Lumines II

Written by Jason Young  on August 18, 2006

First Impressions: Get ready to Shake Your Body Back to the Ground.

Tweet

Comments

When Lumines was released for the PSP in 2005, it brought back renewed interest in the long-lost puzzle genre. Not since the original Tetris has a puzzle game ever recieved as much Universal praise as Lumines did several years ago by many renowned video game critics. It had everything that a person could possibly want in a puzzle game, including highly addictive gameplay, unlockable stages, and an incredibly awesome soundtrack. In fact, it is still considered to be the definitive game for the PSP.

For those worried that Q Entertainment might have tried to change the way the game was played, fear no more. The game developers decided to just Сenhance' the way the game was played rather than changing the system. Keeping true to its prequel, the object of Lumines II is still to move blocks of four different colored squares across the board while trying to create a single square of the same color, all before the timeline moves across the stage.

For veterans of the original, Lumines II includes a bevy of licensed songs and music videos this time around. Gone are the original's skins, and in their place are familiar videos from artists that many of us may be familiar with- Black Eyed Peas, Fatboy Slim, the Chemical Brothers, etc.- adding an extra layer of Сcoolness' to the game. Perhaps the best addition to the game is the ability to create your own playlists with the stages that you've already passed, adding just a hint of personal customization. Also included is a new Сtheatre' mode where you can see a replay of your previously completed levels- allowing you to show your mad skills to all of your friends.

Like the original, the player has the ability to play through different skins in order to unlock more and more stages. However, this time around there's three difficulty levels for the player to go through with over 100 different stages, including the super-impossible last stage. Hey, I didn't say itЕ. the creator did. So good luck with that. Although I'm pretty sure that one of you Lumines freaks out there will probably prove him wrong.

Even more significant than the new skins however is the inclusion of an all-new WiFi mode, which will allow people to compete with each other in Lumines goodness at anytime, and any place. Returning to the game is the mode where the player faces off against an AI Computer in СVs Cpu Mode' and Mission Mode in which the player will be give a strict set of guidelines to clear a puzzle. For example, you can only move certain blocks in some or other puzzles may ask you to complete it in a specified number of moves.

Although the game plays more or less like the original, the game's menu has been given a makeover that would make even Michael Jackson jealous (let's just pray that his music hasn't been included in the game). Not only does it look radically different from the original, it includes more content to boot.