Lumines Supernova (PlayStation 3)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Mitch Dyer
• Reviewed on: 01/05/2009
• Released on: 12/23/2008
• Originally published on GameSpot: Lumines Supernova (PlayStation 3) Review

Like the Xbox Live Arcade version of Lumines Live before it, the PlayStation Network release of Lumines Supernova proves that the franchise's vibrant graphical style and uncomplicated gameplay translate magnificently to high-definition. What makes this PlayStation Network-exclusive such an improvement over its predecessor is what you get for your money. Whereas the limited Live Arcade offerings were overpriced, the huge amount of content in Supernova will sate your single-player puzzle-lust many times over. The meager multiplayer options, however, will have veterans with a portable alternative questioning the worth of a game they've ostensibly already played.

The mechanics of Lumines Supernova are wonderfully simple: By rotating and dropping an unlimited flow of bicolored blocks, which are made up of a smaller set of 2-by-2 squares, you'll try to make colored rectangles across a 16-by-10 grid. After you've combined a number of same-color squares to form larger shapes, the windshield-wiper-style time line washes across the screen and erases them. The game ends when the blocks reach the top of the grid, and points are awarded according to the size and number of blocks that are cleared from your created columns. As a perk, you'll periodically be offered a special bonus block that clears away all adjacent and linked blocks of the same color, leaving the leftovers to fall into place to create more combos. The concept is easy to get a grip on thanks to the helpful text tips and video tutorials, but the challenge of developing strategies on the fly is one of the game's biggest hooks. Realizing that you've got a good opening to drop your next sequence of squares into is immensely satisfying, and it feels great to watch your score leap as you wipe out a messy set of highly stacked blocks or clear the screen entirely. Perfecting your placement of the randomly generated blocks and chaining points together make for an experience that's every bit as addictive as the original Tetris.

Though the engrossing gameplay is the biggest strength of Lumines, the music isn't to be ignored. The tunes are groovy and enjoyable, and the crystal-clear audio sounds fantastic through speakers and headphones. The clever blend of catchy electronica, rock, and orchestral music integrates with gameplay so brilliantly that it will probably take you a moment to realize that your dropping, rotating, and combo-building are influencing the cadenced sounds. The repeated bass drum that accompanies your rapid-fire spinning or the vocals that synchronously hum when you zip a block from one side of the grid to the other give Lumines the feel of a rhythm game on top of its already endearing puzzle gameplay. Because you have a direct effect on the tunes, you'll find yourself completely engrossed by the game as you stack your score and toe tap to the flow of the music.

Don't be surprised to see that hours have slipped away unnoticed after a session of Supernova. The levels, known as skins, last only as long as the song that plays behind them, so each stage is fast-paced as well as absorbing, and getting sucked in within the first few minutes is incredibly easy. One of the best things about the game is that the eclectic mix of backgrounds, blocks, sound effects, and music give it artistic diversity. As you play through the Challenge mode, each skin features new music to accompany the newly colored and crisp-looking cubes that drop from the top, so there's a fresh look and sound to the constantly changing atmosphere. Whether you play the regular game on the basic mode or the advanced mode depends on how you want to be challenged; skins on the advanced mode have trickier combinations of faster-falling blocks and a slower-moving time line, while skins on the basic mode have a more consistent speed with less-dramatic changes. Though the level progression is linear, the rate at which blocks fall and the time line sweeps aren't directly proportional to your progress, so each stage feels fresh rather than increasingly frantic. And if you don't wish to hear the same set of starting songs in Challenge mode again, completing levels unlocks new skins to choose from in the skin edit mode. Here, you can create and save customized playlists from your extensive list of earned levels, so you can play your favorite stages over and over again.

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