The year is 2005.
As a handheld fanatic, I imported a PlayStation Portable to give it a proper go.
There was a certain buzz coming from Japan that hard to ignore.
Among the games I purchased was LUMINES, amusical puzzle game coming from the brain of Tetsuya
Mizuguchi.
The guy, responsible for games like Rez, made me curious what he could pull off on this
thing.
The result was a bright, colorful endeavor that I kept putting back into the system for
months on end.
The song Shinin' blasted through my headphones through the majority of that year.
Naturally, there were other songs I intensely enjoyed, but I associate my experience with
that singular tune.
After many fun iterations, Mizuguchi-san and the team over at Enhance Games go back where
it all started.
Personally I couldn't be happier.If you never played it before, LUMINES isn't that hard
to understand.
A block consisting of a mixture two different colors and four tinier blocks need to be dropped
on the playing field.
They come down from the top and need to be placed in the quite wide playing field.
Your goal is to create squares of the same color,which will disappear once the timeline
(or the bar) touches them.
The timeline is a relentless reminder that you will need to plan ahead.
This is particularly true if you want to make huge combos and keep creating squares in squares
to make more disappear.
There is a groove to it that is undeniable as the bar moves along with the tune played.
By succesfully wiping blocks from existance, you will climb the ladder and get yourself
the highest score possible.My favorite way to play Lumines Remastered is the Challenge
Mode.
It is here that you unlock the majority of music and backgrounds, better known in the
game as skins.
The basic version sees you hopping from skin to skin until you reach level 100.
It is kind of like Tetris' Marathon mode, though the challenge feels far greater.
The timeline isn't consistent across songs and your time to react becomes shorter as
you move on.
If you manage to beat it though, you will get access to an Endless mode where you continue
until you can no longer place blocks.
There is a Shuffle Mode where the unlocked skins get remixed, and you aren't sure what
is waiting for you next.
It is a fun way to kill some time at home or on the go.Next to the ridicious amount
of time you will be spending in Challenge Mode, there is enough to you engaged.
The VS CPU mode has another ten skins for you to unlock.
In this mode, you and your opponentwill share half of a screen.
You will need to make shift combos to move the seperation line closer to the enemy.
This gives them less breathing room and forces them to adapt.
Once they are out of room to place blocks, you are declared the victor.
It brings a fun and different flavor to how the game is played, and requires you to work
within the restrictions of the timeline.
A two player mode is also available, which is totally playable with a singular Joy-Con.
Sadly, you won't be able to compete with others online, which I think is a big shame.Another
fun way to spent time is with the Skin Edit option.
It is here you can create a playlist for up to ten
songs and jam out to your heart's content.
You can choose from any of your unlocked skins, no matter the mode, and can choose as few
as just one.
This is perfect way to play the ones you adore, simply ensuring that the fun never ends.
The other three modes present add meat to the overall package.
Time Attack sees you destroying within three set time limits.
This can be one, three or five minutes at maximum.
In Puzzle Mode, you need to create shapes on the playing field.
This is far trickier than it sounds as you can't make squares or your progress will simply
be wiped away.
Mission Mode on the other hand is somewhat more forgiving.
The objectives stay within certain boundaries, so you know how to deal with problems coming
your way.
Overall, the package will keep you occupied for hours on end, and I wouldn't have it any
other way.LUMINES Remastered runs quite wonderful on the Nintendo Switch.
The various skins really pop on the screen and everything sounds crisp and clear.
The only issue I have with the Nintendo Switch release is that the loading times seem a bit
long.
Regardless of starting the game up docked or undocked, it neededlonger than I was anticipating.
At the end of the day, it is a small thing, but certainly noticable.
Granted, I am more than willing to accept it all in favor of a modern portable LUMINES.
The controls work as you would expect.
One thing I do feel the need to note is that the game is best played in handheld or with
seperated Joy-Con.
The HD Rumble put into the game is really powerful, and truly underlines the musical
beats.
To fully appreciate it, you really need to wrap your hands around the Joy-Con.
You can still notice inthe Pro Controller, but it doesn't feel the same to me.Overall
though, I absolutely love LUMINES Remastered.
For a little while, I was worried that I've grown out of the original and its soundtrack,
but revisiting it put my mind at ease.
This game is still utterly brilliant and made me put in way too many hours already.
There are smaller grips, like the lack of online for multiplayer, but they can be forgiven
in the grand scheme of things.
This remastered version is packedaway with stuff, and I will likely keep this on my HOME
screen for quite a while.
Thanks for watching, and be sure to stay subscribed to GameXplain for more on LUMINES Remastered
and other things gaming.
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