Lumines Live!


is a puzzle game developed by Q Entertainment and is the third entry in the Lumines series. The objective of the games is to rotate and align blocks of varying colors to form squares of a single color so that they can be removed from the field of play. The game is lost when the blocks reach the top of the playing field. All the modes from return, along with the new modes introduced in Lumines II. The game was released on in Europe on October 18, 2006, in North America on January 24, 2007, and in Japan on March 7, 2007. There were also several DLC packages release for the game between January 24, 2007, to October 17, 2007.
The game received mixed reviews from critics with some critics praising the new features but also had received complaints about the amount of content the base game had and pricing.

Gameplay

The base gameplay in Lumines Live! is the same as in the original with some new features added. The objective of the game is still to rotate and move colored blocks and to form 2x2 squares of the same color. Once the Time Line sweeps over the colored squares, they will be eliminated and points will be added to the player's overall score. Deleting four or more squares will add a bonus multiplier to the player's overall score. If the blocks reach the top of the board, the player loses the game. Stages vary from thematic visual themes known as "Skins". All the modes from the original game return: Challenge Mode, Time Attack, Puzzle, VS CPU, 2P VS Mode. In Duel Mode, Lumines Live! allows players to play locally or online. Unlike its predecessor, Lumines Live! also allows the player to accumulate over one million points in a play session.
Two new modes were introduced in Lumines Live!: Mission Mode and Skin Edit Mode. In Mission Mode, players are tasked to solve specific missions. In Skin Edit Mode, players can create their own custom playlist using skins previously unlocked in Challenge mode.

Development and release

Lumines Live! was developed by Q Entertainment alongside Lumines Plus and Lumines II. Mizuguchi's concept for the game was that the game would feed the player with new songs, with a choice of downloads. Mizuguchi compared the game to TV channels where they direct the player to new content. During the development of Lumines: Puzzle Fusion, audio had to be completed before finalizing the skin's design. Music composer Yokota decided to take a different approach with Lumines II and Lumines Live!. Instead, skin designs took priority in order to provide more concrete suggestions for the audio. Yokota stated this made greater variation possible for the music tracks. Tetsuya Mizuguchi initially attempted to expand the multiplayer options by expanding it to play between 4, 6, and 8 players at once however Mizuguchi didn't consider it to be fun and reverted to having only 2-player online mode. One of the challenges Q Entertainment faced was having the contents of the base game to the size of 50 megabytes or under due to Xbox Live Arcade's size restrictions emplaced at the time. Mizuguchi also chose to make the base game 50 megabytes to give freedom to customize the game using DLC for players.
The game was released in Europe on October 18, 2006. It was later released in North America on January 24, 2007, and in Japan on March 7, 2007. To promote the game in Japan, a contest was held at the WOMB nightclub located in Shibuya, Tokyo on April 14, 2007. The contest was a tournament for who can clear the most squares within 60 seconds and the winner won an Xbox 360.
A total of six downloadable content packages and two individual skins were released for Lumines Live!. The first three DLC packages were released on January 24, 2007. The first DLC package titled, "Puzzle/Mission Pack" contains 90 additional puzzles and 40 additional missions. The second DLC package titled, "Advance Challenge Pack" contains 20 additional skins. The third DLC package titled, "VS CPU Pack" contains 9 additional opponents with their own skin and avatar. If players defeat all 9 opponents, an additional skin is unlocked. The fourth and fifth DLC packages were released on June 27, 2007. the fourth DLC package titled "Tokyo Club Mix Package" contained skins in collaboration with DJ Sugiurumn, Techriders, DJ Malo, and Genki Rockets. The fifth DLC package titled "Booster Pack" contains 20 skins with one skin based Takagi Masakatsu's "Bloomy Girl" song. The sixth DLC package titled, "Rockin' Holiday Pack" was released on September 24, 2007 and contains 20 additional skins based on Rez, Every Extend Extra Extreme, and previous Lumines titles. Two individual skins were released on October 17, 2007 as DLC. The first is the Heavenly Star skin previously in Lumines II and the second is the Breeze skin. Both skins are named and based on songs from Tetsuya Mizuguchi's band, Genki Rockets
The game got a physical release by Atari as part of a compilation alongside Rez HD and Every Extend Extra Extreme, titled Qubed. The Qubed compilation also contains all the DLC with the exception of the Booster Pack and Tokyo Club Mix Pack, which were available to be downloaded separately. The compilation was released on September 19, 2009. A mobile phone version of the game was released pre-installed on NTT Docomo's N-02B model.

Reception

Lumines Live! was received positively by critics. The game received an aggregated score of 77 out of 100 based on 24 reviews. Critics praised the new features and updated visuals from the original but the amount of content in the base game versus the amount of DLC was criticized. Eurogamer were impressed with Skin Edit Mode, which helped returning players who didn't want to return to the beginning of Challenge Mode. GameSpot also praised the visuals and audio, stating they were better than the original game. IGN in particular praised the loading times, which were reduced from the original.
When it came to the amount of content in the base game and the pricing, the majority of critics were more negative. Eurogamer stated both lack of quality songs and base content was one of the missteps taken with the game. IGN commented, "We wouldn't be so sore if we knew exactly what we were getting and what extra packs would cost more money." IGN Further emphasized that the base game isn't the full version and labeled it "Lumines Light" Official Xbox Magazine UK stated, "We'd rather pay a higher price and get the game proper than being told we'll have to shell out for at least two more packs upon purchase." GameSpot was the most critical and found it offensive due to the base game charging full price. Official Xbox Magazine US noted similar issues, but still praised the game despite the DLC, stating, "You might want to resist, and you might mind coughing up the extra change, but you're bound to be hopelessly and happily addicted to what is truly a great puzzler."
In response to the criticism, Mizuguchi stated that he saw DLC as an unavoidable and growing trend, but that it also allowed players to customize their games as they wanted.