Lumines II
One of the PSP's best titles finally gets a sequel. But can a Top 40 musical injection make the game better, or does it hurt it?
Published: December 17, 2006
The Sequencer is a fairly robust music creation mini-suite that lets you lay down beats and synth as you see fit across 8 segments. No, it's not complete freedom, and it's not as deep as something purely designed for music creation like MTV Music Generator, but that doesn't mean it's not an appreciated addition. It's just that it's not enough to make the game feel like a full-blown sequel, mainly because everything that was added is either a very minor tweak or something that seems to piggyback off another mode.
There's nothing wrong with this if it actually improves the game and Lumines II is certainly a more newbie-friendly and deeper experience. Little tweaks to things like the interface mean that both in the menus before the game and in the games themselves, things are nice and clean. The inclusion of music videos is not only a nice little nod to the UMD format's extra storage, but a rather obvious example of why being able to do something isn't exactly license to go for it. The videos can, at times, mess with the view of the main game, and that's no good. What is good is that even familiar songs have upgraded or completely redone skins. The little colored shapes are richer, often sport a level of glassy sheen, and look fantastic.
Lumines II is, without question, a game that needs to be played with headphones. Though the PSP's tinny, quiet little speakers will sort of give you the basic gist of the songs, it's a little like hearing a tune by way of the Telephone game; so much is lost along the way to your ears that it doesn't even sound like the same song. A couple of the songs I thought I hated sounded fantastic after hearing them with a set of cans around my ears, and some of the ones that I liked without headphones sounded far more passable with them off. Still, the benefits of listening to a music-driven game with that music thumping in your ears can't be understated.
In just about every way, Lumines II is a superior game to its predecessor. The interface has been cleaned up, more modes have been added, more skins, and even an editor for when you get the itch to remix. That said, it isn't necessarily as addictive as the original, but that's by virtue of the fact that for most Lumines vets, it's not that different a game. More skins are good, yes, and I'll happily take on the Mission Mode when I get tired of trying to unlock the 80 gajillion skins across the different difficulties.
What it really comes down to, though, is whether or not you dug the first game for the oft-eclectic soundtrack or the actual gameplay. If it's the latter, you'll still find plenty to love here. If it's the former, the stuff you loved is still here, but it's the meat in a Top 40 sammich (or, if you're me, the mayo on that sammich, and I'm no mayo fan). It doesn't ruin the game -- not nearly as much as I thought it would -- but it does kill a little of the slight indie vibe of the original.
Luckily, there's still enough good stuff here to warrant that anyone who still loves the original would do well to pick up the sequel. And if you haven't played the first game, well it's not going to get anymore mainstream appealing than this... at least I hope it won't.
