I loved the original Lumines. I didn't buy my PSP until it had been around for nearly a year, and by then I was able to pick up Lumines for $12. In fact, the low price and the high Gamespot review were basically the only reasons why I bought Lumines. And I'm still glad I did, because even though I have played other games more frequently on my PSP, I've never really had a bad time playing Lumines---it's perfectly portable, very slick in presentation, and FILLED with new levels and music. Lumines 2 does all of those things, and keeps the core gameplay completely unchanged, adding new features and PLENTY of new levels and music at the same time. You couldn't really mess with the gameplay and still call the game "Lumines". The blocks still come down in groups of 4 squares in two colors, and you still have to match up at least a 4-square of the same color to eliminate those blocks, and of course it's all still based on the positioning of the moving timeline. So what could a sequel possibly offer? Different colors? Yep. Just like in Lumines, the difference in the levels basically comes down to changing the two colors of the blocks, the background image or theme, and the music. And just like the original Lumines, getting to those new levels is still exciting and fun. There is definitely a lot more variety in the levels than we got from the original Lumines, but the fundamental changes are still the same----colors, music, and theme. In other words, the shapes remain the same size, the board or grid remains the same, your blocks don't disappear and other blocks aren't added onto them just for getting to the next level, etc. In the simplest terms, the core gameplay of Lumines has always been so good and pure that the only way to really make it any more interesting without damaging the gameplay is to change the "skin" of the level. What else does Lumines 2 do better? A tutorial! My brother never did get into Lumines, but his girlfriend mastered it while we would play PS2 and XBOX games. But with the tutorial, there's no excuse. It's not interactive, but since the gameplay is so simple, all it takes is a few pictures to show you some very useful strategies that people simply wouldn't intuitively pick-up on after playing for the first time. There's also a mission mode, which basically has you performing very simple drops (usually just one or two blocks) to remove certain other blocks, and you could probably say the mission mode is an interactive tutorial. It works great, and it's a teriffic way to get new people into the game. I wish there would have been more missions included in the game, but then again, the mission mode covers virtually every strategy you'll use in the main game anyway. Plus there are new difficulty levels this time around, so if you think you "mastered" the original Lumines, the sequel will give you plenty to sink your teeth into.
The music was always one of the most memorable and notable achievements of the original Lumines. And while Lumines 2 does have a ton of music, it's hard to say if it's "better" than the original. First of all, there are over a dozen licensed songs, accompanied by their respective videos playing in the background. Kinda cool, right? Mmmm, no, not really. While the videos aren't distracting from the gameplay, they are somewhat useless just because you can't watch the videos and play the game simultaneously. And it's only worth noting because the original levels in both Lumines games are so pure and clean and stylized-------throwing in a music video seems a bit out of place. Not only that, but the licensed music picks aren't all that great, depending on your tastes. You might love the Black Eyed Peas, but their video is on one of the first levels, and it's for a song I had already been sick of just from the Best Buy commercial they used the same song in. If you played the original Lumines you know what that means-------you're going to see that video a LOT every time you're playing to unlock new levels/skins. It wouldn't be a complaint if the original Lumines and practically all of the original Lumines 2 levels and music were so good that they never felt repetitive. But as it stands, and if it were up to me, the video levels would have been better-served as an option rather than a theme for the levels. Or if you could put YOUR OWN videos on the memory stick and play them in the background, that might be a cool feature. Otherwise, repitition is going to reveal itself, and hopefully you can get beyond that and enjoy the experience enough to access the higher levels. Online play? Missing! D'oh! Who wouldn't want to play Lumines online?! Lumines is such a perfect game for a portable platform, and it's not just sad but also surprising that the online play isn't there this time around. You can still play ad-hoc, and there are a few modes, but it's hard to be excited about them with the absence of online play. Bottom line? Will this sell more PSP's? No, I don't think so. But if you have a PSP and you didn't play Lumines, you can pick up Lumines 2 for less than $30 and you can enjoy the benefit of the tutorials and mission modes, plus a wider variety of level designs. As for me, I'm thrilled with bliss from picking up Lumines 2, and I can't wait to unlock the rest of the levels. The gameplay istelf is still just as pure, simple, and rewarding as the original, and the new levels are reason enough for me to be happy I only wish I could get the Black Eyed Peas song out of my head...
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