Lumines Review for PSP

Every portable games machine needs a puzzle game. That’s been the law since the original Nintendo Gameboy shipped with Tetris. And since that moment, no game has truly measured up to that stroke of genius from Nintendo. Lumines comes close, so in that regard it’s a great accomplishment. Silver place on the podium is as far as it will reach though.

The principle, as allways, is pretty simple. Take a grid that’s 15 sqaures long, and drop groups of 2×2 squares into the field. The squares can be one of two colours. If the blocks of colours make up rectangels of at least 2×2 in size, they dissappeare. And that’s all there is to it. So, with great skill, the game can go on for a very long time. and that’s one of the problems with Lumines. It takes too long. To unlock levels (or skins as the graphcis and art department insist on calling them) always means starting at level one, even if you’ve passed thirty levels and it takes you 90 minutes to reach level 31, there’s no jumping ahead.

Which is great if you’re having a long soak in the bath, or flying across the Atlantic, but not so great if you just need five or ten minutes of a diversion. Which is where the puzzles and time challenges come in. These two variants respectivly let you see how many squares you canmake in 60 seconds, 3000 seconds or 600 seconds (for the timed) or challenge you to make a shape with your falling blocks. Both of which are enjoyable, and I find the timed games both relaxing and adrenaline fuelled fun at the same time.

Lumines should be in your collection, because the one fault aside, it is a genuinly refreshing falling block game, it has dulltimes, fast times, and excitement. With over a million copies sold, it’s also as popular as cheesecake, and your best bet at finding someone for a multiplayer game over wi-fi.

Tags: psp, psp review, lumines, ubisoft, tetris, puzzle game, psp platinumq entertainment