Lumines was one of the first PSP titles that really offered something unique to the platform. When it first launched you couldn't find the game on any other system and its techno-infused puzzles were as hypnotic in their rhythm as the game was addictive in its gameplay. Time travel a year or two into the future and BAM, there's a Lumines version on almost every platform, including a mobile/cellphone version. The latest addition to the series is Lumines Supernova, which is available on PlayStation Network.
The premise is pretty simple – like tetris, blocks fall from the top of the screen and need to be ordered in such a fashion as to prevent the blocks from piling through the “roof” of the game screen. However, instead of interlocking shapes like tetris, all the blocks in Lumines are 2x2 squares, and it's when you match up four or more squares of the same color that the blocks disappear.
Multiplayer is Supernova is more of an afterthought, allowing you to play 2p competitive multiplayer, but only locally. It's kind of strange for a game that doesn't seem to be all that computationally demanding to be limited to local multiplay, but that's the direction Q Entertainment has chosen. Maybe it's a timeframe thing, but I'd be more inclined to believe it's a microtransaction-waiting-to-happen thing (which would kind of suck.) In either case, playing locally is still a lot of fun and as a puzzle game it's geared more towards the single player experience anyway.
Modes are pretty similar to what you've seen before – there are challenge modes, time attack modes, and Free Play, as well as a puzzle mode in which you make different shapes with your blocks. The new Dig Dug mode (it's actually “Dig Down”, but Dig Dug sounds cooler) has you complete challenges within a given timeframe, progressing as you complete said levels. It makes single player much less repetitive, which is definitely a possibility if you've been playing the series since its inception.
The audio is one of Lumines Supernova's best characteristics as it's a combination of a background beat with user generated tones created by moving and rotating the blocks (which is necessary to align the block's colors properly.) When mixed together it creates some pretty impressive tracks that are not unlike REZ's trance beats. The line-up of DJs and musicians that contributed to the game is pretty extensive too, so for those of you into that genre of music, you'll most definitely hear something you recognize.
Increasing the longevity of the Lumines experience, Supernova also includes a sequencer where you can create your own tracks. It's pretty limited, but offers enough variance to make some pretty unique tracks. If memory serves, there are 5 different “tone” categories (drums, bass, etc.), each with 20 different beats to select from and you can arrange those beat in tracks of about 20 units in length. You place selected sound loops in the sequences you want, essentially giving you an exponential amount of variety… I may be making it sound unnecessarily confusing, but it's actually really easy to get the hang of.
From a pure game perspective, Tetris still owns the puzzle genre. Even in multiplayer the Russian wonder has lasted decades and still manages to pull me in whenever I come across a version of it. That said, Lumines is a close second; the music enhanced gameplay draws you in exceptionally well for a game that's this simple and the multitude of different skins and challenges makes picking-up and playing frightfully easy. The real question is if it's worth the $15 entry fee; fortunately those who have a previous version will know whether or not they want more of the same gameplay that Supernova offers and those that have yet to experience Lumines owe it to themselves to play this 1080p / 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound definitive version.
