System: PS2
Dev: Q Entertainment
Pub: Buena Vista Games
Release: Feb.27, 2007
Players: 1 - 2
ESRB Rating: E
Review by Philip Hanan

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Review Rating Legend
1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
2.5 - 2.9 = Average
3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
3.5 - 3.9 = Good
4.0 - 4.4 = Great
4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
5.0 = The Best

There is no online gameplay for Vs. mode, but for those of you who lack friends or have friends on vacation, there is an incredibly tough CPU for you to challenge. If the PS2 had a CPU as smart as Lumines' in-game A.I., the PS2 might be able to launch missiles all by itself, so be careful when you dare challenge it.

Basically, Lumines Plus delivers the same experience as PSP, but in a different way. It has a larger variety of skins, etc., but doesn't deliver the same quality of game. Unless you have a LCD flat screen at home, the graphics won't quite match the PSP's. The sound quality is as good and the controls are the same, but the PS2 version of Lumines doesn't feature anything original. That's why PSP owners should skip the game, even if they don't have a copy of Lumines yet. The PSP Lumines game is only $20, it's portable, it has better graphics, and you can challenge gamers via Wi-fi.

Lumines Plus features some skins from the sequels, but none of the modes. Lumines owners should upgrade to Lumines II and not Plus so they can get their hands on Mission mode, Licensed Music, and a Skin Edit mode.

The Lumines series is a great puzzle game series, but Lumines Plus should not be in your collection unless you don't have and do not plan to purchase a PSP. The game is now available for $20.00 at most retailers, so PS2-only owners should pick it up and find out why the PSP is still going strong.

By Philip Hanan
CCC Freelance Writer

Features:

One of the greatest puzzle games ported to the PS2 by Carmelo Vargas

What perhaps may be one of the best puzzle games of all times makes its debut to the PS2. Lumines, which is rapidly becoming a saga of games with titles for the PSP (Lumines, Lumines II) and for the Xbox 360 (Lumines Live!), finally makes its way to the PS2. Lumines Plus is a game that can guarantee countless vegetative hours in front of the TV. Since it is essentially a direct port of a PSP game, it is surely not the type of game that will exploit the hardware capabilities of the PS2, but may still be worth having for puzzle gamers and the non-action-type gamers.

For all those who own the PSP title, this one may not be of much interest except for the fact that it is brought to the big screen, but even that may not be enough to offset the portability offered by the original PSP title. Besides adding new nine skins (which were already available for the Lumines II PSP title) there are no apparent new features, so it seems that the developers decided to make an almost exact port of the original. For all the people who don't own any of the Lumines titles, this is their opportunity to understand what all the hype has been about and become addicts to the popular puzzler.

Lumines Plus operates in a similar fashion to Tetris, Columns, and Dr. Mario. The game consists of 2x2 square blocks, each of which is comprised by small er single blocks that come in different orders and color sequences. These colored blocks must form a square(s) or a rectangle(s) of a single color in either horizontal or vertical order to eliminate them. Like Tetris, the sequences that are unmatched pile up and when the stack reaches the top of your container (game area) the game is over. Like most puzzle games, Lumines Plus also includes music, different scenarios, and bonuses for completing different tasks (such as leaving only one color sequence on the screen or eliminating all blocks). The uniqueness of Lumines is in the gameplay, as the re is a vertical scan line which is activated differently depending on the soundtrack and the skin (scenario). This scan line takes care of eliminating matched sequences of colors. This obviously makes for a very challenging and strategic game course as you must plan not only on matching the sequences but also on the time you must take. As for the multiplayer capabilities the game has an original Vs mode in which the vertical scan line also shrinks the screen against the losing player, making his container area smaller and more difficult to combine blocks.

Even taking in consideration that this game is just a simple puzzle port of a two-year old PSP title and that it isn't enhanced by the PS2's power, it may still a worthy game to have if the price tag is reasonable. It would be ridiculous to pay the same price for this game as for Final Fantasy XII. With that said, if the release price is around $30 or less, this can be your late February's Valentine since it releases on February 27.

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