Lumines is a weird mix of Tetris and Daft Punk. You drop cubes made up of four squares containing two colors. You match up those colors to create squares or other patterns which are cleared via a “timeline” sweep. It’s essentially a line that moves left to right and clears color-matched cubes. With each successive song, the line moves faster. It becomes an interesting balance of managing squares and navigating around the timeline sweep.
Last year, Japanese developer Mobcast bought up the rights to Lumines from Q Entertainment. Because the handheld gaming space is leaning far more toward mobile, it makes sense that developers are after established brands and are wanting to appeal to a wider audience.
The first Lumines was a launch title on the PlayStation Portable back in 2004. Years into the PSP’s life cycle, it was still regarded as one of the best games to hit the system. Excluding some spinoffs for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Network, a true follow-up came out in 2012 subtitled Electronic Symphony for the PlayStation Vita. That too, years after its launch, is widely considered one of PS Vita’s strongest showings.
Details are slim on exactly how Puzzle & Music will play on mobile. But video and screenshots do show a portrait view versus the more traditional landscape. It’s uncertain how this will affect gameplay, but your pieces will definitely build up rather than sideways.
Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the designer on the original Lumines, is back for Puzzle & Music as well, bringing some relief to longtime fans of the series. The game will feature new music as well as some classics.
