Lumines II
Score: 95% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Buena Vista Developer: Q Entertainment Media: UMD/1 Players: 1 - 2 (Ad-Hoc only) Genre: Puzzle
Graphics & Sound: Lumines II is the sequel to the hit PSP launch title that really helped to get the handheld jump-started. Well, this new title sticks to the same addictive gameplay tactic and adds a few support-style modes to make the game easier to personalize. But first, the graphics. Lumines II uses the same themed levels full of colorful backgrounds and flashy blocks that it's predecessor did. Well, not the same ones, the same style. All of the levels from the first title have been replaced with all new themes, and you are bound to find even more for you to both love and hate. Again, like the first game, music plays a big role in Lumines II. Each level not only has its own distinct soundtrack, but the sound effects of rotating and landing blocks also varies from game screen to game sceen. As an added bonus, many popular artists like Beck, Black Eyed Peas and Fatboy Slim, have allowed some of their tunes to play host to levels in Lumines II. But even if you aren't completely satisfied with the game's audio selection, one of the new "support" modes I mentioned above, Sequencer, allows you to mix your own musical theme. You start with one of four base music types and then play around with a ton of settings to make sound effects and music truly unique to your style.
Gameplay: Like I said before (and will say again), the core of Lumines II isn't really any different than the first title. Your goal is to arrange collections of four blocks (comprised of two different colors) so that they will form the biggest possible group of like color blocks before the Timeline passes over the new formation and clears them. And like the first game, players can get real close to each other and play some head-to-head, split screen Versus games across a PSP Ad-Hoc connection. Where Lumines II breaks away from its predecessor is the other options presented to the player. These modes are Skin Edit, Sequencer and the Data Exchange. All three of these new modes are tied really close together and complement each other in an attempt to make the game appeal to players that want to share their personalized gaming experience. Skin Edit Mode lets you arrange the themes you have unlocked so that someone playing through a particular sequence of levels will meet each theme in the order you desire. The Sequencer, as described in the previous section, lets you build your own sound library, but without the Data Exchange Mode, both of these would be a bit useless since this mode lets you package your theme-sequence and soundtracks up and ship them off to another PSP for your friend to play through. And of course, Lumines II comes with old favorites like Time Attack, Puzzle and Mission modes.
Difficulty: Lumines II's core gameplay is just like the first title; therefore, the difficulty ramp is pretty close as well. The first game started off nice and slow, but several levels in, you could definitely notice a difference in the pace you were slamming blocks down in the hopes of clearing sections of the board. Now, even though the difficulty is pretty much the same, it seemed like it took me a little longer to get to the same state of frantic block-manipulation. I don't know if the developers eased up on the toughness some, or all that time playing the original made it easier to handle what this game threw at me.
Game Mechanics: Lumines II's mechanics are simple to pick up and because of that, the game will eat hours of your time. You can move it around with the analog nub and use the face buttons to rotate the four-block game piece either clockwise or counter-clockwise. The two parts of either Lumines game that really makes them stand out among puzzle titles is the grouping of similarly colored blocks (typically blocks of a solid color comprised of at least four tiles) and the Timeline that moves across the screen clearing blocks as it flies by. Without either of these two mechanics, Lumines would be just another Tetris clone. From a gameplay standpoint, as in where you will be spending your time, nothing has really changed in Lumines II. But that isn't a bad thing by any means. Lumines really hit the nail on the head with its presentation and puzzle game goodness, so it is no wonder the developers wanted to keep the sequel as close to the original as possible. If you played the first game and want some new challenges, then Lumines II is a must buy. If you haven't picked up either game before, then start with this one, as the extra options are a nice bonus.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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