Game Zone: Playing Every Lumines Game
In anticipation of Lumines Arise arriving this year, I decided to speedrun through the mainline Lumines games that are still available to play. I am skipping the mobile ports, since I can't be bothered to figure out how to emulate them, and Lumines Live!, since I don't have any XBOX-related hardware to play it on. This list will go in chronological order. The gameplay is virtually the same for all of them, create as many 2x2 blocks before the timeline erases them for big points, so I won't really talk about it unless they introduce a new mechanic to it. Thank you to Azul specifically for getting me into this wonderful music-driven masterpiece.
Lumines: Puzzle Fusion (2004)
The one that started it all. It's as simple as you can imagine, but it has all the staples of the franchise. You've got the main challenge mode to earn the skins and the ever challenging .vs CPU mode to really push your expertise. Puzzle mode is also a great time, short and sweet with an added Double Puzzles if you're up to the task. Other than using your earned skins on the Single Skin mode, you're not going to find any game completion progress to satisfy that urge. However, it's the emphasis on style, music, groove, and rhythm that really massages the brain. The music is responsive to your every movement. The increasing speed flexes your timing reflexes. The transition between visuals keeps the vibrancy alive even after a few hours.
It's a beautiful marriage of game and music, and the few licensed tracks snuggle in so seamlessly, too. It's a game that takes advantage of the portable medium of the PSP, where short bursts of gameplay will keep you coming back even if you may not the best at it. I would still recommend seeking out a copy of the original to emulate if you're a fan of the series, even if the remastered port and the later entries would improve upon the formula.
★★★⯪☆ (3.5/5)
Lumines II (2006)
Some may argue the vibe of this game doesn't hold up to the original but I think they made a lot of smart moves with the sequel. First of all, we've got a Mission Mode now, an expansion of Puzzle Mode, and an overhaul of the Challenge Mode. There are varying difficulties now, and each come with their own playlist of skins to unlock. The overhaul of the menu UI for something more colorful is a welcome change. Mostly all the skins from the first game return and we get a lot of licensed music specifically curated for the game. I don't think any other game has you clear squares to the beat of Black Eyed Peas' "Pump It" and Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" and we are blessed for it.
Does the licensed songs age the game? Yes, but I love that they're not simply plopped to a generic background and they include their respective music videos. There is one more mode, Sequencer Mode, which is more of a curiosity to my eyes. You create MIDI tunes that you can add as custom skins for the playlist mode, but I find it hard to say if this was needed. The game and manual don't bother explaining how this works, so you get out what you put in. As a fantastic follow-up to the original, Lumines II has enough exclusive music and content to warrant a revisit. I would even recommend this as a good entry point.
★★★★☆ (4/5)
Lumines Plus (2007)
It's the original Lumines, but now on the PS2! That initially sounds exciting until you peek under the hood. A majority of the licensed music is gone, but you do get most of the original soundtrack from Lumines II. However, all of the additions from II are absent except for the Puzzle Mode expansion. The loading times are noticeably longer and the vibrancy of the PSP graphics doesn't fully translate to the PS2.
It's still the same Lumines game experience, but for a game that should be getting a well-deserved console makeover, that "Plus" in the title starts shrinking exponentially. Still, if you have the PS2 and want an extra puzzle game to your library, it's far from a waste of time.
★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Lumines Supernova (2008)
Lumines Supernova is a really great follow-up for the PS3 with some bizarre kinks. Of course, we get exclusive skins and newer, higher-resolution visuals. The introduction of Digdown Mode comes from this game, where you clear pre-loaded blocks in order to "dig down" to lower levels. It's a cute mode to train your brain to clear squares downward, but there's no prize to attain. The Puzzle and Missions Modes are back as well as an expanded version of Sequencer, but the removal of a .vs CPU mode is a strange choice indeed. There's also a lack of an online multiplayer mode, though I would call it negligible as Lumines can traditionally be enjoyed as a single-player experience. There's a new menu UI for Supernova and while I do like the flowchart icons and the overall look, I think they could have done better than a boring grey screen.
A big thing one will notice is the lack of licensed music (other than the LittleBigPlanet inclusion) yet the array of new original content more than makes up for it. The included DLCs add in a boatload of songs from the original Lumines in the Classic Pack and new content in the Holiday Pack. The Holiday Pack in specific is one of my favorites of this game. I personally love games that include Christmas or Halloween themes, making them easy contenders for my holiday rotation. In terms of gameplay, there is no radical changes. It's the same quirky and extravagantly weird look from Lumines you'd enjoy and it looks crisp on the big TV. Overall, this is the well-deserved console treatment that Lumines Plus should have been, and the two DLC packs that come with it make this game well worth the play.
★★★⯪☆ (3.5/5)
Lumines Electronic Symphony (2012)
Lumines' latest entry is back on a portable handheld, and it's the trickiest to assess for me. On the one hand, I welcome the new features and gameplay elements it introduces. Challenge is renamed to Voyage (Voy-yahj) where difficulty and speed fluctuate between stages rather than being a simple increase. Master mode has you clear blocks at break-necking pace. The World Block function is a nice way to have players online work toward a common goal, and it's still functional as of this writing. Skins and avatars are unlocked through an XP system rather than completing certain modes, and the avatar themselves have special abilities based on single or multiplayer use. Now comes the other hand. I'm not a fan of losing vs. CPU, Puzzle, and Mission modes. The game loses a lot of re-play-ability off the bat, which is ironic given that the XP system is supposed to encourage you to play more. The introduction of the Chain block is a brilliant replacement for the Special block, but the Shuffle block is the biggest stinker. It removes all strategy in favor of luck when it comes to clearing squares (though I will have to concede it did save my butt in a pinch a couple times). Electronic Symphony is heavily focused on licensed music compared to Supernova. Your mileage will vary on the quality of the licensed music but I don't think they're as timeless and well-implemented as in Lumines II.
As for graphics, I love that the blocks have a 3D look to them though I'm not a fan of the fishbowl effect of the playing field. It hyper-focuses on the center of the playing field, and it's very easy to lose track of the left and right ends. I do however love how beautiful the visuals are, the animation on the blocks themselves are a visual treat. I really do want to love this game but the lack of staple modes, the bizarre changes to gameplay, and a mediocre soundtrack prevent me from calling this more than great. I wouldn't skip this one though, I would consider it one of the more visually stunning games in the series.
★★★⯪☆ (3.5/5)
Lumines Remastered (2018)
This was my introduction to the series, and is the most readily available to play. Lumines is completely revamped from the menu UI to the playing field and the timeline screen during gameplay. Everything is much more vibrant and there's a lot more moving graphics both in background and foreground. The controller vibrates to the tempo of the music, too, which is a simple yet effective method of immersion. Speaking of the music, the songs sound better and richer than its PSP predecessor, and it includes all the licensed music. Aside from the Sequencer mode, pretty much everything from Lumines II is ported as well. The biggest change any fan will notice is the replacement of the Special block with the Chain block from Electronic Symphony, which is a choice I very much like.
I don't think there really is much to complain with this remaster, it's an incredibly solid and masterful modernization of the original game. Even the question of portability is answered if you buy the Switch version. I would highly recommend this as an entry point to the series as we prepare for the launch of the new game.