Reviewed by Nebagram, January 24th 2006

Remember Rez? No? I'm saddened, but I'm not surprised. here's why: very few people ever played it, beyond a demo anyway. It was a game for the Dreamcast/PS2 where you flew along a computer matrix, shooting computer defense mechanisms and creating light and sound as you did so. Sound funky? Hell yeah it was.

It was produced by a guy named Tetsuya Mizuguchi, who also produced Space Channel 5 for Sega. Apparently Mizuguchi-san was hit on the head one day by one of his many funky music CDs, followed closely by a copy of Lumines, for not much later he was to be found at Q Entertainment creating possibly the most immersive puzzle experience yet in this little game we call Lumines.

Published by Ubisoft in the west, Lumines is a game much like Tetris. A 2x2 square block, comprised of two different colours, falls from the sky into your pile, and you have to group the two colours (just 2, no more, no less) into solid 2x2 blocks of colour. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Well, yes it is, that's as complicated as the gameplay gets.

Lumines's strength, as with Rez's, come from its perfect visual and audible harmony. Every block you drop produces a sound. Clear blocks to create more sounds. Clear vast rafts of blocks at a time, and the whole thing turns into a techno heaven. The background pulsates in time with the music, so everything you do on the basic field of play affects your overall playing experience.

That's not all there is to the game, though- challenge mode gives you a virtually never-ending supply of blocks and ever-changing skins to play through. Playtimes of over 2 hours have been recorded on many occasions in this mode. If you're in a hurry, set time limits of 1, 3, 5 and 10 minutes are available, there's a puzzle mode where you're tasked to create a certain shape within a time limit, shapes that vary from a simple cross to ever-more varying patterns as the difficulty increases. Oh, and let's not forget the 2-player wireless battle mode, either!

If you liked Tetris you'll love Lumines, it's as simple as that. The simplicity of the gameplay and the complexity of the music and graphics are the perfect combination. Obviously, if puzzlers aren't your bag, then there's nothing for you here, and if you lack the patience to hammer away at challenge mode you might be put off, but on the whole, Lumines is a highly recommended purchase. Rent it first if you feel you have to, but I certainly didn't, and I certainly don't regret it.

Mizuguchi-san, I salute you.

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