Lumines

"Lumines, best puzzler since Tetris, hands down."

Now I must say, I'm really bad at Lumines, but its a great game overall. Although many say it is repetitive, I partially agree with them, this is a puzzler after all, however the wide assortment of skins/music amazes those who actually dig deep into this game.

Graphics/Overall Presentation~~~9/10
As you pop in Lumines into your PSP, you are greeted by a create a profile screen, then afterwards are put onto the Lumines main menu, which is pretty well organized. From there you can start a game, and as you play a game in Lumines, that the frame-rate is perfect, without ANY slowdown, and the skins are just amazing, providing new music and different colored blocks as you continue on in Single Player mode. Anyways, Lumines provides a great atmosphere as you continually play the game, trying to get high scores.

Gameplay~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~10+/10
Ever since Tetris was released, the world has come to known that puzzle games in general are pick up and play, yet so enjoyable....because well its good for burning some time, or proving your hand/eye coordination prowess. Anyways, Lumines, is similar to Tetris to such a degree, some may call it a rip off, but it is far from that. First of all Lumines is horizontal, compared to Tetris's vertical style. Most importantly, Lumines is a lot more hectic, with combos having to be done in quick succession. All in all, Lumines is a game of prowess, requiring a quick mind. I forgot to mention all of the game modes, such as 1 player time attack/challenge/single skin....vs cpu, and of course, the holy grail of gaming, multi-player.

Multi-player~~~~~~~~~~~~~~10/10
You go against a friend...not much to say, but this is what truly can occupy your time, if you have a decent opponent. As you play against each other, the winning player receives more of the screen and a better chance of winning. It can get VERY annoying when you are winning then all of a sudden one big combo comes out...but anyways multi-player was well implemented by Q Entertainment.

Music/Selection~~~~~~~~~~~10/10
Lumines has a huge selection of skins. Even though I haven't completed yet, it is known to have over 60 skins, and the awesome Shake Your Body. Ned I say more? The music in this game rocks.

Rent or Buy?~~~~*overall score 10/10
Buy it. For a while, this WAS CONSIDERED the best PSP game. Even today Lumines is held in high regard for being a solid game, and one of the best puzzlers for a while. rent it to see its full potential at first. *This game requires 1.5, for you lucky 1.0 users.
In conclusion, buy it. Sell your old PS2/PSX or something....get another game and this into your library.......Lumines WILL last you a while, and if you get hooked on Lumines..well my friend, there IS no way out. Enjoy.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/17/06