Review: Lumines
Portable consoles and puzzle games were made to be together. Don’t believe me? Let’s see exactly why I would draw such an obvious conclusion. For starters, let’s look at history. Nintendo’s Game Boy, the first massively popular portable, came bundled with Tetris, the quintessential puzzle game. Sure, it was a game with simple graphics, suited for the Game Boy’s 4-color screen. However, the decision to include Tetris as a pack-in was also based on the gameplay. With a game such as Tetris, there’s no plot, no complex mechanics to get involved in; you simply turn on the power and start playing. Instant gratification, so to speak. When you have to stop playing (you’ve arrived at your station or something), the game can be shut off; the only thing lost would perhaps be a high score. The game was simple to understand, yet provided enough challenge for those of all levels of skill. I’ve heard tales of grandmas becoming horribly addicted.
You would expect the outcome of this to be that many puzzle games be made for portable platforms. This is true to an extent. As systems become more powerful (resulting in things such as the PSP and DS), developers will try to cram the ‘full game experience’ into any game they make for these systems. This isn’t a bad thing, per se, but what about the theory behind the puzzle game? Something that can be picked up and put down at will?
Thankfully, all is not lost. Compelling puzzle games are still being developed. One such game which I have been enjoying recently is called Lumines. Produced by <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsuya_Mizuguchi”>Tetsuya Mizuguchi</a> at <a href=”http://www.qentertainment.com/”>Q Entertainment</a>, this game has made him one of gaming’s newest celebrities. And with good reason: Lumines is as compelling as they come.
When considering puzzle games, there are a few overarching stereotypes, which invariably become clichés. Most deal with color and shape, i.e. match pieces of the same color to make them disappear. These concepts are universal, and somewhat unavoidable. The key in creating a new, interesting game is to take such concepts and add to them in an original way.
Lumines starts off with one of the puzzle clichés: squares, made up of four pieces of two different colors, fall into the play field. The player’s job is to create squares that consist of the same color. When such a square is created, it is removed by a vertical ‘timeline’ that moves horizontally across the screen. More points are gathered when lots of same-colored squares are created before the ‘timeline’ removes them all.
The concept is simple: match colors and create geometric patterns. The excitement comes from the slow, inevitable progress of the ‘timeline,’ and trying to create as many squares as possible. This means that even the beginning player can pick up the game mechanics, yet as he becomes more skilled, he can use that dexterity quickly rack up more and more points.
This dexterity comes in handy when playing the ‘Vs. CPU’ option of the game, wherein the playfield is split into two parts, one controlled by the player and the other controlled by the AI. As more squares are created and eliminated by one player, the line representing that player’s gameplay area is extended, squashing the other into a more constricted space. When one player’s game space is filled up, he or she loses.
Other styles of play are the ‘Puzzle’ mode (where the player must use falling blocks to create a design), ‘Time Attack’ (where the player tries to create/destroy as many squares as possible within a time limit), and ‘Single Skin Mode.’ In Lumines, a ‘skin’ may be vaguely associated with the idea of a ‘level.’ When the game progresses, the style of falling blocks, music, and background all change, which makes for slightly more interesting gameplay. As the player completes various sections of the game, more and more ‘skins’ will be unlocked.
The crux of all this is that the game mechanics of Lumines are simple, yet allow for depth of play. This means that it’s a fun game, and will continue to be fun even after the first few times you play it. I’m not sure that I would recommend buying a PSP simply for this game, but if you already own a PSP, there’s no reason not to pick it up. Hours of puzzling fun await.