Lumines for the Sony PSP - tell us what you think. If you can pull yourself away.
by Ben Zackheim 
{ Apr 8th 2005 at 10:31AM }
What is it about Lumines? One guy I know (we'll call him Bernie, because that's his real name) is a curmudgeon of a
gamer. In an endearing way, of course. He's clocked a lot of playtime over the years. It's hard to get him excited
about anything.
But when he talks about Lumines his face lights up and his voice rises an octave. He delighted in getting jury duty.
It's that bad.
We want to know what you think. Is it an okay puzzle game with great music? A classic that stands shoulder to shoulder
with Tetris?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Uchendu Nwachukwu @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Can't talk... playing Lumines.
*Must.... get... next... skin...*
hater2win @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Lumines is a genius game. The creator should be praised endlessly for such a brilliant game. I can not pull myself away (except to read Engadget of course).
Dave @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
I'm playing it and really enjoying it, but I've yet to really "get it" I think. Tetsuya Mizuguchi is a great designer of games, and this one is no exception. You can tell he is really connected to music and the emotional effect it can have. In one of his interviews, he talks about a shift from single-task orientation to multi-tasking, and I think Lumines is a first step in that direction. It is definitely one of those addicting games that's great to play with the volume up. I look forward to more from Mizuguchi-san!
zombee @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
it stood toe to toe with tetris and kicked it's red ass. lumines is one for the ages. digital heroin.
zombee @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
it stood toe to toe with tetris and kicked it's red ass. lumines is one for the ages. digital heroin.
Tony @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
We're bound to see some "MENTOS IS BETTER!" comments soon, but personally I think Lumines is amazing. The music, the backgrounds, the rythem... it's all there. What I really love is the longevity. Getting 999,999 to unlock the final Lights stage takes a heck of a lot of time and practice. VS Mode, puzzle mode, and time attack mode are all great for pick up and play.
Ryan Kabir @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
I've been playing this game non-stop since I got it. Literally. Wipeout has just been sitting there (and I'm a hardcore future racer fan).
I wish the game kept more stats - highscores are great - but in Skin mode it only keeps the top score, and not comparative.
The game is challenging - but not so hard that it feels impossible - I know the next level is just out of my grasp, and if I can only keep the blocks down some when I get up there, I know I can get by. The game is brilliant.
GTi-VR6 @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
can't tear myself away from this game....its shades of Tetris at an all night rave.
My wife is hooked on it now as well!
Willman @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Mentos is totally different. Mentos is the freshmaker. :-)
This game is great. Is it worth the price of a PSP? NO FREAKIN WAY!
If the PSP had 4-6 games this great, it would be worth it. Instead, you have this and MAYBE mercury. Everything else is a port with 10% new features so they can get away with calling it not a port.
Just like the PSP is really a great media machine. Yeah right...not.
jayis @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Lumines is a classic in the making. It has qualities that set it apart from other puzzle games, and that put it squarely in the same league as the venerable Tetris.
First off, the game is very easy to pick up and play. Anyone can drop blocks and match quads. The sounds and particle effects that reward you for your early efforts are extremely gratifying and hook you into this very addictive game.
Second, the game is difficult to master. Even after playing through several battery recharges with the game, my high score is still less than 100K, and yet it is consistently inching upward. And don't even get me started on the Vs. CPU mode that kicks my ass everytime I play. I've made it only to level 5 of 10 total.
Third, the challenge mode is brilliant with its ever changing skins, music, and strategies required. By indpendently varying both the rate of the falling blocks AND the rate at which the timeline passes, the designers have created a game with unbelievable richness of depth.
I can't stop playing this game. The music is infectious, and each skin complements the soundtrack wonderfully. The unlockables are HARD as you get further into the game, thereby providing lots of replay value.
Looking forward to Q? Entertainment's next puzzle outing coming up on the DS in June.
rockstar_ate_my_hamster @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
*Looks up from watching the new Dr Who episode on the beautiful PSP screen just long enough to laugh at willman's trolling*
Abe @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
I didn't fully understand the game when I first got it. There's a little bit of a learning curve, but after a few hours of play you finally understand the timeline and how it works relevant to the block stacking and your timing. After you get use to timing your moves, then you start learning how to make massive combos by planning ahead. It's like a 3 step learning process. I don't care for the puzzle mode, but single player is a blast and I would have liked it to allow for versus play over internet.
It's not Tetris by any means, but it is a good puzzle game with great music.
britrock @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
I've had lumines since I got my PSP (the 3rd day they where on sale) and ya know, it is a fun game, but it has serious problems too.
The menu UI is AWFUL. Honestly I think it is the worst I have ever seen. For instance, you can be playing for a long time, unlock a few extra skins etc, and then loose and it will ask you if you would like to load save game data, with the X meaning yes.
I accidently hit this many times before I realized that it was throwing away my progress. When you finally realize that and hit triangle instead of X, another dialog appears giving you a scary warning about overwriting your existing data.
Other times it just auto saves though. It gives no indication as to why it autosaves at times and goes through the save dialogs from hell at other times.
Also, the "now saving" and "now loading" text that scrolls across the top and bottom of the screen drives me nuts. I've been trained for most of my life that I should look in the center of the screen for progress. If my tivo is busy, it shows "Please Wait" in the center of the screen. If ANY OTHER GAME is busy it shows something to that effect in the center of the screen. Lumines shows it everywhere except the place you expect it.
Once you are finally playing it is a nice looking game, and is fun. It is no where close to tetris, and I do not think it should be uttered in the same breath.
Some of the skins are really nice, I really like a lot of them. Some of them though are EXTREMELY annoying. The "shake your body" one... oh god. I mute the system when I get to that. There is also one where one of the block colours is only slightly different from the background colour. Very very difficult to play. I really wish that I could simply push a button and have it choose another skin, or that I could mark a skin as one I don't like and never have to see it again.
Anyway, its a half decent game, that could have been an excelent game.
word. @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Says a bit about portable gaming when the best game for a really decked out expensive system could probably have been done on the game boy. Except music i guess. Haven't played it, don't own a psp so I could be totally wrong...?
jaymoore31 @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Lumines is simply amaizing. It provides a satifying gaming experience quickly if needed or can take over your plans for a day. The incorporation of the music with the game fantastic! It really is the foundation for the whole Lumines experience.
Bob @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
I crossed over the cognitive barrier from "cube dropper" to "combo maker" last night around 12:30am. My vision blurred, then cleared, then I lost track of time, stopped feeling my feet, and viola, it was suddenly 2am.
I slept like the dead, and dreamed of falling blocks and bursts of celebratory music.
G. Freeman @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
I gotta side with britrock, it is interesting but puts style above substance.
If this game was boiled down to its basic elements, like Tetris on the B&W GameBoy, it woundn't stand a chance.
As a generactive music trip, it rocks.
As a puzzler, it is only better than average.
Puzzlers don't need fancy special effects to be good. Once people tire of the whiz-bang, they will realize that this is no Tetris or Super Puzzle Fighter.
Clint @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
I put this game and Wipeout Pure on the same level. Both are addictive and both take handheld gaming to a place it's never achieved before. Sony has really done a great thing with the PSP. I actually prefer the handheld to the console now. I'm sold!
epthegeek @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
I think it's great fun. Very addictive.
I just can't wait until popcap and all the other 2-bit windows puzzle game makers rip off the concept.
Go them!
Bernie @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Well, thanks Ben. I _am_ playing Lumines and MGA enough that I havent cracked Spidey 2, which I want to try even if it's inferior to the console version... and now looking forward to HL2 expansion pack. Figure Valve can concentrate on the game design now, since they got the tech and core stuff tuned.
Vinnk @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
It's a great game. But it is nothing particularily new. (except for the seamless blending of the music). I have to say that Meteos gets more play from me, but that is not a Lumines Put-down but rather a compliment to the designer. These games really sold me on the cirrent generation of portables. It Meteos better? In my opinion is edges out Lumines by a small amount and it scores major pints for having the single cart multiplayer thing. My advice, get both. And get Rez too if you missed it the first time out.
boxmyth @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
When I saw the screen grab on the main page for this story I immediately decided where to drop the piece to make a square. It took me a second to realize I wasn't playing and it was just a screenshot. Addictive. Lu-Crack. I love it.
Alan @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
truly an amazing game that is extremely difficult to put down. i was already a fan of Mondo Grosso's music, so the use of their music for lumines was like a dream come true. the gameplay is good, but the way it flows together with the music and visuals takes an average puzzle concept into a real artform.
although i think the game is brilliant, i wouldn't call it the PSP's killer app. but with so many truly interesting games coming soon for the PSP, it's only a matter of time before the price of the PSP can become justified.
GTA... Hot Shots Golf... GT4... I think even FIFA has a shot at greatness. I played the japanese version of HSG. Nearly perfect port of the PS2 game. another game i had a hard time putting down.
KDawg @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
One of my favorite games has long been Rez for the PS2. I didn't
pay any attention to Lumines until I saw it was also created by
Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Wow is this guy good. He's cornered the market
on trippy addictive games. As with Rez, the addictive quality isn't
there immediately, but once hooked you can't put them down.
Now I'm going to have to try Space Channel 5 to see if it matches
Tetsuya Mizuguchi's other works.
David @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Truthfully? It's the most challenging, amusing puzzle game yet. Two colors? Who would have though.
While listening to the games music, you too add to the music by each move you make; so if the puzzle aspect didn't get you, this sure would.
It also seems more challening due to it's simplicity. 4 blocks shaped as a square trying to make square shaped combos is much harder than misc shaped blocks fit for one spot.
I purchased ridge racer, darkstalkers, and need for speed at launch and the next day I picked up lumines and haven't touched another game since. I was never a huge fan of puzzle games, but after playing so many other genres... this is kind of a nice step away.
When mercury comes out, we'll see if that changes.
Mikula @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Yeah, I haven't had this much fun since Space Channel 5
William @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
i love the game if fun its addictive and innovative. but everyones talking about the music. what music? after the first stage the music get pretty dull. now i gotten pretty far and unlock mad skins and i rather listen to the am radio then the music on lumines. the sound is good but the music itself blows.
Scott Canoni @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
"shake your body" is my favorite skin!! I love how integrated the music is. That one is especially cool when you are clearing blocks left and right.
Marc @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
I love this game! It's so addicting! Both my sis n my cuzin love this game also. Whenever i let em play it, they wont hand it back to me =( but oh well, i beat their scores anyway...hehehe
Carl @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
*Finally makes up his mind on his 5th PSP game; Lumines. The choices were Lumines, Mercury, or Untold Legends. When i HAVE; Wipeout, Tony Hawk, Twisted Metal, and NFSU. Heard Great things, then played my friends,,, and oh my god... he had to practically rip it out of my hands.
ChicagoBen @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
"Shake ya body" happens to be one of my favorite skins, too. DDR (which I have only ever tried once) could be the only other game out there that would get me into such a groove as I'm playing. I am a fan of techno/house (and more) and this game melds the beats, one's actions, colors into an amazing package.
It's dangerous, as well. One day after work, I hopped on the bus to go home (from downtown Chicago) pulled out Lumines and cranked out my best game at the time only to look up and not recognize where I was, as I had gotten on the wrong bus. 30 min ride home turned into 2 hours. Hah. Teleportation and time travel device.
Lumines and Wipeout Pure are constantly exchanging places on the top of my stack of games in my altoid tin. (The fit IS amazing, but it will only hold 3.) Under that is MG Ac!d (just haven't gotten the time to give it an honest shot) and Untold Legends (meh).
Lumines Addict @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Man. It's rough playing this game enough to get hooked on it. After a long session of it, I read the web, and I expect the words to fall into place to fill the gaps in my words and sentences below it.
And that's not counting hallucinating falling block combos during work hours. I got better at the game simply by hallucinating what combos work and don't. It's been a distracting few weeks here at the office.
I also got Tony Hawk and Tiger Woods, but... they don't have falling blocks.
As for anyone snubbing the game due to "it coulda been done on another handheld..."
Who cares? Does every game have to be an overworked genre shooter/platformer/sports title? Even if it's simple, can't it still be good and original enough to make a compelling title? Or would you rather massively rendered 3D explosions of Zombie Monsters running from Marines in space?
Sometimes, I like a simple game that can get you roped in like Tetris did back in '89.
All Hail the NEW KING! LUMINES!
PSPfreaks @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
The screen is too wide and too shallow for falling object games. Too bad - this one looked like fun, but there's a reason Tetris was layed out in the vertical aspect!
Cel Shady @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
I actually played a "single-skin" game yesterday on a friend's PSP, and I have to say, I'm not all that impressed. But, the again, I didn't like Tetris very much either. The game looks really good, though (I didn't hear much of the music since I didn't have headphones at the time).
Ryan @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
I love this game, and I definitely like it better than Tetris. It's terribly addicting. I find myself constantly daydreaming about different combo setups and working out strategies for different points in the game. My ability to sleep and to concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds are actively being destroyed.
I find it to be a difficult game to quantify. I think how you feel about it in comparison to Tetris or Super Puzzle Fighter (to use aforementioned examples) really comes down to personal preference. I think that it has different enough mechanics to really stand on its own.
That being said, I don't think that the mechanics exist in a vacuum. It's impossible to divorce them from the game's presentation, as the graphics and sound are integral parts of the experience. I think that as far as Lumines is concerned, style and substance are one and the same.
Complaints? There are a couple of songs that I've heard so far that I'm not a big fan of, though most of them I either outright enjoy or they have some sort of redeeming quality to them. Plus, it's really hard for me to front on that first song. No matter what kind of mood I'm in, it always perks me up and puts a grin on my face.
I understand why they'd have a linear progression for the challenge mode. That doesn't bother me. I do think that a "mixtape" mode would have been sweet. Something where you can make a custom playlist of skins that you unlocked and it would just loop through them and let you play indefinitely.
So yeah, I love this game. Out of the four games I've picked up so far it's definitely my favorite.
57Samurai @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Addictive...hypnotic...eyes drier...lost-time machine...."REM" state...should have a stage where it says, "Blinking is okay..."it is a "can't put down" game for PSP.....overload....push the brain cells....
57Samurai @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Addictive...hypnotic...eyes drier...lost-time machine...."REM" state...should have a stage where it says, "Blinking is okay..."it is a "can't put down" game for PSP.....overload....push the brain cells....
Brian @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
Brilliant Game!
Everything. The music, the colours, the twisted addiction, the late nights....the......must.....get....sleep!
On the other hand, as 13. said.... that's UI is really annoying, the first time I got really really far in it and then was duped by the 'load save data' screen which lost all my progress.
noamjamski @ Dec 18th 2005 8:44PM
My office is wi-fi, and Lumines is the only game that I and the only other PSP owner here have in common.
What wonderful fate! The way the 2 player works is genius, especially how you can steal combos from the other player. We find ourselves in pretty viscious matches. People watching us assumed we were playing some sort of fighting game, not a hypnotic puzzler. If you get the opportunity to play this head to head GO FOR IT!