted to be taken seriously at all. Stat tracking is improved to a degree, although it still seems light overall. The most important thing is the score cap has been raised at least ten-fold, so you nuts have something new to shoot for. Seeing how many hours you pour into this game via the game clock is also welcome. Gamesharing has been added and along with a couple of cosmetic tweaks, such as a new menu(360 owners will be familiar with it) and female voice. I don't care for it to be honest, and there's no excuse at all why this can't be toggled off. Mission mode is a nice diversion, but won't keep your attention for very long. Oh yeah, you can play an Every Extend Extra demo, which looks like a great compliment to this game.
Graphically the game has a couple of new tricks up its sleeve, video backgrounds being the most prolific. At its best the result is stunning; at its worst they can make you dizzy. Thankfully the good outweighs the bad in this regard. This is one of the few things that separate this game from its predecessor. The new skins look slightly cleaner and optimized. As with all Q-games the art style is some of the best your money can buy. Unfortunately, the skin transitions can sport some lengthy stealth loads, even stuttering a times(which will screw you up once in a blue moon). Some of the skins are worth the wait don't get me wrong but this will feel jarring at first. Sound design is generally brilliant as expected. No other game outside of Rez emphasizes audio like Lumines. It makes you feel like you are playing a game and music all at once. Do yourself a favor and get some good headphones or look for the theater add-on for the PSP. As far as the soundtrack goes, it delivers for the most part. It's not nearly as cohesive and can't stand on it's own like the first, but there's definitely a good dose of quality to be found(Heavenly Star), though you have to dig a little to get the best stuff.
However, there's a few questionable track selections that don't fit the Lumines mold very well. Hollaback Girl is the number 1 offender, especially considering the single Cool would have fit the game like a glove. It's not as bad as some make it out to be(the hoobastank video has some cool effects, so it has SOME value), but it's disappointing nonetheless. Once you finish there respective challenge tier just delete the songs you don't want to hear. This shouldn't take vets too long, but beginners might have to endure that drivel quite a bit longer.
The bottom line is, if you cherish the first game go out and get this as soon as you can. If you weren't too fond of the original, this won't make you a fan. Go ahead and skip it, the rest of us will too hooked to care that this is little more than a booster pack. Q-Entertainment, don't turn this into another Bust-a-move or Madden please. L3 needs to have some new GAMEPLAY elements to keep the series from getting too predictable.