Lumines review

Like most puzzle games, this is simple to describe. Squares composed of two colours fall from the sky. Drop them so they make squares and they vanish, the more at once the better. As you play, it all gets faster and faster. Sounds good? Go play it. Goodness, that was an easy review. See you next time!

Except of course, it’s not that simple. Lumines isn’t just a snappy game mechanic - it’s a pretty face too. The action drips style - an ambience built in layers of rhythm, colours, pounding background music and fresh graphical skins, all blending seamlessly into each other as you rack up points and stay in play.

It makes all the difference, keeping the action moving, even when it’s just thunking metal crates fading into the plastic clink of smooth spheres.

The problem is that (inevitably) some stages are like a fork through the eye, a spoon down the ear, and a knife somewhere really uncomfortable. On these levels, the colours clash, the music’s horrible, but you’ve still got to play. It’s the only way to unlock new skins for the jukebox mode. Worse, they always come in the same order, and there’s no way to skip them - or the incredibly simple early levels. The only real variation comes in the alternate modes: Time Attack (how many points can you get?), Puzzle (make shapes), and Mission (simple tasks, like clearing a column).