Lumines != Rez
Well, as a longtime fan of Rez, I was eagerly awaiting Lumines, the next game from Tetsuya Mizuguchi. His UGA studio having been closed by Sega, he reopened a new studio called "Q? Entertainment", with much of the same staff. This studio's first published work is Lumines, for the PSP.
At first, I was entirely underwhelmed. It's a nice puzzle game, well produced, and about as original a falling-block game can get. But, remembering how subtly Rez sucked me in, I continued to play it.
About 20 minutes later, I was hooked. The way it blends music and gameplay is subtle and brilliant. For the casual reader, stop here and go try the game.
Rating - 5 stars, out of 5.
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Those wanting more detail about how Lumines works its magic, read on.
As in Rez, all game actions are timed to only occur in time with the music. When you move a piece left or right or land a piece, the sound it makes is delayed to occur on the next 16th note in the music. It might check nearest 32nd note, or triplets, but you get the idea. If you hold the pad left or right to move the piece quickly, you get a different sound.
The goal is to make 2x2 squares of color. In an ordinary game, these would disappear immediately. But Lumines has a vertical "trace" that sweeps across the playfield ever eight measures in the music. The trace marks any 2x2s found for deletion at the end of the sweep. So, when you get 4 or more squares in one sweep, the bonus sound plays at an 8-measure boundary.
Every 3 levels, the background graphics, music, board graphics, and sounds change. The backgrounds animate in time with the music as well.
What makes the game subtle is that none of these effects are terribly blatant. So they are able to affect your perception of the gameplay almost (but not quite) subliminally.
In this article, I have ignored how the game actually plays. It's a good, solid puzzle game. But I recommend it for the experience.
At first, I was entirely underwhelmed. It's a nice puzzle game, well produced, and about as original a falling-block game can get. But, remembering how subtly Rez sucked me in, I continued to play it.
About 20 minutes later, I was hooked. The way it blends music and gameplay is subtle and brilliant. For the casual reader, stop here and go try the game.
Rating - 5 stars, out of 5.
---------
Those wanting more detail about how Lumines works its magic, read on.
As in Rez, all game actions are timed to only occur in time with the music. When you move a piece left or right or land a piece, the sound it makes is delayed to occur on the next 16th note in the music. It might check nearest 32nd note, or triplets, but you get the idea. If you hold the pad left or right to move the piece quickly, you get a different sound.
The goal is to make 2x2 squares of color. In an ordinary game, these would disappear immediately. But Lumines has a vertical "trace" that sweeps across the playfield ever eight measures in the music. The trace marks any 2x2s found for deletion at the end of the sweep. So, when you get 4 or more squares in one sweep, the bonus sound plays at an 8-measure boundary.
Every 3 levels, the background graphics, music, board graphics, and sounds change. The backgrounds animate in time with the music as well.
What makes the game subtle is that none of these effects are terribly blatant. So they are able to affect your perception of the gameplay almost (but not quite) subliminally.
In this article, I have ignored how the game actually plays. It's a good, solid puzzle game. But I recommend it for the experience.
posted by Almo at 9:22 AM
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