Best Game Ever – Lumines 2

When deciding upon which system to purchase next, many people will look for that one game to satisfy their needs almost immediately. Xbox had Halo and GameCube had Smash Bros. Melee. Well, you can add Lumines 2 for the PSP to that list. I’m here to tell you that you should buy a PSP for Lumines 2. Even if you never play another PSP game, you would still have spent your money wisely.

You’re probably asking yourself, “What makes Lumines 2 so special?” Well I’ll tell you, smartypants. Lumines 2, although somewhat of a Tetris clone, does some amazing things with its sound design. Things that I can say, without hesitation, are perfect examples of art within games. There are moments in Lumines 2 that I did not think could be created in a video game. Moments that easily making it one of the best games I’ve ever played in my entire life.

From the outside, Lumines 2 is a puzzle game that loosely resembles Tetris, with blocks falling down into a well, where the player must get rid of them to stay alive. The interesting twist in Lumines is that you have two colors that you must incorporate into your strategy. To get rid of blocks, you create a square made out of four same-colored blocks through the rotation and placement of the randomly chosen blocks that the game gives you. Once you start with that initial square, you’re able to add more blocks to it, creating an even bigger shape in the process.

To get rid of the newly-formed geometric shape, there is a bar that moves continuously across the screen, wiping away any of the squares that you’ve formed. This is also the major mechanic contributing to the game’s difficulty; the bar will sometimes move very slowly, while at other times move extremely quickly, depending on which “skin” you’re playing (Lumines’ version of levels). The quicker ones wipe the squares away faster, but don’t give you much of a chance to make the bigger shapes, which net you more points. The slower ones give you that ability, but force you to get dangerously close to filling up your well, and therefore dying.

It’s merely a standard puzzle game with new rules, but it has enough unique aspects to say it’s not a complete clone. If you like puzzle games, then Lumines is a great choice on that metric alone. It’s also one of those “easy to play, hard to master” kind of games, adding to the game’s longevity.

But where Lumines 2 really shines is in the music and sound department. The original Lumines had a great techno soundtrack, with songs like “Shinin’” from Mondo Grosso, and Lumines 2 continues that tradition with some amazing tracks, but this time adds a little more “pop” to its repertoire. Alongside songs like Junkie XL’s “Breezer” are Beck’s “Black Tambourine” and Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl”. It’s still primarily based in the techno realm, so if you didn’t like the musical offerings in the first game, there’s not enough of a difference here to warrant a second look. For me, there’s nothing better than playing Genki Rocket’s “Heavenly Star” skin (which, incidentally, was produced by Tetsuya Miziguchi himself).

But if you do like that kind of music, then you will be privy to one of the trippiest gaming experiences ever. In a stroke of genius, Q! Entertainment makes it so that when you do anything in the game, be it rotate a block or create a square, the game gives you a different auditory response. With some skins, this mechanic makes it seem like you are actually “playing” the song, if you can understand that.

Take for example, Beck’s “Black Tambourine” song. Every time you lay down a block on the bottom of the well, you cause a drum sound effect, which is pulled straight from the song. Play the level long enough, and your interactivity is actually creating the song. It’s not the exact same song, mind you, but the sounds are so similar that you are, in effect, creating a new song. It gets insanely crazy at some points, but it all works perfectly and sounds excellent.

Some skins even have a music video playing in the background, adding to the whole presentation of the game. And with some songs, the sounds that you are given are taken from the video, like Black Eyed Peas’ “Pump It.” It’s a music video involving some tuner cars, but the sound you make when you lay the blocks down is that of car doors being closed. So now, your interactivity is adding to the song AND the video. It’s border line ecstasy, I’m telling you.

In many ways, Lumines 2 is more of a musical rhythm game than it is a puzzler. Everything you do adds to the song, and it all sounds amazing. I get upset with Guitar Hero when the game cuts the song out when you miss a note, but Lumines doesn’t do that, effectively making you feel like a musical prodigy.

Of course, it’s still dependent on what music you like. If you don’t like techno or pop, you will probably hate Lumines 2. But if you’re like me and love music like that, you will be in heaven. The game even gives you the ability to create a 10-song play-list with your favorite songs, letting you skip the ones you don’t like. I personally would like to have seen a larger play-list, but 10 is still a good number.

I’ve spent the bulk of my time playing this mode, but there’s so much more to Lumines 2 you’ll wonder why they didn’t price it at $50. You have Mission Mode, where you complete a set of tasks in a defined number of moves, CPU Mode, which pits you against a CPU opponent, and Puzzle Mode, challenging you to create different shapes out of your blocks, such as a dog. There’s a lot to do in Lumines 2, supplying nearly 40 hours of gameplay, if not more.

And to end this Best. Game. Ever. article, I will describe one of those amazing moments that I mentioned earlier, referring to the whole “art in games” thing. In the “Girls” skin, you are playing to the beat of Takagi Masakatsu’s “Girls.” It’s a sweet-sounding classical song that wouldn’t sound out of place at a funeral, helping to describe how happy a life the deceased had. The video that plays in the background shows a young girl playing in a pond, but the camera angle is from under the water. So the picture you see is distorted from all the ripples the young girl is making with her hands.

Now, each time you do something, the girl says something, usually something very softly. With all the pieces set, the big picture starts to appear, and your mind begins to come up with a story for the girl. In my mind, the song is from the mind of one of the parents. Their little girl has passed on, and they are trying to remember her as she was: a happy little girl that was unfettered by the harsh realities of the real world. It’s a sweet moment in a young girl’s life that is bruised by the fact that she is not alive anymore. You soon become depressed, wishing something could be done.

All of this is being created by playing a video game. In many ways, this is the epitome of art. In an abstract and new way, it is communicating to me the life of a young girl, and the life she lived before she died. And it’s doing it in a way that isn’t usually seen: through gameplay in a video game, with all the added benefits of interaction, music, and graphics.

When talking about art, I can’t think of a single moment in a video game that tops this example. If you can, I would love to hear it, but I’ve played a lot of games, and Shadow of the Colossus is the only one that remotely comes close, and Lumines 2 destroys that game.

If that was the only thing in this game, I would still pay $20 for Lumines 2. It really is one of the greatest games ever made, and should be one of the first inductees to the Video Game Hall of Fame. Tetsuya Miziguchi has done things with sound that I still can’t believe are capable on a video game system. If you still won’t buy a PSP, for the love of God, steal one*. Just play Lumines 2 at least once. You won’t regret it.

But I do warn you: the Xbox Live Arcade version, Lumines Live!, does not have the licensed music that Lumines 2 has, effectively making it a gimped version. They originally only had Genki Rockets’ “Heavenly Star” free for download, but have since taken it down, with no explanation given. So if you want the true Lumines experience, you’re stuck buying a PSP.

*Videolamer does not condone the act of theft, and is therefore not responsible for the actions of anyone crazy enough to actually listen to me.