Very few games can take an existing genre and perfect it in the way Lumines has. Puzzle games by and large all tend to draw from the same well - if a game isn't about making shapes or lines out of falling blocks, it's about matching colours with them. And although Lumines does both of these things, it does so in a fresh and unique way that makes this title truly stand out in a crowd. The gameplay, as with any good puzzle game, is both simple to understand and yet increasingly difficult to master. Squares made up of 4 blocks (each block being one of two colours) fall from the top of the screen, and it's your job to make as many squares of the same colour as possible by rotating the blocks before they hit the ground. Each completed square will only vanish once the timeline, a bar which makes it's way from one side of the screen to the other in tempo with the game's music, sweeps past it. It's up to you to string together massive combos by creating as many squares as possible before the timeline sweeps them away. Adding more strategy to the game are the occasional pieces that will remove all connecting pieces of the same colour. Used right, one of these pieces could mean the difference between a screen dangerously full of blocks and a relatively safe and empty one. As the game progresses, the backgrounds and music will change. With each change comes a new, more challenging variation in the rate at which the blocks fall and the rate at which the timeline moves. In an interesting twist, this doesn't necessarily mean that both go faster as the game goes on. Occasionally one may slow down while the other speeds up and vice versa. This adds a unique challenge to each new background acquired. In addition to the main Challenge Mode, Lumines also feature a brilliant versus mode which can be played against another PSP owner or simply against the CPU. The versus mode provides an interesting variation on the main game by splitting the playfield into two halves. The player with the biggest combo's when the timeline passes through will see his half of the playfield grow, thereby shrinking the space his opponent has to maneuver in. You can literally "squeeze out" the competition. A puzzle mode is also provided, but doesn't really offer as much entertainment as the first two modes. Suffice it to say you are presented with a series of challenges that are solved by creating the aforementioned same-coloured squares. All in all, Lumines is easily the most addictive game to grace any system, handheld or otherwise, in years. This is simply a must own title for any self-respecting PSP owner. It has single-handedly breathed new life into a genre that had otherwise been written off by North American gamers.
Other Helpful Reviews for Lumines: Oto to Hikari no Denshoku Puzzle
To tell you the truth when I first got the PSP I did not get Lumines ! I simply got a rpg (Popolocrois) and a racing game (Most Wanted) which I thought were the best at that time but I was wrong because there was still a... Read Full Review
Lumines is innovative and entrancing with good beats, keeping you playing for hours at a time. I picked it up and was absorbed with it instantly. Not too long later I had gotten the hang of it and was playing for hours. ... Read Full Review
