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After a long wait, Lumines Live finally makes it way to the Xbox live arcade, but was it really worth it?

Quick Breakdown

Lumines Live Base Pack
1200 MS points ($15)
12 skins
Advanced pack 600 MS points ($7.50)
20 skins
Coming Soon - Puzzle pack and VS. CPU pack

Impressions

After a long wait, Lumines Live finally makes it way to the Xbox live arcade, but was it really worth it?

For those that have never played Lumines on the PSP, it is an addictive puzzle game infused with great music and effects that create an entrancing experience. I was a huge fan of the PSP version, it was actually the reason I bought the system at launch. So I was extremely excited when Lumines was announced for the 360. But most of that excitement faded when I discovered how this game was being presented and released.

The Lumines base game is priced at a whopping 1200 MS points (or $15) making it one of the top priced live arcade games. Well at first that didn’t seem like a bad value for a game that marketed itself as one containing the same features as the PSP version. But what you are actually buying is a stripped down version of Lumines.

The premise behind Lumines is quite simple in theory. Colored 4×4 blocks descend from the top of the screen. When you group four like colors together, they will create one solid block that will be cleared when the timeline passes over it. The goal is to create combos by timing how and where you drop the blocks to create large combos. The larger the combo, the more points you will earn-allowing you to advance to the next skin.

The game contains most of the same gameplay modes from the PSP version. There is a challenge mode in which you play through and unlock different skins. The only problem is that only 12 skins are included in the base pack, and they can be played through fairly quickly-especially for those familiar with the game. Since the base game has a measly 12 skins, you are most likely going to want to download the advanced pack which gives you another 20 skins for 600 MS points (or $7.50) which brings the total to around $22 for those keeping track.

Other game modes include a Skin edit mode where you can play through the skins you unlocked through challenge mode in any order you like. There is also a time attack mode, puzzle mode, mission mode, and VS CPU mode. The puzzle mode involves creating certain shapes or meeting various requirements. But after playing through the first few puzzles, a nice little message prompts you to buy a puzzle pack to get the rest of them. The same is true for the mission and VS packs, which all involve purchasing more packs to make the game complete. And as of right now, only the advanced pack is available for download. This wouldn’t be as bad of a problem if the main game was not advertised as being a full game-because it’s not.

On the positive side, Lumines Live does have some good features. You have the option of saving a replay of your play through which is great. And being able to compare scores with people on your friends list is nice. Lumines Live is visually appealing and the audio is fantastic. The game really pops with its vibrant colors and backgrounds on an HDTV. Also, the music takes full advantage of Dolby digital audio, which is another great feature.

Lumines Live had the potential to be one of the best live arcade games released to date, but at its current fractured state, it becomes hard to recommend this game to everyone. Unless you are a huge Lumines fan; or you are willing to spend $15 on an incomplete live arcade game–I would consider passing on this game for now.

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