Lumines: Electronic Symphony (Vita)

Lumines: Electronic Symphony is a puzzle game exclusively for PlayStation Vita. It was actually a launch title and one of the best received ones at that. Playing through Lumines and viewing the gameplay, there will be the inevitable comparison against Tetris. It is more involved than that though. You will have blocks of 2x2 squares that you can move left and right. Each square can be one of two colors and the aim is to form squares of at least 2x2 size. Then once the Time Line passes, they will disappear. Therefore, since the arranged blocks don’t clear immediately, this does make it a bit more difficult.

You can rotate the blocks clockwise or anticlockwise and push down on the d-pad to make it fall faster. Once the blocks stack up to the top of the screen, it will be game over. During this whole time, music will be playing in the background, and the speed of the Time Line will match the speed of the song. You probably won’t notice it too much as you’ll be too busy concentrating and trying to plan ahead. That is, until the difficult ramps up with the speed of the blocks being faster and the Time Line slower, so your screen starts to fill up quick.

There are some gimmicks such as the Avatar abilities. Pressing an icon on the touch screen will give you an ability dependant on which avatar you have equipped. Then you can tap the back touchpad to recharge that ability. It can be distracting as you’re trying to tap and arrange the blocks at the same time, you’ll probably also get hand cramps doing this for long periods of time. There are also two types of special blocks which help in clearing away stray blocks. These are the Chain Block and the Shuffle Block. The Chain Block will eliminate all connected blocks of the same type, while the Shuffle Block will randomly change the blocks into others, if you have heaps left on the screen, this will help create several squares that can be eliminated.

There isn’t a tutorial mode as such; you just have to select the Tutorial screens from the menu. The game has a bunch of modes, the main one being Voyage and in this mode, you aim for a high score. It is pretty much the game’s endless mode as you go through the various skins. If you managed to clear all the skins, then it’ll start looping back. Upon clearing enough blocks, it will transition to the next “skin”. This basically means a new song and changing what the blocks look like. This can be very distracting as you would be used to how the blocks look and now it all changes and throws you off.

There are some neat online elements. For starters, each game you play you will be aiming for a high score. At the main menu, there is a leaderboard with your friends list and it can be fun to compare and try to beat your friend’s score. The other major online component is the World Block, where it takes into account how many blocks players around the world had erased by playing the game. The aim is to eliminate enough such that it erases the World Block. Participating in this will give you bonus experience points.

Experience points are earned by playing any of the game’s modes. Earn enough and you’ll gain a level, which will unlock more avatars for you to use. While it may not seem like it, you’ll easily find yourself spending hours into the game. Go slow and methodically and it can feel endless, go fast and hard and you’ll still spend an hour to clear the Voyage mode (if you’re good enough that is). It can get tough when the blocks fall fast yet the Time Line moves slow so that you have to be really careful not to accidentally build up too high.

There are other modes as well. Stopwatch will give you a time limit in order to create and clear away as many blocks as possible within that limit. Master is a really tough section where you aim to clear a target number of blocks but the speed at which the blocks fall are crazy fast. Finally there is Duel mode which is the game’s multiplayer mode. You can play ad-hoc although it requires both players to have a copy of the game. While you wouldn’t expect a block puzzle game to have stellar graphics, it is actually pretty good. The changing styles of the blocks as well as the background, in conjunction with the music and effects and it can be mesmerizing to watch.

Overall, Lumines: Electronic Symphony is a fun and addictive puzzle game. It is deceptively simple yet complex once the speed kicks in. It is easy to spend hours into this game, and there are a few modes to keep you invested. This game is well worth the cheap price it now commands.

-------------------------------------------------

For other game reviews, have a look at this page.

Toy Review: Transformers Generation 1 Soundwave w/ Buzzsaw (2019 release)

Review:  #652

Name:  Soundwave w/ Buzzsaw

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Generation 1

Year of Release:  2019

Size Class:  N/A

Mold Status:  2019 re-release of the Generation 1 figure

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:

The original G1 Soundwave was reissued in 2019, complete with replica G1 packaging, which can look amazing if you manage to get one straight out of the case with no shelf-wear.

Unfortunately, depending on the market that the figure was sold in, you might get stickers with legal stuff on it that covers up the tech specs, which is quite a shame.

It's interesting to see that the figure is so simple that the instructions for transformation can be done in five shots at the top of the box.

The sides and bottom just shows off several additional stock photos (the left and right sides have exactly the same photos).

You might notice through the window that Soundwave and Buzzsaw only takes up half of the boxes' width, so you might wonder if the rest is just empty space (in an effort to make the figure feel bigger than it actually is to justify the price).  Well, once you take the plastic tray out, you can see that it is storing Soundwave's accessories.

Furthermore, there's an instructions booklet and stickers.

BUZZSAW:

Let's quickly cover off Buzzsaw first.  Soundwave comes with Buzzsaw as his partner in this set (Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble and Frenzy can be bought separately) and transforms into a gold cassette tap.

One side has cassette details provided by stickers, while the other side s robot parts but is not obvious and can still pull off the cassette tape look.

In terms of size, Buzzsaw is small in this mode, above is a comparison against Legion Barricade.

The transformation to robot mode is actually really simple.  The wings fold out from the body, then the head and legs flip out, finally, you attach the chromed engine blocks at the back.

Buzzsaw is a repaint of Laserbeak, and is a robotic bird.

Again, Laserbeak is approximately the size of a Legion figure in robot mode.

This is a G1 figure so don't expect great articulation.  The head can look up and down while the wings can open and close, both are part of transformation.

ALTERNATE MODE (SOUNDWAVE):

When you first get Soundwave out of the packaging, you'll notice that he has some stickers pre-applied, and some that you have to apply yourself. 

Once you get the stickers on, you might not notice much of a different since a lot of those were for robot mode.  Nevertheless, Soundwave transforms into a cassette tape player.

Unfortunately, the buttons on the front don't work.  The back is fairly neat as well, with the two silver pillars being the robot arms.

There is a volume dial on the left side, which actually rotates (also note that the instructions keeps the red stickers on the front of the player instead of on the batteries).

On the right side is the slider, which can slide up and down.

One really neat gimmick, that helps sells the Transformers concept, is the back cover can be taken off revealing the compartment for the batteries.

The "batteries" can then store in that, which is pretty awesome.

In terms of size, Soundwave is approximately the same as a Deluxe, so it can be a bit hard to stomach the high price that this re-issue is selling for.

Finally, the tape deck can open by pressing the button at the top.  The cover is spring loaded so it'll pop open.

You can then place a tape inside, including, of course, Buzzsaw who is packed together in this set.

Since the cover is clear, you can see the details through the cover which is pretty neat.

A fantastic cassette deck mode, with just enough unobtrusive gimmicks to make it a lot of fun.

TRANSFORMATION:

This is a G1 figure so the transformation isn't hard, however, it intuitive and very clever considering its age.  The sides fold down to form the legs, while the arms unfold from the back.  You can then flip out the head, remove the batteries and attach them as weaponry.

ROBOT MODE:

Again, if you take Soundwave straight out of the box, he comes mostly sticker-less in robot mode and can look a bit bare.

Some of the stickers can be fairly annoying to put on but once you do, he has a lot more detail.  Unfortunately, the stickers are poor quality and prone to peeling off soon after you've placed it on.

Onto the figure itself, this is an amazing robot mode, all the more because it is pretty proportionally accurate and doesn't look weird at all.  The backpack is the empty compartment for the batteries.

The headsculpt is definitely a bit less refined than you'd expect for Soundwave, but this is the first iteration.  It can actually look from left to right.

From the side, you can see how boxy and thin Soundwave is, due to the nature of transforming into a cassette tape player.

Soundwave is one of the best articulated G1 toy, he has hinges for his head, shoulders, elbows and hips (no knees since they bend forwards for transformation instead).

The batteries form his weaponry in robot mode.  One extends to form a missile launcher, and the other is a shoulder cannon.

You actually get three missiles, so there are two spares.  The springloaded mechanism itself is somewhat weak.

In terms of size, Soundwave becomes much taller, to the point of matching contemporary Voyager classed figures.

The shoulder cannon pegs onto his shoulders, and the missile launcher can be held in either hand.

Due to the circular shape of the missile launcher, it gets in the way of the forearm and the handle is not long enough for Soundwave's fist to grip it completely.  It'll hold in place but not as tightly as you would have liked.

Naturally, the tape cover can still open, if you wish to place a tape inside.

Similarly to the alternate mode, having a tape in there gives his chest extra details which can look pretty nice.

The feet is made of die-cast which gives the figure surprising heft

Unfortunately there are no pegs for Buzzsaw to peg on, but you can still carefully position Buzzsaw on Soundwave's arm.  This is a remarkable robot mode considering how the era it was designed in.

OVERALL:

Apart from Optimus Prime, Soundwave may very well be the best and most versatile G1 figure designed.  The fact that he manages to have such good articulation, and looking so much like the cartoon is impressive.  Every fan should have a version of G1 Soundwave in their collection.

-----------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page.

Purchase from Amazon using this link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)