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Lumines II pops out soundtrack

Sequel to Mizuguchi's PSP puzzler to feature songs and videos from Beck, Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani, and more.

Lumines II

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Lumines, the popular PlayStation Portable puzzle game released early last year, was a favorite with fans not only for its challenging gameplay, but also for its psychedelic visuals and diverse soundtrack. But because it was full of Japanese pop, electronic music from the Far East, and a few original tracks, North American fans weren't always clued in to what they were listening to.

That won't be the case with Lumines II, set for release on the PSP in November. Buena Vista Games, which picked up the rights to publish four games from developer Q Entertainment, today released the game's soundtrack, and it features some of music's most popular acts.

Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" leads the charge, clearly taking the puzzle game into new cross-promotional ground. Missy Elliot's "Lose Control" and Beck's "Black Tambourine" also add a fair amount of oomph to the soundtrack, while Fatboy Slim's "Gangster Trippin'" and the Chemical Brothers' "Star Guitar" add the thumps. Game-soundtrack vet and top-40 mainstay Black Eyed Peas add "Pump It," while some indie cred is provided by the hip-hop/rock cheerleader outfit The Go! Team ("Bottle Rocket").

Unlike other game soundtracks, Lumines II is giving its musical contributors a chance to show off their visual goods by including music videos as the game's backdrops. The same will be the case with Lumines Live! for the Xbox 360, which has been shown with the music and a video from the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna.

The game hasn't been completely Americanized, however. Returning to provide new songs to Lumines II will be Japanese artists Mondo Grosso, Techriders, and Ken Ishii.

For more info on Lumines II, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

Artists with songs and videos:

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--TBD

Artists with songs only:

Junkie XL--"Breezer"
Stigmato Inc--"Reality Check"

85 Comments

  • cesarotromundo

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 1:11 am GMT

    im glad they put some variety in the game.. its ok if players dont like ALL the songs I mean, there is always an annoying song....and whoever said MTV is bad, u shouldnt make an opinion like that... it is up to the watcher to decide if he/she likes it or not.

  • willripyouanew1

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 4:33 pm GMT

    So.... the price could've been cheaper, now thanks to some jack.*ss, people are gonna have to pay extra for the music/artist Licencing, dumb A*ses

  • KnightsofRound

    Posted Jul 24, 2006 10:34 pm GMT

    This will be one of the worst sequels in history I reckon.

  • mrshorty16

    Posted Jul 23, 2006 9:09 am GMT

    Wow, I can't believe the negative reaction! I was so happy to see this soundtrack list! I mean come on, Chemical Brothers? This is PERFECT!!! So happy.

  • DeathgiverX

    Posted Jul 22, 2006 7:06 pm GMT

    Say it with me: CUSTOM SOUNDTRACKS!!! Pretty sure Microsoft boasted about that alot with the 360 so why are they not making it a big deal with their games? Oh, and I would take any Japanese song in Lumines over the monotony of American music.

  • LINK2K9

    Posted Jul 22, 2006 2:31 am GMT

    Man, somewhere in the back of my head, I knew Lumines II would have some crappy songs, shame it came true. The only song I like is Black Tambourine bu Beck, and even then I rarely listen to it.

    Damn, I guess I may just stick to the first Lumines. Hopefully, Lumines Live! will have a much better soundtrack.

  • ghangiskhan1

    Posted Jul 21, 2006 9:23 pm GMT

    C'mon, who needs liscensed soundtracks if the songs are no good?
    Give us Death Cab for Cutie and Mates of State instead.

  • Hekynn

    Posted Jul 20, 2006 11:43 am GMT

    They should let us use our atrac playlist we use on our psp's for both lumines =) pardon bad typing today =)

  • Cloud14356

    Posted Jul 20, 2006 6:18 am GMT

    wow if i get this i think ill keep my volume all the way down

  • RadLink5

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 7:31 pm GMT

    Ho-lee-crap. This will be a travesty. It's hard to get into a puzzle game without the right music, and few American music genres are the right music. What's worse, none of those genres are in the game. Lumines 2 better have SOMETHING over Lumines 1 if it wants to sell. >_

  • solidusScott

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 3:39 pm GMT

    i would take shake your body over all of this crap anyday.

  • Smow117

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 3:21 pm GMT

    Good call by Q. Sure there are a FEW songs that I dont realy look forward to but I can easily get over it. We should probaly look forward to the Japanese music in VS CPU Mode.

  • RIanousuke

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 2:52 pm GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • No_Gecko

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 12:11 pm GMT

    well I won't be getting Lumines II Beck and Hoobastank are OK but Hollaback girl is second on my annoying song hit list right under "my humps"

    DAMN YOU "MY HUMPS"!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Coby7

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 11:15 am GMT

    What is going to new/different in Lumines 2 from the first one? I still like the the first version. Aside from the horrible music selection, I can only see the second version being "Lumines 1: Annoying Music Edition"

  • ssjtrunks6

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 7:55 am GMT

    Its only music, not gameplay, gameplay is my only target

  • faridmon

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 7:37 am GMT

    now who wants gwen stefani, in norway i got tired of her music, she suck, and R'B crap, i want AsianKongfu Geniration and Orange Range.

  • mrzero1982pt2

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 6:16 am GMT

    i just think mondo grosso should annihilate this stk. go buy next wave and listen to that entire cd!!!! track 14 which i call the "unknown japanese track" will blow you away. so yes, i will be praying to the gaming gods that there is some memory stick reading capability, but knowing those idiots, they want every bit of money known to man, so you wont have a choice but to listen to this crap. i hear it enough because my sister has some of their cds......and i have gwen stefani's cd and hollaback girl is only decent for the first 40 seconds....someone shoot me now

  • ukpet_anime

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 2:40 am GMT

    Definetly agree uwillbow2me+Yagami-Iori!
    R 'n B trash for one of the best psp's sequels..waste of time. I too would like to see the possible option for having your memory stick read for songs with some random background for the video

  • TetsuDC

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 9:57 pm GMT

    I really don't want to play a game with such music, so I probably won't get it. I bet some people will love this music, but it kills the game for me. I really wanted some weird music to go with the game, not pop tracks that I dislike with videos of the "artists". So yeah, unless there's a way to avoid these tracks (and don't give me the "mute it" thing, it's stupid, a big part of the fun is the music) I probably won't get it.

    (To be fair, Star Guitar could be great there)

  • nintendorocks

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 8:15 pm GMT

    Woah...I don't know if this is a good idea. I mean sure this is some very popular American music but most people who bought Lumines don't listen to this kind of music. I found the Japanesse soundtrack pretty nice and different. But, whatever, it's just a soundtrack.

    TitanTilDaEnd- LOL I don't think they would put metal in Lumines. That doesn't seem to fit. Don't ya think?

  • Striker426

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 7:43 pm GMT

    Those are only a few of the songs. I'll reserve my final judgement until I play the game. I have faith in Mizuguchi, and I don't think he would let any of his games go to crap, but we'll see.

  • TitanTilDaEnd

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 7:10 pm GMT

    wow....i listen to just about none of those songs...maybe they should think about some metal....

  • solidusScott

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 6:40 pm GMT

    gay gay and gay! i dont want this game no more! it looks like ill be deleting my current lumines save when this comes out and just start all over again.

  • kriboy

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 5:56 pm GMT

    crap!!!!!! I loved japanese soundtrack and now they are americanizing this game. No, no, no. That's sucky, garbage soundtrack, I tell you.

  • AdamPA1006

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 5:54 pm GMT

    Guys give it a chance I think "Pump it" will be a great song to play Lumines too. Download it and listen, this will be a great game.

  • gnbfd

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 5:25 pm GMT

    WOW. That's a great soundtrack, but I could buy Madden NFL 07 & get twice as many songs.

  • XManTMG

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 5:13 pm GMT

    IMO..taking out Hooba..putting in Downy. Maybe add Blue Man Group, Del - Deltron 3030, Dredg, Cibo Matto, Gorillaz, Radiohead, Kinky, Neptunes, NiN, and Crystal Method would be my preference.

  • PiMacleod_basic

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 5:03 pm GMT

    To he who said 'Ain't is not a word' --- look it up. Yep, Mr Webster says it is. In that case then, you AINT correct! oh SNAP!

    But seriously, to those that think this isn't American music -- listen to the radio. Yeah, that's what people like these days. MTV/BET is full of it. Face it -- this is your music. Listening to anything else is nearly considered indie band or underground music. or internet music. And this right here is coming to you from Detroit -- a major component of music.

    I'm not saying I agree with the list....but that's just the way the cookie crumbles...or the game. With that being said, I'm still getting the XBX Live version. Lumines is too cool to let a soundtrack ruin it -- plus I can listen to my own music because of my 360. Booyah!

  • XManTMG

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 4:39 pm GMT

    I'll be one of the first to buy this. I have so much respect for Beck. I can't believe their soundtrack..it's like what I have on my PC...excluding The Go Team, Junior Senior, and Stigmato...I've never heard of 'em.

  • vaejas

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 4:09 pm GMT

    Whoops, you bwoke it!

  • aglett

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 3:50 pm GMT

    Wow. That sounds like a terrible idea. Unless they come up with a really creative, non-repetitive way to play the music, the game will get old fast.

    This game just went from pre-order to wait-n-see.

  • ice_rocman

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 3:39 pm GMT

    Wtf is this? One of the FEW good games out for PSP and they screw up it's sequel. Nice job. Nice f**king job.

  • Xanog1

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 3:10 pm GMT



    I was excited about seeing the sequel to such a great game, but with a track list as awful as this, I think I'll skip out on it.

  • FrenziedRaldo24

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 2:25 pm GMT

    Personally I think all of those songs are mediocre.
    I'm still buying this though. I hope all of the skins wont have equally repulsive music.

  • shasam712

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 2:03 pm GMT

    Some western music is kind of a good idea, but they could have selected some songs that were really good and showed musical talent. Beck is ok, as are the Chemical brothers, Fat bot slim and the go! team. But all the others arn't good examples of our music scene.

  • Tootall

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 1:49 pm GMT

    I can't believe this, it feels as if i lost something dear to me, i loved the first game, i even imported the soundtrack, and to hear such things.... i can't even describe how pissed i am, what a dissapointment, they better not do the same with every extend extra.

  • SnowFarmer

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 1:45 pm GMT

    Heh, well that settles it I'm passing on this one. I'm not paying full price for what is pretty much a new set of skins and crappy popular music.

  • michaelbiehn

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 1:44 pm GMT

    They runied Lumines.

  • YPRikku

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 1:37 pm GMT

    Ain't, is not a word.

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 1:26 pm GMT

    cool they got missy

  • rokkuman09

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 1:21 pm GMT

    YPRIkku Japanese music aint craptacular *gasp* sucky music now!!

  • assassinX01

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 1:14 pm GMT

    i so had better be able to skip the gwen steffani song. . .

  • YPRikku

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 1:08 pm GMT

    YAAA MISSY ELLIOT! No more of that craptacular Japanese stuff.

  • CJL182

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 1:01 pm GMT

    I hope the US and Japan gets different versions, so we can all import a Japanese copy =)

  • akilshohen

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 12:40 pm GMT

    only song I like on the list that I've heard is the missy song. A plus, but not something to buy the game over.

  • Jxy

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 12:33 pm GMT

    mrzero1982's got the right idea. Don't support this garbage. Import the real game from Japan. Will it send a message to BV Games? No, probably not. But you'll have an actually playable version of Lumines II.

  • neozero9731

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 12:20 pm GMT

    Come on isn't all that bad, I think there is enough UMD capacity to keep a lot of the Japanese songs of Lumines and add more songs, at least I like to think that if I don't want to see Gwen I can just turn off is skin and keep the classic Lumines look.

  • T_U_M_E_G

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 12:19 pm GMT

    LOL at gmangw's comment

  • mrzero1982pt2

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 12:17 pm GMT

    yall know what time it is folks. one of three things. one buy craploads of japanese music(i bought mondo grosso's entire cd catalog and it cost me over 150 bucks) and play it on mute. 2, boycott the game altogether, or 3, flood bvgames (not Q! they have nothing to do with it! lumines 2 japan and lumines 2 here are 2 different games!!!!) with our distaste and disdain for making lumines 2 lumines "mtv" or we could always utilize the psp for what it really is good for, non lockout games! just spend the extra 10 bucks next month or sept when it comes out in japan, hit up liksang.com and buy it that way! that way, bv games will get no money!!!

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