Lumines

Modojo

Like waves crashing onto a white sandy beach, it's a spectacular elemental fusion that lulls you into a zen-like state, a type of serenity that relaxes your body as well as your mind as you peacefully walk its shores. An artistic achievement and a must buy, Lumines is therapy for the soul.

Gaming Age

It is the one game that will stand the test of time and would be my one choice if I had to pick only one title out of the launch.

GameSpy

The combination of catchy tunes, pretty pictures, and addicting, simple to pick-up and play mechanics, is simply perfect for passing the time.

Detroit Free Press

What's most fun about Lumines is the way updated technology has married sight and sound to turn our gameplay into an all-absorbing mini-concert.

VideoGamesLife

Basic yet brilliant, it’s been ages since we were this obsessed with a game.

G4 TV

With addictive, elegant gameplay, solid production values, and some serious longevity, the game is a class act and the perfect portable game.

Pelaaja (Finland)

If you consider Lumines to be just another puzzle game or a modern successor to "Tetris," you miss half of the games charm. You don’t see the forest from the trees, as the saying goes. It’s more than a innovative and addictive puzzle game. It lives though it’s incredible soundscape and visuals. It challenges your senses as well as your brain. Not a step, but a leap forward for the puzzle game genre. [Sept 2005, p 56]

3DAvenue

Lumines is a game that many people will unfortunately ignore but we can almost guarantee once you've captured all the monkeys, won all the races in Ridge Racer, grinded all the boards and finished all the underground races, you will still be playing Lumines.

eToychest

More than just a well-designed puzzle game, Lumines has that rare spark that turns a simple task into a trance-inducing experience. It is a game with lasting appeal, and it is arguably the best title of the PSP's launch.

1UP

It's easily one of the most affecting interactive experiences to come along in ages -- the kind of game you continue playing in your mind long after you switch the system off.

PSX Nation

Still shots don’t do justice to its clean interface and pretty graphics justice; Lumines has to be seen, played and heard to be fully appreciated.

Console Gameworld

A true gem among the PSP launch titles, among handheld puzzle games, and among video games in general.

VGPub

Hands down the best thing to happen to the puzzle genre since "Tetris."

Game Chronicles

Easy to pick up and impossible to put down (except to flush the toilet), you’ll be totally hooked from the moment you pick this game up until the day you “think” you’ve mastered it, and even then your quest for perfection will compel you to keep playing until the day you die.

BonusStage

The dangerously addictive gameplay and numerous game modes will ensure that once you start playing you won’t be able to put your PSP down for a great while. Short 10-minute game quickies will rapidly turn into about three or four hour sessions, and then when you finally stop playing you will instantly begin to crave it all over again.

Gamezilla!

Aurally, your ears are in for a treat, as it’s simply enjoyable to play through these songs, dropping bricks along the way.

Gaming Nexus

You can look at the pictures, read my review, and watch videos, but not until you actually go through the game and see what it has to offer will you ever understand what everybody is so excited about.

Worth Playing

It's more than just a puzzle game, and in fact, with the animated skins and the mesmerizing beats, you will find yourself in a somewhat Zen-like environment.

Electric Playground

Like a song you can't get out of your head. Its simple yet challenging gameplay will call you back again and again.

Adrenaline Vault

An absolutely inspired and enchanting title. Playing puts you into a deep trance, and you just cannot quit. Transfixed by mesmerizing visuals and music, you are sucked into a unending web of block matching mania.

Game Informer

A phenomenally addictive and brilliantly designed masterpiece, and the moment you lay down the bucks for a PSP, Lumines should go in that same shopping cart before you walk out of the store. [May 2005, p.130]

Play Magazine

Transfixing. [May 2005, p.67]

GamePro

The combination of electronic music and softly psychedelic colors is spellbinding. It's like holding a mini rave in your hand. Turn it on--it's delicious.

NTSC-uk

It’s a stylish and remarkably addictive title that blends gameplay with relaxing tunes, and fits perfectly on its home platform. Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s latest game appeals to everybody who samples its future-retro vibe. Luminescent. Luminous. Lumines. [JPN Import]

Eurogamer

This is a genre that demands brilliance of concept and execution, variation in play conditions, subtlety of design and careful management of the endgame, and while most of the best-rated puzzle games come close in a few areas, Lumines sweeps across the lot.

GameSpot

Between the beautiful presentation, the innovative gameplay, and the excellent single-player and multiplayer modes, Lumines may very well be the greatest Tetris-style puzzle game since Tetris itself.

Game Power Australia

An engrossing puzzle game overflowing with uber-cool presentation that is uncharacteristic of the genre.

Boomtown

With a fantastic selection of memorable catchy tunes moulded together with a simple easy to learn and addictive gameplay, Lumines is the perfect game for a handheld whether you have just ten minutes or a long two hours to kill.

Jolt Online Gaming UK

As a handheld game, Lumines excels in almost every conceivable way.

Yahoo! Games

Original, addictive, and mesmerizing, Lumines is good enough to make a case for the PSP all by itself.

Total Video Games

There aren’t enough superlatives in the English dictionary to describe Lumines let alone paint a sufficient description of the experience - you’ve simply got to play it.

Computer and Video Games

An impeccably presented hour gobbler and we love it all the more for that.

Gamestyle

Easily the most original PSP release to date, it's a great way to start your love affair with Sony's handheld system.

Gaming Horizon

It’s got deep single-player options, multiplayer wireless capabilities, and a number of skins to unlock and earn. This is the perfect “on-the-go” puzzler and anyone with a PSP and even just a passing interest in puzzle games ought to gives this wonderfully addictive game a chance.

PSX Extreme

A solid puzzle game, but it really stands out from others in the genre due to its distinctive style. The fact that you have to devote so much time achieving a new high score to unlock things is one of its few faults, and when you wake up bleary-eyed in the morning because you wanted to finish your game before you went to bed, you’ll be cursing this fault.

WHAM! Gaming

Suffice it to say, once you start playing the game and dissolve into that zone of blissful concentration, you'll understand.

GameZone

I’ve played a ton of puzzle games before but not many of them come close to Lumines.

Game Over Online

What would happen if you took "Tetris," flipped it sideways and injected it with some cocaine? Lumines would happen.

My Gamer

Whether you’re stuck in a waiting room at the doctor’s office or looking for a way to pass the time in that boring econ class you’re stuck in, Lumines provides some of the most fulfilling gameplay sessions ever engineered on a handheld.

IGN

Stands absolutely as one of the brightest stars in the puzzle field in a long, long time... Simply a brilliant little puzzle game.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

Beauty abounds in this game; the bright visuals and hypnotic driving beats complement the gameplay perfectly. An awesome on-the-go treat for your eyes, ears, and mind. [May 2005, p.91]

PSM Magazine

You can play this one forever. [May 2005, p.82]

PALGN

One of the best puzzlers in years. It's dreamy visuals combined with an almost euphoric soundtrack makes Lumines as much an experience as it is a game.

netjak

While Lumines is far, FAR from a killer app, it's a must have game for the PSP. It has a simple design that hooks you for hours at a time without you even realizing what happened. That, my friends, is the hallmark of a classic puzzle game.

Game Revolution

It’s too much of a one-trick pony to be the next killer app, but if "Tetris," "Columns," or "Puyo Puyo" ever sucked you into their local gravity wells, you’re going to love it.

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

The only real strike against the game is that there's no random setting for the backgrounds and music. [May 2005, p.115]

Edge Magazine

Minor lapses in cohesion and polish drop Lumines short of the absolute completeness of "Rez," but it expands upon its concepts in ways even Mizuguchi followers couldn’t have expected. It’s a block puzzle that celebrates the joy of light and sound – to the question of whether the PSP can encourage new experiences, it’s a resounding ‘yes’.

games(TM)

It’s one of those puzzle games that defines the term 'in the zone'; once you’ve found that special place where the rest of the world stops and all you can see are flowing lines of falling blocks and massive combos, you can’t fail to appreciate what the game is doing. [Feb 2005, p.116]

Cheat Code Central

A visual, sonic and intellectual treat. It's engrossing and highly addictive. It may not be the sole reason to own a PSP but it certainly hints at great things to come.

Sydney Morning Herald

An original puzzle experience, fusing musical elements and presentation.

Games Radar (in-house)

The first time Lumines exchanges squares for balls your brain will start to slide out your ears. Play it for a week and you’ll start of dreaming falling boxes.

AceGamez

Lumines is taking over my life, but this is where the main flaw lies; the better you get, the longer it takes to complete one round. It's not unusual now that I've cracked the 100,000 points mark for one play to last an hour, which kind of defeats the whole quick blast of gameplay on the bus quality that games of this type usually have.

Next Level Gaming

A great game for people who like puzzles games, or for people who will be sharing their PSP with others, as this is a easy game to play and understand that anyone can pick up and play will be a great one for everyone to play and enjoy.

Weekly Famitsu

7 / 8 / 7 / 8 - 30 silver [Dec 2004]

Gamer.tv

Mixes stylish visuals and interactive sounds with the all-important addictive quality that a puzzler needs. [JPN Import]