Reviews for Lumines II

Trance-inducing puzzle game

Strengths: Solid puzzle gameplay. Stellar soundtrack. Plenty of gameplay modes to keep you busy.

Weakness: Can't think of any.

Having never played the original Lumines for the PSP, I decided to jump right into Lumines 2 to see what I've been missing. Well, the answer I would find is: a lot. Lumines 2 offers simple tetris-like puzzle gameplay and adds in music as a key element. The result is an extremely satisfying game that will have you hypnotized for hours on end. The soundtrack is great and even plays videos of songs by artists like Black Eyed Peas and Gwen Stefani in the background. There's plenty of modes so you never feel married to one gameplay style. I never bought into the hype with the Lumines games, and feel like I've been missing out because of it. This is a must have game for PSP owners.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Lumines 2 - Very addictive game

Strengths: Gameplay, graphics, music.

Weakness: Some levels are a little too difficult

If you only have one game for your PSP, make sure this is the game. I have played this more than all my other games combined. It is like Tetris, only better. Some of the songs are a little old, but it still has an amazing soundtrack. I wish you were able to add songs. This is a definite must for any PSP owner.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Lumines 2

Strengths: New music

Weakness: Bad songs

Lumines is back. This time it's americanized. No more Japanese songs. They have included American licensed songs like the horrible Gwen Stefani's Hollaback girl. That song is annoying. Some songs in the game are good. They should have translated this game without changing any songs; Leave it as it is in Japan. Pick it up anyway since it is pretty cheap now. If you like the first, pick this one up also.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Lumines plus new music and skins equals Lumines 2. ....

Strengths: Updated presentation, quality soundtrack, licensed music for the masses, new tutorial mode

Weakness: No game play evolution, music videos in background distract, uneven difficulty, no autosave feature

Given the surprise popularity of the original Lumines as a PSP launch title, Q Entertainment quickly followed up with the inevitable sequel. Lumines 2 provides "more of the same" game play with new skins, music and modes. If you liked the original game, you'll probably like the sequel (for a few hours at least).

The trouble with Lumines 2 is that it doesn't offer much of anything new (besides some music and backgrounds) that you haven't seen before. New players will appreciate the new tutorial mode, but veteran players may lose interest after only a few hours.

Lumines 2 has already reached the coveted $20 price range, so you won't have to spend a lot to try it out. If you're happy with more of the same or simply want to try the series out, Lumines 2 provides decent value for the money and is one of the better PSP puzzle games currently available.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Same as it ever was

Strengths: New Music,Same great game play

Weakness: Same Game play, New Music has really distracting backgrounds.

I like this game, because it's pretty much the same as the the first one. I don't see how they can improve on the gameplay so thats cool. The some of the new music is cool, two songs(Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl and BEP-Pump it) are over played (not really the games fault). If you liked the first game,l you should like this one too.

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

one of the best puzzle game sequels

Strengths: New backgrounds, more unlockable content, new music

Weakness: same features gameplays as the previous game

This is one of the great puzzles for the PSP. This game is the sequel of the most entertaining puzzle game of all times in the psp. The gameplay is awesome, with rich contrast of colors makes you feel groovy. The soundtrack of each level are awesome. The new unlockable contents makes this game be played for many hours. I recommend this game for all the fans of the earlier version and also encourage the new puzzle gamers to play this awesome game.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Classic PSP Game

Strengths: unlockable content. play as long as you want. more levels. ability to create music.

Weakness: music video backgrounds.

Provides more of the same game play found in the original Lumines. Players still try to form square and rectangles, composed of mini-blocks, before a vertical bar (time line) passes through the screen. Those squares/rectangles are eliminated from the game and you play onward. There are also special star blocks that allow you to eliminate same colored blocks that are connected to it. There is still no time limit; the game is only over when the screen is completely filled. Lumines 2 features Japanese music and now licensed American music as well. Lumines 2 is chalk full of modes, levels, and stats that will keep gamers busy for a long time. New to Lumines 2 are music video backgrounds. Sometimes the music video background will make it difficult to form squares/rectangles, but it is a minor problem. Overall, Lumines 2 is a great game for PSP owners on the go.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Lumines 2

Strengths: Same gameplay as the first game

Weakness: Same gameplay as the first game

Did you like Lumines 1? Then you will probably like Lumines 2. There really isn't much difference in terms of gameplay.
Music wise ( which is one big draw to the game, admittedly) has changed a bit. Before you had Japanese quirkiness and groovability. In this new version, it seems we lost that and have included more localized artists. It really depends on your taste - personally I preferred the original, but there are some good tracks on here. Since you will basically be listening to these songs over and over, you should check out the soundtrack first to make sure you won't hate it.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

More of the same, for better or worse

Strengths: It's still basically the same as Lumines I

Weakness: Licensed music can get annoying, not much has changed at all

Lumines was a surprise at the PSP's launch-- a quirky, addictive puzzle game that had garnered little attention in the leadup to the launch suddenly became the star. I always thought the game was decent, but maybe a bit overhyped, but given its huge surprise success it's not surprising a sequel was made.

Basically, Lumines is a Tetris-like puzzle game where you are trying to match colors together using blocks of 4x4. There are only 2 colors used in each block, so it's easy right? Well, not really. The game does have a lot of depth, although I can say it never quite captured me the way it did many people. It is definitely a fun puzzler, but not the greatest game ever made.

Unfortunately, the sequel is more of a rehash. The game plays more or less the same, with a few slight tweaks (such as the speed of the bar across the playfield) and the new licensed music/videos playing in the background. In a way it seems more like an attempt to cash in making "Lumines for the Masses" than a true sequel.

The game is still mostly fun, but the effort obviously went into making it shiny and glossy, not making an improved sequel. If you absolutely loved Lumines I (and many people did!) it's at least worth a shot. However, if you're new to the Lumines world, I'd suggest picking up the original.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Lumines II

Strengths: Game looks great visually. Wide variety of music. Challenging.

Weakness: None

Overall, I think Lumines II is a great puzzle game. There are lots of puzzles and the visuals and variety of music in the game make it great. Theres a lot of stuff to unlock in the game as well. If you like puzzle games, this is a no brainer.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Puzzle Action on the PSP

Strengths: +Easy to play and pick up +nice load times +good graphics, sound +replay ability +create music

Weakness: -hard to master -some backgrounds didn’t fit well -nothing new to Lumines universe

Here are the basics to Lumines. Similar to a game like Tetris, colored boxes, each composed of 4 mini squares, drop onto the screen. The goal of the game is to arrange those 4 mini squares into a box of the same color before a vertical bar crosses over it. When the vertical bar, time line, crosses over a 4 same colored mini square, it will disappear from the screen. There is no time limit and the game is over when the boxes reach the top. Before boxes land on the screen players can adjust their orientation with the x button.

Scores are determined by the amount of boxes players create before the time line passes one full round. Load times, graphics, and sound were superb. Players have the option of editing music to create there own custom tunes, however I found it too difficult for me. For those still unsure, I suggest playing the demo that can be found through internet searching.

In closing puzzle enthusiasts and psp owners will love Lumines 2. Lumines 2 is available at most retailers at a very affordable price so I suggest everyone try the game out.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

an addictive puzzle game!

Strengths: + new unlockable music tracks + new unlockable skins for levels

Weakness: - for a new comer this game may seem a bit hard - this is a puzzle game of course there is no story to be found!

If you have played the original Lumines you may found Lumines 2 more of the same or better yet to be improved. Simple gameplay here you basically clear each block by matching 4 blocks that are the same color. There are tons of ways to clear each stage wheater you are going for speed or trying to rack up combo bonues for each block you clear. By advancing onto each stage you are given a new soundtrack most of these songs are a variety of rock, RnB and other pop sounds. The wallpapers will change as well once you advance on.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Lumines II (PSP)

Strengths: Great game, challenging.

Weakness: Music gets repetetive

This is a great game for the PS2, it's incredibly addicting. It's very challenging...almost sometimes too challenging...but that's what makes it so playable for such an extended period of time. A lot of games start good and then go away, this one stays strong for a long time.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

great puzzle game

Strengths: addicting, lots of skins/music, lots of replay value, more modes

Weakness: no changes to gameplay, more of the same

Lumines 2 is a great puzzle game for the PSP, packing with lots of skins (around 100) and lots of replay value. It's more of the same so if you already have the first game, you may want to think twice about purchasing this. If you're a hardcore Lumines fan or have not played Lumines before, this is the game to get.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Stagnation mars debut

Strengths: Same qualities back with a nicer sheen BUT

Weakness: Nicer sheen belittles innovation - additions subtract from the product; commercialized

Franchises, once established, are loathed to give up their endearing qualities of what made them so great. Sometimes though, that myopic viewpoint is co-opted by the publisher to introduce superfluous additions that distract from the overall gameplay. Lumines 2 is a sterling example of an attempt that went astray.

Lumines is very engaging for newcomers or returning players. Hypnotic, simple and complex, and visceral are adjectives that all describe the game well. The menus have also gone a costmetic upgrades. Sliding animations, smooth transitions have been introduced to give it a modern outtake--not to say that the original one was archaic-- but this rendition just polishes it all up.

You would think that all that polish would clean up most of the things that carry the game but the needless additions to the underlying engine lacks innovation. Music videos are a sidebar to the static gameplay. If they had just taken a look at DJ Max, they could have introduced some of those elements but instead, devoting needless copyrights to music videos squandered all those resources that could have gone to the coding team.

Lumines hit critical mass with hardcore gamers looking for a lightweight but mentally complex refinement of the puzzle genre. Instead of pursuing and maintaing that pace, it reverted backwards to placating the lowest common denomintor by introducing needless MTV-ized distractions. hopefully Q games reboots the franchise if they ever make more editions.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Lumines II Review

Strengths: Simple, yet addicting gameplay. Tons of unlockables and a few licensed tracks are included.

Weakness: Depending on the skin, some blocks are difficult to see and concentrate on.

For those who have played the original Lumines, the gameplay essentially remains the same but with more replay value. Overall it's a good game to keep around even for short 10-15 minute sessions.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Lumines 2

Testseek.com has collected 8 expert reviews for Lumines 2 and the average expert rating is 80 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use Testseek.com to see all ratings, product awards and conclusions.

Read Full Review

Lumines II

Lumines II receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS rating of 3.32 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #1,144 game of all time, #11 game of 2006 for the PlayStation Portable and #28 PlayStation Portable game of all time. The rating and ranking is based on an average of 57 critic scores, awards and other criteria. To see a breakdown of the game ranking, read individual critic reviews, or see how other games...

Read Full Review

Lumines II

Puzzle games are a unique genre in the gaming industry. Casual gamers plunk away their dollars by the truckload on countless puzzle games each year. It seems a new legend in the puzzle genre seems to pop up every few years that attracts hardcore gamers along with casual gamers. The first Lumines game for the PSP was a trendsetter for the PSP and in the puzzle genre. The amazing visual...

Read Full Review