Lumines

Lumines
Logo for Lumines Remastered
Genres	Puzzle
Developer(s)	Q Entertainment, Mobcast
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Platforms	Android, iOS, Mobile phone, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Platform of origin	PlayStation Portable
First release	Lumines: Puzzle Fusion December 12, 2004
Latest release	Lumines Remastered June 26, 2018

Lumines (ルミネス, Ruminesu) is a puzzle video game series developed by Q entertainment. The core objective of the games is to survive by rotating and aligning 2x2 blocks varying between two colors to form 2x2 squares of a single color which will be erased when the Time Line passes over them. The game is lost when the blocks reach the top of the playing field.

The series was initially conceived when Tetsuya Mizuguchi heard about the PlayStation Portable and wanted to develop a game for it. Since the original release, several sequels have been developed and released for multiple platforms including, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Mobile phone, iOS, and Android.

The series has received many positive reviews and awards with the original receiving the highest review score ratings and the majority of the awards.

Gameplay

Lumines is a block-dropping game that seems at first similar to Columns and Tetris. The game is made up of a 16x10 grid playing field. A sequence of 2x2 blocks varying between two colors fall from the top of the playing field. When part of a falling block hits an obstruction, the remaining portion will split off and continue to fall. A vertical Time Line sweeps through the playing field from left to right. When a group of 2x2 blocks of the same color is created on the playing field, it creates a "colored square". When the Time Line passes through it, the colored square will disappear and points are added to the player's overall score. If the colored square is created in the middle of the Time Line, the Time Line will only take half of the colored square and no points will be awarded. Certain blocks with gems are known as "special blocks" and if are used to create colored squares, they will allow all individual adjacent blocks of the same color to be eliminate by the Time Line.^[1]

The game is played in different skins. Skins effect the appearance of the board, the color scheme of the blocks, and contain a different music track and sound effects. Each skin also changes the rate at which the Time Line moves across the screen due to the Time Line moving in time with the music. Skins are unlocked by progressing through the different game modes. This can affect the game play; faster tempos make it more difficult to create large combos, and slower tempos may cause the playing field to fill while waiting for the Time Line to sweep across.

The objective is to rotate and align the blocks in such a way as to create colored squares. Increasing score multipliers are earned by repeatedly clearing squares on consecutive Time Line sweeps. Bonuses are also awarded by reducing all remaining tiles to one single color or for removing all non-active tiles from the screen altogether. Multiple colored squares of the same color can be shared between a single geometric shape. For example, if one should get a 2x3 area of matching blocks, the middle portion will "share" itself with both the left and right halves and create two colored squares. The player loses when the blocks pile up to the top of the grid.^[1]

Development

The series began with Lumines: Puzzle Fusion. The game was the first game developed by Q Entertainment and was a launch title for the PlayStation Portable. The game was developed with an estimated amount of 4 or 5 people for over 1 year. Mizuguchi was inspired by the PSP when he first learned about the technology. He described the PlayStation Portable as an "interactive Walkman" and "Dream machine" due to the system being one of the few video game handheld consoles with a headphone jack, allowing the game to be played at any time, any location, and any style with good sound.^[2] After choosing the PSP as the next console to work with, Mizuguchi was inspired to make a puzzle game with music. Mizuguchi stated he wanted it to be a audio-visual puzzle game for the challenge, but he also wanted to make something that was less daunting to players compared to his previous titles Rez or Space Channel 5, so that it would attract casual players.^[3] Originally, Mizuguchi wanted to make a Tetris game with music but due various issues including licensing, it wasn't possible at the time and the concept of Lumines was used instead.^[4][5] The game's subtitle "Puzzle Fusion" reflected that the game's music was essential to the game itself.^[3] Katsumi Yokota implemented strict rules for the series that the songs would follow ⁴
₄ time signature, with the exception of "Big Elpaso". This was due to the playing field being divided into 16 rows, and the Time Line needing to match the tempo of the music and in sync with the beat. By using ⁴
₄ time signature, it allows a total of sixteen eighth-notes to correspond to two bars precisely.^[6]

After the game was released, three titles were being developed simultaneously: Lumines Plus, Lumines II, and Lumines Live!. The three titles were developed for Playstation 2, PSP, and Xbox 360 respectively. Tetsuya Mizuguchi wanted to achieve different things for each game. Lumines Plus was intended to be a direct port of the original Lumines: Puzzle Fusion with additional songs and skins. For Lumines II, Mizuguchi emphasized he wanted the game to have its own original atmosphere and stylistic experience, different from the original. In addition, licensed songs from famous western artists such as Gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peas and The Chemical Brothers were incorporated into the game's soundtrack. Mizuguchi described Lumines II as a party and described himself as a party organizer to make the biggest party experience on the PSP. For Lumines Live!, Mizuguchi developed the game with concept of customizing music and choosing and downloading new songs. The goal of the game was to use everything that was happening during the time and make it available through DLC. Mizuguchi compared the game to TV channel where they feed what the next thing will be.^[7]

Originally development of Lumines: Puzzle Fusion, audio had to be completed before finalizing the skin's design. Yokota decided to do a different approach with Lumines II and Lumines Live!. Instead, skin designs took priority in order to provide more concrete suggestions for the audio. Yokota stated this made greater variation possible for the music tracks.^[6]

Games

Reception

As of 2018, the series has sold over 2.5 million units.^[34]

The original Lumines: Puzzle Fusion won several awards including, 2005 Spike TV Video Game Awards for Best Handheld Game, GameSpot's 2005 PSP Game Of The Year, Electronic Gaming Monthly's 2005 Handheld Game Of The Year, Game Informer's "Top 50 Games of 2005" list.^[35][36][37] Lumines II's song, Heavenly Star by Genki Rockets, was nominated for Best Song in 2006 Spike TV Video Game Awards.^[38]

References

External links

• Official site
• Japanese official site
• Official Lumines: Touch Fusion website