#Lumines

[videogamepolls]

Requested by anon

[found-in-retro-game-mags]

Lumines: Puzzle Fusion

"are you lumines?" (Pocket Games #17, Spring 2005)

[ryanbeardy]

Music and games have been intertwined since the beginning. Sometimes that relationship can result in something more. In this video I'll explore the legacy of Rez, Synesthesia, and the talented minds behind this unique philosophy.

[liugeaux]

The Best Games of 2005 | Is This Art?

Here is my second best-of list. For further explanation check out the 2004 list I posted a few weeks ago. 2005 was the first year I can remember where the question "Are Video Games Art?" really started to mean something. It was also the first year of the Seventh Generation of consoles as the Xbox 360 hit stores in November. Remember, this is written as if it were published at the end of 2005. There will be no cutesy future predicting and all comments should be taken at face value. Let's get started.

#10 - Ultimate Spider-man

Saying this is just Spider-Man 2 with a better art style is a bit reductive, but ultimately (pun intended) is kind of accurate. The swinging mechanic is still the core appeal of it, and that appeal is still super strong. It's flashy, consistent, and an easy lock for No. 10.

#9 - Mario Kart DS

It's technically not the first portable Mario Kart game, but it's definitely the first portable Mario Kart game that demands you take it seriously. Nintendo has successfully translated the look and feel of console games over to the DS. The icing on the cake here is the online play, At least until you discover players "snaking," but that's a conversation for a different day.

#8 - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Technically released in the US in January, The Minish Cap barely made the cut-off for my list. Unlike Capcom's 2 previous portable Zelda efforts, The Minish Cap has seemingly endless charm. Link's talking hat, a compelling story, and a solid dungeon structure have The Minish Cap feeling a lot like A Link to the Past, one of the greatest games ever made.

#7 - Guitar Hero

We're all losers. We stand in our living rooms, clickity clackity-ing on fake plastic guitars trying to get 5 stars, while the world passes us by. I think I'm fine with that. Guitar Hero is as inventive as it is addictive. From the cheeky aesthetic to the 5-star soundtrack, this game sits in a category all by itself. It's easy to pick up and naturally walks you through learning and ramping up your skills. I don't know if I had more fun with a game this year.

#6 - Call of Duty 2

At this point WWII games are passé. We've already met our quota for WWII games this decade, but as the only Xbox 360 game on this list, Call of Duty 2 proves there is still plenty of blood left in that stone. Forgoing reality and leaning on survival elements that make for exciting gameplay, the game makes you feel like you're on the frontlines fighting for your life. It's beautiful and really shows what this new console generation is capable of.

#5 - Psychonauts

One of the main "Games are Art" titles of this year is Psychonauts. A genuinely funny take on mental health and psychiatry, it finds a way to poke fun, but while subtly raising awareness of important Psychiatric concepts. Psychonauts plays with your emotions as it has your heart laughing. Memorable characters, unique platforming and some of the best writing any game has ever had, makes this one easy to recommend. Like movie directors, Tim Schafer has proven he's one of the field's first auteurs.

#4 - Resident Evil 4

Who knew that all the Resident Evil series needed to get my attention was a perspective change? REs 1-3 all suffered from being too frustrating to control for me to have any fun with. The novel over-the-shoulder 3rd person controls puts the player in a position similar to first-person, but with the mobility and awareness of a 3rd person game. Resident Evil 4 is a frightening romp through inspired new ground all while improving the survival horror genre in meaningful ways.

#3 - Lumines

Yeah, I've got a puzzle game at number 3, fight me! Not since Tetris has a puzzle game grabbed me as firmly as Lumines did this year. Could it be the sleek and futuristic presentation? Maybe. Could it be that Lumines is the perfect game for Sony's new curious little handheld? Probably. Have I spent countless hours deep in high-score chasing? Absolutely! Lumines might be lighting in a bottle, but that lightning burned super hot this year.

#2 - God of War

Nothing is more aggro than being forced to wear the ashes of your dead family on your skin. Kratos is justifiably angry and being able to take his anger and tear through a pantheon of Gods is quite cathartic. It helps that God of War's gameplay is fluid, frantic and addictive. It takes tropes from previous generations of beat-em-ups and layers brand-new ways to combo up and destroy. It's also another entry in the "Is this art" sweepstakes. The cinematic nature of the entire experience rivals much of the drivel coming out of Hollywood, and being a game makes it even more engaging.

#1 - Shadow of the Colossus

Truly an unparalleled experience, Shadow of the Colossus is a masterpiece that shines by engineering vivid emotions through the art of digital animation. Each Colossus is a world unto itself and even though you, as the protagonist, are tasked with slaying each beast, the pain and helplessness of imminent death expressed from them as they fall will etch itself in your bones. Shadow successfully takes the technical limitations of the PS2 and bends a low frame rate and limited draw distance, into a part of the expression of the art. It's not a perfect game, but it's a step in an unprecedented direction for the art form as a whole.

Notable Omissions:

Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Civ 4 is a fine game and is definitely a major improvement over Civ 3, but my patience for strategy games in this style is thin.

Battlefield 2 - I didn't play it. I'm not even sure if there's a competent way to play it with a controller and I'm definitely not gonna try it with a mouse and keyboard.

Forza Motorsport - With very few exceptions, I'm not a racing game guy, and racing sims are completely off my radar.

Next time we move to 2006, the launch year of both the Wii and PS3. See you there!

Cheers.

[sinnamonsheep]

[godsgreenest]

I love being a niche little creature, i just like my silly things that nobody else likes.

I love annoying people with said niche likings.

Have i ever introduced you to the world of Lumines ?

[pjpsp]

One of the few music videos exclusive to lumines II. this one is probably one of my favorites

[scrabbeduto]

yesterday I played so much lumines that I saw the bar moving across my vision when I closed my eyes to sleep

[skullodreams]

[wholenote1]

hey, I'm Lucas (or Whole if you prefer).

minor (15-17), ace, cis (he/him)

in the rhythm game community (IIDX main, plays DDR sometimes), the geometry dash community, and the puzzle game community (mostly lumines and TGM as of right now)

hopefully will start being able to interact with these communities here

[w3rn1ckz]

Come walk into the hurricane with me... you hopeless romantic... <3

[dj-cublex]

did you guys know that. lumines online

[rita-belli]

LET IT SPARK!!