Product Description

Lumines II is the sequel to popular puzzle-action game. Gamers control squares made of four smaller block pieces that are dropped into the playing field one at a time to form same-color squares. The vertical "timeline" sweeps across the playing field from left to right and wipes the same-color squares from the playing field. Unmatched blocks pile up, and the game ends when the pile gets to the top of the playing screen. Advance through many action-packed levels, each with its own musical theme and sound effects. Numerous new skins

• Licensed soundtrack featuring songs and music videos by today`s cutting edge musicians
• Wireless two-player local gameplay
• All new battle modes
• All new sensational 3D backgrounds
• All new and better graphics with streaming video in the background

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4269 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Disney
• Released on: 2006-11-16
• Rating: To Be Announced
• Platform: Sony PSP

Manufacturer's Description
Lumines II is the highly anticipated sequel to the extremely addictive puzzle-based video game, Lumines. To play Lumines II, gamers control squares made of four smaller block pieces that are dropped into the playing field, one at a time, to form same-colour rectangles. The vertical timeline sweeps across the playing field from left to right, and wipes the same-colour rectangles from the playing field. Unmatched blocks pile up and the game ends when the pile gets to the top of the playing screen. Advance through many action-packed levels, each with its own musical theme and sound effects.

Lumines II also features music written exclusively for the game by Japanese artist Shinichi Osawa, also known as MONDO GROSSO, who provided the opening track for the original Lumines. Tracks from Ken Ishii (DJ/producer) and TECHRIDERS, both from Japan, are also in the game. With more than 60 stylish skins, wireless two-player ad hoc gameplay, all new battle modes, sensational new 3D backgrounds, and all-new graphics and streaming video, Lumines II promises to deliver an addictive video game experience on a whole new level.

Music videos include:

• Beck Black Tambourine
• Black Eyed Peas Pump It
• Chemical Brothers Star Guitar
• Fatboy Slim Gangster Trippin'
• The Go! Team Bottle Rocket
• Gwen Stefani Hollaback Girl
• Hoobastank Born to Lead
• Junior Senior Take My Time
• Missy Elliott Lose Control
• New Order song to be determined
• Two additional songs will also appear on the game's soundtrack:
• Junkie XL Breezer
• Stigmato Inc Reality Check

Customer Reviews

Lumines 2
Lumines - another demonstration of how a simple concept, properly executed, can turn out an unbelievable game. Lumines 2 improves on it's previous incarnation by including music videos from famous artists, providing more challenges and tasks, and generally making the whole thing slightly more slicker.

For those not in the know, the challenge mode (where you'll spend most your time) has you dropping 2x2 blocks, tetris style, onto the playing area. The bloks are made of two colours in any combination. If you manage to create a 2x2 area or greater of the SAME colour, they will disappear when the time line sweeps past, earning you points. This sounds quite compliated to explain, but after a couple of goes it becomes quite intuative. Ocasionally, special blocks appear. These, when highlighted for erasion by the timeline, will also highlight same colour adjacent blocks. Giving you the opportunity to erase a larger part of the playing area.

This game is ideal for filling 10-15 minute gaps in your life. However, you will often feel the need to stop playing after a while. Only for you to be dragged back a couple of hours later. Lumines 2 is a must buy if you like puzzles of any kind, and it won't hurt your wallet very much either. If you have the original, then I wouldn't get this unless the blocks are overtaking your life.

Decent enough upgrade
To use a terrible cliche I almost want to call this Lumines 1.5

The basic game mechanics are the same and I suppose they'd have to be otherwise it wouldn't really be Lumines! The idea being to match up the 2x2 blocks of two colours so you create 2x2 blocks of the same colour which get deleted by a bar that moves to the beat of the music. The special blocks allowing you to clear sick numbers of blocks by linking them up are still here too.

If you've played Lumines 1 all this will be perfectly familiar to you.

The main additions to the game are the music videos by well know artists such as Sugababes and Gwen Stefani that play in the background. This is a mixed blessing becasure you have to wait for the song to finish for the skin to change - if you don't like the song it's tough!

The Puzzle mode is still here but as far as I can see has exactly the same puzzles as Lumines 1! Mission mode is an addition which sets tasks like clearing the screen within a certain number of passes of the deletion bar and the game gives you specific blocks to do it. Once you're familir with the game mechanics and the kind of moves you can make to get blocks off the screen then these will be relatively easy.

You can play around with the music making fuction to create your own backing tunes which is a nice addition. However, they're never going to match the pro tracks in the game due to the limited samples on offer but then again you bought it for puzzling not music making!

There is a game sharing function which I've not tried but it has to be a welcome addition meaning at least you can play a mate who doesn't also own the game. If it allows you to go head to head and the load times are reasonable this will be great.

All in all if you like Lumines then for the price Lumines 2 is a worthy addition to your collection. It will offer you more options and more importantly will give you more skins and tunes.

More of the (subliminal) same
If you liked Lumines, there's no real reason why you wouldn't like Lumines 2. The gameplay remains the same, rotate the blocks and build up chains of the same colour so that they disappear as the "refresh line" works it's way across the screen. It's simple but effective puzzler material, with no two games ending up the same.

Aside from game-sharing which allows a 2-player game without both players needing their own copy of the UMD, the big difference in Lumines 2 is the use of video on the backgrounds. A different video for each "skin" means there's plenty of variation and some are truly impressive. The first skin starts with rolling flames as a back-drop and will inspire gasps of amazement when you first play it. Progress through the challenge mode and unlock other skins, then revel in their moving backgrounds. The videos do make the game slightly harder as there is a constant battle for your attention between the gameplay and the background video.

My worry (and I could be accused of paranoia) is that the game requires you to focus on the blocks, so the moving images in the background are there without you really noticing. So it could be a great place to drop some subliminal advertising or other behavioural modifications...

Other features include a skin editor, so you can customise things and a music sequencer should you have the time and inclination but there's got to be better things to do with your life. Also included is a demo of "Every Extend Extra" which is a particularly peculiar game of indeterminate aim.

In summary, it's not much of an evolution - if you liked the original then consider this a change of scenery, nothing more.