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PSP : Lumines Reviews

Gas Gauge: 86
Gas Gauge 86
Below are user reviews of Lumines and on the right are links to professionally written reviews. The summary of review scores shows the distribution of scores given by the professional reviewers for Lumines. Column height indicates the number of reviews with a score within the range shown at the bottom of the column. Higher scores (columns further towards the right) are better.

Summary of Review Scores
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ReviewsScore
Game Spot 90
Game FAQs
GamesRadar 80
CVG 90
IGN 86
GameSpy 100
GameZone 88
Game Revolution 80
1UP 80






User Reviews (1 - 11 of 90)

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From the maker of REZ

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 64 / 66
Date: March 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

When I purchased this game on launch day, I only knew one thing about it: It was made by the same guy who made REZ. Really, that's all I needed to know to part with my cash.

REZ is a hard to find shooter title for Dreamcast/PS2 that set itself apart by completely integrating the visuals and the gameplay with the music.

Lumines, although the game itself is completely different, also delivers big on this concept. Each action you take, rotating the falling peices, destroying a square of same-colored blocks, setting off a huge combo, all trigger unique musical embellishments and sound effects that go with the soundtrack for each level. This in itself would be enough to make a game engrossing, but the mechanics and hectic pacing of the game make it all the more addictive.

Lumines is a falling blocks game, but it is in no way a tetris clone. Squares fall in blocks of four, and come in two colors, arranged in the block at random. By arranging the squares into 2x2 blocks of like colors, a bar that moves across the screen will clear it. Squares can be as big as you want, and can overlap. Also, depending on the music for the stage, the bar may move faster or slower. There are also special blocks that will clear all blocks of the same color that are touching it. It sounds simple, and it is, but the most addictive puzzle games always are.

This game belongs with every PSP purchase.

It's got it all

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 59 / 69
Date: March 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I was a little leary of getting a "puzzle" game for the PSP, but I went with the reviews and lo and behold...I've played almost nothing else on the PSP! This game is great, it's addicting, if you listen to the audio through a set of headphones, the experience is almost all-encompassing.

It's just a well made game...to me, it's like an ultra-hip version of Tetris. It's the "Thinking Man's" game for PSP. :-)

Gameplay: 5 of 5
Controls: 5 of 5
Eye Candy Value: 5 of 5
Ear Candy Value: 5 of 5
Replay Value: 5 of 5
Overall Value: 5 of 5
Chances you'll be up into the wee hours with headphones on playing: 5 of 5

I'm a happy customer, definitely the best of the 3 games I've bought so far (Ridge Racer..very good too and Wipeout...gotta love it too).

A Good Tool

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: June 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I used this to downgrade my psp. Now i can do a lot more with my psp than before!

Ingenious yet simple game, best "eye-candy" for PSP Fun fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: March 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Most children have at least played Tetris once in their lifetime, and then there are those who became addicted to it and devoted many hours throughout childhood trying to achieve that new high-score or get to a new level. You would dream of Tetris blocks falling from the air, or you'd find yourself playing Tetris in your head during class, even when you're not actually playing. Well take all of that, multiple it by 1000, and then you'll have a little understanding to what it's like to play Lumines.

FYI: This game is the number one game rated out of all the PSP games that have come out in Japan, with the highest ratings on most gaming circles.

It's a very simple concept of, "Make of box of 4 puzzle pieces, with the same color." Usually games that are simple in nature are the most fun to play. Lumines adds a DJ for cool music, morphing full color backgrounds that come alive with the music, and now you have your next addiction. I was fortunate to get a Japanese PSP when they came out, and I didn't at first buy Lumines. But once I got a hold of the game, I was sucked in by the music and "challenge mode."

I am only going to talk about challenge mode because that is what makes this game so fun...

Challenge mode is where you play as long as you can without dying (blocks piling up to the top of the screen, just like Tetris). The longer you play the more interesting and intense it gets. When you accumulate a certain amount of points the level will morph into a new level and music. The puzzle pieces change to different colors also. Lumines is the ultimate "Eye-candy." The blocks fall according to how fast the song is, or if the beat changes from fast to slow, then the speed of the blocks change with it. Here is a breakdown of the "Skins" that you unlock in order of which you will see.

*Shinin' (already unlocked)
*Urbanization
*Round about
*Slipping
*Shake ya Body
*Square Dance
*Talk 2 You
*Just...
*I Hear the Music in my Soul
*Dark Side Beneath the River
*Aback
*Working in the Hole
*Sister Walk
*Da-Di-Do
*Strangers
*Holiday in Summer
*Take a Dog Out a Walk
*Big Elpaso
*My Generation
*Meguro
*Spirits
*Get Up and Go
*Fly into the Sky
*Lights <- Hearing the Japanese song that goes with this Skin is pure bliss...

"Lights" is the last level of the skins you can unlock in challenge mode. After lights, you go back to the "Shinin" skin and start over, but the second go around is twice as fast. The maps can cycle through twice, and then there is just 1-skin left which is very, very fast. The whole object of "Challenge Mode" is to achieve a high score. In the Japanese version the "End" of challenge mode is when you achieve 999,999 points. The counter only has 6 digits, which they might fix for the US version. Once you achieve that many points then you unlock the "Lights and Flowers" skin. This is not a simple task. I have had the game for a little over 2 months, and my high score is 970,000 which took about 2½hrs of playing. It may seem like a longtime, but once you start playing hours will turn into minutes, and minutes into seconds. It's the perfect game to pass the time, or to play for an extended period of time.

I would highly recommend this game as anyone's first PSP game. If you can't get a hold of a PSP, then find someone who does, make them buy this game, and borrow their PSP and Lumines. Most PSP games are just miniature versions of games that you can play on a PS2, but this is something originally made just for the PSP. Go into the Light..... Lumines!!!

Instant Classic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: March 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Do you remember the thrill you had when Tetris first came out? If you were one of those who grew insanely addicted to Tetris then this is the game for you. This is, by far, the best and only must have game for the PSP at launch. If you own a PSP, go pick this game up.

Like Tetris, blocks will fall from the top of the game and it is your purpose to get rid of them. Blocks fall in a 2X2 block with varying patterns of two different colors. You have to make at least a 2X2 square of one color for it to vanish. A bar sweeps past the screen slowly and as it passes the same color blocks you've created, it makes them vanish. Now comes the insanely addictive part. To rack up points, you want to cause combos by having more than one set of blocks vanish in a bar sweep. The more you get rid of, the higher the combo and the higher the magnifier.

There will be a moment when you hit your groove and things are moving naturally. The colors will change, the skin will change, the music will change, things will start to move faster. And, that's when you might notice that every time you rotate the block, move the block, or put the block down there is a musical note etc that adds to the soundtrack. Soon you will be moving blocks, hearing the music and it just fits. Never before has a game mirrored music with gameplay so perfectly (with the exception of Rez which was created by the same company).

Then there's the 2 player mode which is a blast. It sets up two areas on your screen, one for each player. It starts with the areas having equal area, but as one person gets more combos than the other, the winning player gets a larger area and the losing player gets a smaller area until one person takes over. It's a blast, frantic and exciting to play.

A good handheld system should have a good time-waster; something to keep you busy and that you can pass so much time playing that you forget things around you. This game does just that. It's deceptively simple to begin, but the depth in it is amazing. It's like Tetris, easy to play, hard to master. I think the best compliment I can give this game was that I was at an airport the day after I got this game and I didn't care that the plane was delayed an hour+ because I was having too much fun playing Lumines so I could play one more game.

Bottom Line: if you own a PSP and like games like Tetris, you need this game.

Amazing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: December 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I've had Lumines since May. I'm still playing it. It's absolutely amazing. I can guarantee all the people who gave it under a 4/5 stars have never played it and are just making it sound like they played it. If you play it for one hour, you will become addicted. It's amazingly fun. Don't even try to say Polarium or Tetris is better. I also have Meteos and while it's good, it's nowhere near as amazing as Lumines. Meteos is more original, has a cool concept but is nowhere near Lumines in terms of depth, fun and addictiveness. I've probably played Lumines for more than 200 hours so far. And no signs of stopping. This is one of the best games I've ever played and hell, it's portable.

Tetris Grew Up

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is one of PSPs best of 2005... and for a reason! It has it all. Eye-candy... ear-candy.... and for those of you who actually prefer a thinking game every now and then.... brain-candy. Luminies is a Tetris/BustaMove spin off. But it's not for your 7 year old. It takes a bit of brain power to play this game. But once you get the hang of it, it is throughly addicting. You will be up until 4am playing it, with your ear buds in, bouncn' to the beat. And this won't be one of those games you trade in after a month. I've played it for more hours than I care to admit to and it still hasn't gotten 'old'. It has become my 'old faithful' of PSP games.

Here is the deal. Picture a tetris game board. This board almost looks identical to Tetris....only a bit wider. The difference is...there are eye-catching skins in the background and ear-catching music playing in the background. Depending on what mode your playing in, you can win more of these! Just like tetris, every time you advance a level...they both change... along with the color of the pieces you are positioning on the game board. Trust me... your eyes won't get tired and your ears won't be screaming after 30 minutes. The game pieces are a cube made up of 4 small blocks that can each be one of two colors. So instead of different shapes to position together (Tetris)... in Luminies you always have the same cube, but the 4 colors that make it up can be positioned differently. (or they might all be one color!) You can rotate the cube just like in tetris. it also shows you what your next 3 pieces are going to be (just like Tetris). The idea is to get blocks of 4 colors together. The more you stack together at once...the bigger your bonus. There is also a line that goes across the screen to clear them out. The more you match up before the line comes across...the bigger your bonus. And occasionally you get a block that make all blocks of it's color that it is touching (think of a domino effect) disappear. The line's rate AND the drop rate of your current cube change to match the beat and level you are at.

And for those of you who are easily amuzed (that includes me). You get to create a player profile with a logo. The logo (which is normally a person or animal or creature) displays in the lower left corner of the playing board and it actually DANCES to the music. If your blocks start to get higher (because your not clearing them out) the little guy will actually look like he is getting nervous. On top of that... if you start doing well and get major bonus points...the little creature will look like he is excited for you. Small amuzments.... but a nice touch.

BOTTOM LINE? Luminies is Tetris only ALL GROWN UP.

If you don't like puzzle games... this game is NOT for you. If you want a game that requires no thinking and a monkey could catch on in 2 seconds...this game is NOT for you. If your a youngster...this game MAY not be for you (depends on the kid). As for the rest of you... buy it! You'll luv it!

Someone had to fill Tetris' shoes

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: April 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

By far, the most common complaint I hear about Lumines is that it is a Tetris knockoff/clone/wannabe. And it is, sort of (and I'll be qualifying that statement in a few seconds). But if you like Tetris, isn't this a good thing?

The way I see it, every handheld system needs a good puzzle game. For whatever reason, Tetris is not currently available. Maybe because it is already available in so many other cheaper forms that they figured no one would be willing to pay $40 for it. Lumines has taken the skeleton of Tetris and built upon it to make a more complex puzzle game with awesome music and sound effects.

At first, Lumines seems kind of basic and simple. Each block consists of four bricks that are any combination of two colors. You have to place them to form blocks of the same color. What adds so much depth to Lumines is the timeline. A vertical line sweeps across the screen at differing speeds depending on the level, and clears the blocks you have formed as it goes by. After playing for a few minutes you realize that you can use the timeline to your advantage by adding more blocks and creating larger combos for bigger points. Once you get the hang of it, this game becomes just as addicting as Tetris.

I can't talk about Lumines without mentioning the music. If you have ever played the game 'Rez' for PS2, you should have an idea of what the music was like as the same guy did the music for both games. The music changes in each level and becomes interactive with the way you move your blocks. On all my other PSP games, I turned off the music to save battery. It would be a crime to do this with Lumines.

Bottom Line: If you enjoyed Tetris, because believe me I've played Tetris as much as anyone, you will not be disappointed with Lumines.

Fun, addicting game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: October 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is a fun addicting game, great for on the go play which the PSP was made for. It isn't a "Killer App" so to speak, but it's a great challenge and one of the PSP's best games.

One of the Best PSP Games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: November 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Lumines is a very innovative, fun, and addicting puzzle game. The music and sound effects are exciting and immersive. The visuals are stunning. Hours fly by while you're playing this game.


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