Lumines was one of the early success stories for the PSP, with it being hailed as the platform's Tetris, just as essential and just as addictive. Q Entertainment has followed up this success with the almost inevitable sequel, Lumines II. Once again, you are tasked with destroying blocks that drop from the top of the screen by aligning them to make squares of the same colour. If you don't destroy the blocks quickly enough, and they reach to top of the screen, it's game over.
This all sounds simple enough, but the allure of Lumines is the way the music playing in the background reacts to what you do on screen, each sound effect from spinning and dropping blocks to them clearing away fits in with the music and enhances the mood of the game. You will find yourself subconsciously moving the blocks in time to the music. On later levels, this effect is used against you to make progress harder: fast-moving blocks coupled with slow music leaves your brain struggling, because you are working against the music.
Lumines II expands on the original game by offering big name licensed music and video to accompany the game, with tracks by Fatboy Slim, Beck, Black Eyed Peas and more. Lumines II also has more ways to play than the first game, with mission modes, puzzle modes, the main challenge mode and even multi-player battle modes where you play against either a CPU player or a friend over the ad-hoc wi-fi network. You can also manipulate the playlist of the game, basically ordering the skins as you wish, once they are unlocked. You can share your playlists with other PSPs, again using wi-fi.
Lumines was one of the best puzzle games for the PSP when it launched. Lumines II continues that tradition and will doubtless ensnare a new set of devotees with its eclectic mix of sound, video and puzzling.