Lumines

"Lumines = Crack in UMD Format"

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Overview
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First of all, I thought I'd never find myself buying a puzzle game for any kind of gaming platform, but Lumines was calling out to me, begging to be played. Great reviews helped make the decision and I haven't looked back yet.

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Gameplay
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Lumines concept is simple, but yet, there's still a challenge and better yet, there always seems to be an incentive to continue playing. The basics of the game is to make a 2 by 2 square of the same color, there are somewhat 5 different types of 2 by 2 blocks that drop that you control to try to make the 2 by 2 square. When dropping a block, 'gravity' dictates how a block falls unlike Tetris where blocks can hang in the air acting as a obstacle in your endeavors, this 'gravity' makes you think of the aftermath of how and where you should drop your block. Another concept in the game is the timeline, this timeline sweeps through the playing area and is the thing that deletes the squares that you make.

So, basically that's the game...yeah, really. But what makes this game truly special is the level of challege you get as you continue playing, as you progress through the game, you play different levels, or skins as they're called. The skins don't just give you a different interface to look at and different song and sounds to listen to, but they give you a different speeds to work with.

I bet you're thinking, the game just gets faster and faster till everything is just twitch and hope for the best, right? No, that's not the case. The timeline and the rate at which the block falls changes, either slower or faster. Slower timeline? Sounds good! No, not all the time. Since the timeline deletes your blocks, you may find yourself a little cramped for space as the timeline slowly sweeps your playing area, but on the flipside, with the extra time you can easily set up bigger combos of squares to delete.

Now, I don't know why, but the above makes a really really addictive game. When you first pick up Lumines, the game seems really easy but yet you find yourself losing early on, but if you continue playing and playing you unlock more skins and find yourself getting better and better until everything clicks...What once seemed like a hard level becomes a cake walk, you micromanage your blocks better, you delete squares like a pro...and yet, you continue playing, the game grips on to you and you can't help but play. It's an excellent experience, and I still feel it after playing Lumines for so long.

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Graphics
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There's not much to say here except for the fact the game is sharp looking, colorful and there's lots to see that you don't see because you're too focused on your playing area. It is nice to play in a different interface as you level up, it just feels refreshing every time you level up. I do have some problems with some skins where the blocks are hard to see, but that only happens in two cases that are in the Single Player vs. CPU mode.

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Sounds
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There's also not much to say here either. Sound plays in sync with your actions, like every time you move your block, rotate it, drop it, create a square and delete. Each skin has its own set of sounds that play, there are some annoying ones, but it is part of the great things that you experience in Lumines, the sounds are just as 'colorful' as the graphics.

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Replay Value
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ALOT! I am still engrossed in this game after playing it for so long...I haven't had the chance to play someone else via WiFi, but I really want to. There are unlockable skins as you play through there game, and there is a puzzle mode and time trial mode, there's also the insanely difficult Player vs. CPU challege where you can unlock new characters to play as. The greatest challenge outside of Lumines is putting it down, you want to waste and hour...play this game.

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Conclusion
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Lumines is easily one of the best games available for the PSP. Lumines delivers what the PSP is asking for, a game that's easy to pick up and play and last long if need be. What are you waiting for? Get this game!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/18/05