Lumines II

Deviously simple in structure and yet difficult to master, Lumines II holds the qualities that make a puzzle game addictive and playable. Stretched across the widescreen of the PSP, the game stage is barren at first but 2x2 blocks begin dropping from the sky. Given time, they'll clutter the playfield unless you're quick and sharp enough to match them up. Each 2x2 block may be colored or designed in one of four ways as follows:

1) Solid color throughout
2) Top half is one color, the bottom half is another color
3) Two colors alternate on the block, as in red, white, red, white
4) 3/4 of the block is one contiguous color, and 1/4 is another color

The goal is to form a minimum of 2x2 constructions that are the same color. Once the 2x2 base is set, it may be expanded upon with color adjuncts that conform to the 2x2 rule such as 2x4 or 2x6. While the color matching action is taking place on the ground, a rocket that passes above drops a vertical line to the ground. Each time it passes, it'll wipe the screen of any 2x2 constructs and award points. Linking blocks also drop occasionally which are useful for creating chains of matches. For example, if you create a 2x2 color match with a linking block as one of the component blocks, any contiguous block of the same color will be cleared by the rocket ship when it passes overhead. The Japanese version of Lumines features some songs from the USA version of the game along with new jams. «mo»