Lumines PSP Review

Platform: PSP

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: QEntertainment

Rating: Everyone 10+

Players: 1-2

This is not your older sister's Tetris game; squares of four blocks have never been so challenging to stack on screen. Lumines is a puzzle game the likes of which you have neither seen nor heard before and it makes owning a PSP a sound investment in your entertainment needs.

Lumines Gameplay

Lumines gameplay is a lot like moving. All you do all day long is stack and restack boxes, but unlike real life in Lumines all of the boxes are perfectly square; however grouping squares of the same types of colors and patterns can be tricky. If you've never seen anything like this game before in your life you may want to spend a quick minute flipping through the Lumines instruction book. If you know your way around the PSP you will want to start playing right away.

Single Player Mode

Challenge Mode is without a time limit, but is not without a few twists and turns to keep your attention on the screen. Each level up changes the colors/patterns of the blocks and the background, called a "skin". The more you play the more characters and skins you unlock.

Single-Skin Mode is for those times when you want less distractions to raise your high scores. You choose your skin, which chooses the color/pattern of the blocks that fall. Challenging yourself, though, in this mode is still an option because of the intensity of some skins.

Time Attack Mode features four different timed levels with high scores up for grabs. You don't get your choice of skin, but in a race against the clock you don't want to be bothered with some pattern and color combinations.

2 Player Vs. Mode

Basics are all I can give you about this mode, because while I do have access to two PSP systems, I do not have access to two Lumines game discs and both are required to make use of this mode. A wireless connection is also required, but if you happen to have all of theses things you can use your own characters on separate screens and save each of your scores to your own memory sticks. You also have access to your own skins! So good for you.

Vs. CPU Mode

Don't frown if you can't play against your friends because Lumines also features a vs. CPU mode. It plays a lot like Challenge Mode, but you're playing against a computer that aggressively presses it's face into your game. Each time you beat one of the computer's characters you gain that character's icon and skin, which can be played in (most) any mode of the game.

Puzzle Mode

Remember "Puzzle Mode" for the Tetris game for PlayStation? The archaeologist would be trapped in the blocks and you'd have to open a spot for him to fall out of (his voice was really annoying). The Lumines puzzle mode is nothing like that. Without the array of shapes putting together color patterns requires a bit more thought than placing an "L" in the right spot. It is the most difficult challenge in the game, but once you figure out the first few puzzles you will want to keep earning new puzzles to solve.

Graphics and Sound

The best thing by far about Lumines is the integration of sound into the shifting of the blocks on screen. The music may not grab some gamers at first, but they don't call it trance music for nothing. What is most impressive is that you control the beat and sound effects of the songs just by moving your blocks. Rotating the color and pattern combinations and speeding the descent of the blocks create a unique experience in sound with each touch. And as long as you have headphones over or in your ears everything will sound great.

Skins and color and pattern combinations come in many ways, shapes and forms and each max their background skin. Some "blocks" might be circles or just groups of lines going in different directions. More stylized patterns can also be unlocked by raising your high scores in different levels and modes.

Character icons to represent your name in the game carry the same space-age look as the rest of the graphics. Unlockable looks will put you in the mood to change your character icon often and the increasingly interesting personality of each one will keep you competing for places on the high score board.

Summary

Just like Tetris before it, Lumines is one of those games that you set aside every once in awhile because you start to ignore what is going on around you if you don't stop yourself, but this game is additive on a whole new level. Where others have failed to up the ante on the original Tetris, Ubisoft and QEntertainment have just shoved all of their chips onto the table. And it's not a bluff.