Game: Lumines Remastered
System: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Resonair
Publisher: Enhance Games
Price: £13.99/€14,99/$18.89
(Review code kindly provided by Enhance Games)
I’ve always enjoyed block dropping puzzle games; Tetris to this day remains a personal favourite. So, I was thrilled when ladiesgamers.com was given the chance to review Lumines Remastered for Nintendo Switch.
‘Lumines Remastered’ is an enhanced version of Lumines Puzzle Fusion for the current day. The original game was a PSP launch title back in 2005. Even then, the game looked colourful, vibrant and its critical reception was overwhelmingly positive. It’s popularity led to sequels and other Lumines titles being developed for several other gaming platforms, except Nintendo’s. That however has now changed with ‘Lumines Remastered’, but the question remains: is it any good?
Gameplay
Lumines consists of 2×2 blocks that fall from the top of a 10×16 grid, and a vertical timeline that sweep’s from left to right in tempo with the music. The blocks vary in colour and must be swapped and aligned to make a minimum of 2×2 squares of the same colour. The real goal, however, is to obtain the highest score possible by making and joining as many squares and rectangles before the timeline passes. Unlike Tetris, if one side of the block is unsupported, it will drop to fill the gap underneath it. If used correctly, this mechanic can be used to make further combinations during the timelines next sweep. As in other games of this type, it’s game over once the blocks reach the top of the grid.
All of these gameplay elements make ‘Lumines’ a unique puzzle block game. It may resemble other games of this type in screenshots and videos, but it offers a completely different gaming experience. It requires far more strategy than the likes of Tetris. ‘Lumines’ requires you to be more thoughtful about where and when to drop blocks. The pace of the game is dictated not merely by level progression but also by the tempo of the music.
Sound and Visuals
The game’s graphics are colourful, lively, and look great in both handheld and tv mode. As the player progresses, more skins become available which adds variety to the game’s visuals overall. But as important as the skins are to ‘Lumines’, it’s the music that takes centre stage. As previously mentioned, the music is used to dictate the flow of the game. Also, thanks to HD Rumble technology, players can feel both the rhythm of the music and the impact of blocks in the palm of their hands. If playing without HD rumble is preferred, it can be both activated and deactivated via the pause menu.
https://youtu.be/zbMRp3_M2kI?t=30s
Different Modes
Lumines boasts 7 different games modes. The mode I’ve played most is challenge mode, but there’s also skin edit mode, time attack mode, puzzle mode, mission mode, as well as two competitive modes called VS CPU and VS 2P. Being a more casual Lumines player, I prefer to play challenge and puzzle mode. Puzzle mode requires the gamer to make shapes with blocks. Skin Edit mode allows gamers to play using a maxium of 10 selectable skins. Hardcore players will probably have a great time with Time Attack and VS modes.
If you’re extremely competitive, online league tables enable you to compare your scores with friends and other players from around the world.
Lumines has enough modes and features to suit every type of player.
Controls
Players control falling blocks with either the Joy-Con arrow buttons or a traditional D-Pad. Blocks are rotated left and right by pressing either the shoulder or A,B,X,Y buttons. Thumbstick control isn’t supported, which is a shame, but this doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the game.
Overall
So, is Lumines any good? No. Lumines is fabulous! Tetris is and remains one of my favourite games of all time, and I’ll never forget the excitment of playing it for the first time. I once played a single game of Tetris DS for hours upon end. I love Tetris! But in Lumines, I believe that the Switch finally has a puzzle game that is as good as or perhaps even better than Tetris.
In honour of that fact alone, Lumines must get a massive two thumbs up.
(The Two Thumbs Up award as with every other grade I’ve given in the past are based on my own personal preferences.)