Dare I say Vita's best game? At its current amazon price of $10, I'm going to say 'yes' this is the best game on Vita. Now before you flip out and say what about Uncharted, here me out. I believe the Vita's overall goal is to deliver high quality games with console quality graphics and sound that deliver short and concise gameplay experiences that one can quickly jump in and out of off on the fly. Lumines: Electronic Symphony delivers just that!
Lumines: ES is just a puzzle game. The goal is to create similar colored blocks, with 2x2 blocks being the simplest shape that earns you points. Think Tetris with the creation of lines, however thats where the similarity between Tetris and Lumines ends. Lumines ES is just as much about the music as the blocks themselves. There is a vertical line that passes from left to right across the screen; your goal is to create blocks which are erased as the vertical scrolling line passes over the blocks. The movement of the vertical line (called the time line) is dependent on the song of the stage. As the tempo of the song changes so does movement of the vertical line. The tempo on some songs changes drastically so it can throw off your game.
Now for a more traditional breakdown of the game
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is very addicting. It appeals to casual gamers, Facebook mini-game lovers and hardcore gamers the Vita is aimed at. The game modes are voyage, zone, duel, stopwatch, and playlist. I'll only talk about voyage as it's the main game mode. Voyage is where you play through the entire game by going through every stage/song. You unlock songs/stages as you beat the song/stage in voyage or as you level up from earning XP (max rank is level 50). My only complaint is that voyage is the same order of stages over and over and that you will have to beat the game in one setting, something I haven't been able to accomplish yet. I wish you could resume from the stage you failed instead of having to start all over from the beginning since there are 30+ songs/stages in the game. There are avatars, which give you different abilities during gameplay, which is a first for Lumines games. The abilities vary from many things such as temporarily pausing the Time Line, giving you a shuffle or chain block, temporarily increasing the wait time for a block, etc. The avatars also have dueling abilities that do numerous things to your opponent in versus mode. I have yet to play the game against another person but the abilities sound like they would be fun.
TOUCH SCREEN
Lumines: ES uses the rear touch pad to build your avatars ability meter. Depending on your skill level you'll be tapping the rear touch pad like a maniac or rarely using it. You can use the front OLED screen to completely control the game, however it's best to just use the buttons as some songs are just too frenetic for touch screen only controls.
GRAPHICS
Great graphics which surprised me actually, the HD visuals are slick. The backgrounds of the stages are constantly changing and pulsating with lights while you play and those provide eye candy for this puzzle game.
SOUND
I have to talk about the music of the game. The music is great and as you play through the game it really is an electronic symphony. I recommend you play this game with some headphones so you can truly enjoy the aural experience that is Lumines: ES. Also there are several cool sounding stage specific sound effects that occur when you move the blocks as well as cool sounding jingles for earning bonuses.
REPLAY VALUE
This will vary from person to person but this game provides great replay value to me just because of the music. I enjoy playing some stages over and over again just because of the music. Some Lumines prodigies will reach the max level and unlock everything quickly and for them they might run out of things to do. I'm just an average player so I've had plenty of the fun with the game. However I do wish they would at least release some new stages/songs as DLC, I think that would be awesome.
| Manufacturer | Ubi Soft |
|---|---|
| Part Number | 31715 |
| Item Weight | 0.01 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 0.4 x 4 x 5.3 inches |
| Item model number | 008888317159 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color | Original Version |
| Item Package Quantity | 1 |
| Batteries Included? | No |
| Batteries Required? | No |
