Lumines Help

[SoulBlazer]

Well, on the advice of everyone here and other people I've talked to, I went to EB today and through some trade in's, canceling pre-orders, and selling more stuff on Amazon I scraped up the $40 to buy this, my third game for my PSP.

Only played it a few times, but I was hooked right away and I'm not even much for puzzle games! The music, while annoying, is a nice touch. The graphics are snazzy. The gameplay is easy to learn but hard to master. On my third try in normal (challenge) game mode, though, I was able to get to Level 9 and 54,000 points.

I was wondering if anyone has any advice on becoming a better Lumines player.

Also, what is needed to unlock the new skins and music mentioned in the manual? What does one need to do?

Finally, any tips on the Puzzle mode? I can't even solve the FIRST puzzle, the Small Cross! x_x

[Drexel923]

I was wondering if anyone has any advice on becoming a better Lumines player.

It's a great game and definitely a good choice. You really have to try and get some combos going. After you set up a cube to be destroyed, you want to try and build off that cube before the bar comes and hits it.


Also, what is needed to unlock the new skins and music mentioned in the manual? What does one need to do?

As you get to higher levels, the screen will eventually change (new colors, music, etc). After you get to said level, that skin will then be unlocked.


Finally, any tips on the Puzzle mode? I can't even solve the FIRST puzzle, the Small Cross! x_x

Haven't figured this out yet myself...been too busy playing the other modes.

[RedHerring]

Here's a basic strategy that can be really helpful at getting better :
http://img26.exs.cx/img26/5690/lumines6je.jpg

As for puzzle mode, you have to create the shape on the right without having any other blocks of the same color touching it. Say you want to create a cross, you'd want to use :

[ ][ ]
[ ][-]

then
[-][-]
[ ][-]
[ ][ ]
[ ][-]

then

===[-][-]
===[ ][-]
[-][ ][ ][ ]
[-][-][ ][-]

= : Space
[ ] : white
[-] : Orange

you just have to discard the blocks you don't use to either side

Edit : And to unlock skins and characters you have to :

-Beat levels in challenge mode
-Beat puzzle mode
-Have 50 squares(as in combos) per minutes at each time attack
-Beat each CPU in VS CPU mode
-Play for 10 and 20 hours

[Jasoco]

I hope noone minds if I bump this. I think we need a strict Lumines thread and this seems like it.

I just unlocked four more skins in Lumines. The first time I had unlocked two more, then for some reason (I haven't figured out why) it asked if I wanted to load my game. I accidentally said yes. D'OH! So it loaded the game before I unlocked the skins. So I decided, well.. time to try again. I did better than before.

98,035 points with "I Hear the Music in My Soul", Dark Side Beside the River", Aback" and "Working in the Hole" unlocked. Niice..

Must get to level 100. The final level song (http://gamelayer.dreamhost.com/psp/lumines/mg_lights.mp3) is awesome. There's even a Japanese music video (http://gamelayer.dreamhost.com/psp/lumines/lights.avi) for it.

I would check out the message board at GameFAQ's for some more tips. I didn't need them as I picked it up quickly. In fact it's like every time I play, I get better. Even if I don't play for a few days. I amazed myself to day with the new skins I mentioned above.

I hope to get to the final skin soon. I never thought I'd get this far. I have 12 skins so far for the regular game;
Shinin'
Urbanization
Round About
Slipping
Shake Ya Body
Square Dance
Talk 2 You
Just...
I Hear the Music in My Soul
Dark Side Beside the River
Aback
Working in the Hole

Apparently I am halfway through. According to an FAQ, I have 12 more to go. Man it'll take some work.

When you get to "Music in my Soul" the timeline slows down which can be good or bad. It allows for more blocks to be set up at once which is great for your score.

I still can't get past level 3 of Vs. CPU mode. Darned black and white piano looking computer 3D guy gets me every time.


Now, by "Play for 10 and 20 hours" do you mean all at once? Or all together?

I must say, besides Beyond Good and Evil, this is the best game Ubisoft ever made. Ever! IMHO.

Here's a tip; when trying to show examples, use the Code tag to make your blocks:

[ ][-]
[ ][-][-]

[TheHammerGod]

The biggest problem with the puzzle for first time players is the background shows a huge cross and people think it has to be this huge cross that fills the screen. It actually only needs to be a 3x3 cross of one color. You will have to discard alot of pieces off to the side to get the correct pieces you will need but it is easier then it looks when you first try it.

[Querjek]

Also, what is needed to unlock the new skins and music mentioned in the manual? What does one need to do?

Play challenge mode, Vs. CPU mode, and the time attack modes. Also, there's a skin that you get for playing for 10 hours, and another for 20 hours.


My current record is level 113ish with 452,000ish points. I hate that one challenge mode game now takes me more than an hour.

[Needle]

I've had Lumines since release and I've gotten quite good at it. My current high score is 821,340 (Level 228). You actually get a skin for maxing the score counter at 999,999 - so I'm closing in on that ultimate goal.

That said, here are some general tips and philosophies for improving your gameplay.

Lumines challenge skins come in what I call "Phases". Each phase consists of several skins in which the time bar gradually moves faster and faster. Eventually, you'll come to a series of skins that is noticably slower than the ones before it. This is the end of a phase, and I like to call it "Cleanup" :)

The object is usually to survive until you get to a skin with a slow time bar, and then use your crazy combo skills to lower the stack while you have the advantage. The first cleanup skin is "I Hear the Music in my Soul". The second cleanup phase is actually three skins in a row: "Holiday in Summer", "Take a Dog Out a Walk", and "Big Elpaso". The last cleanup phase is actually "Lights", which has probably the slowest time bar of all the challenge skins.

I find that most people will get stuck with sub-100K scores, and then suddenly theyll have a breakout game and score well over 150K. Why such a big jump? Once you make it to one of these cleanup phases, you can really regain control on the stack.

Other than that, two of the biggest issues in improvement are speed and familiarity. Speed comes into play when the blocks start falling faster. Familiarity comes into play when you're dealing with a difficult skin. "Just", "ABack", and "Megudo" are all very difficult to look at, but with enough practice the handicap they cause can be trumped without a second thought.

Finally, Reoccuring patterns are your friend. Once you start figuring out simple solutions, you can use them over and over again to produce the same results. There are only a handful of different block types, and learning out to use each one effectively does become easier.

All that said, almost everyone - including myself - struggles a lot for about a week upon entering Lumines. Eventually as you squeeze through the tougher skins, you can improve scores dramatically by using the cleanup skins to regain control.

Remember, the key to being successful in the long run is EFFICIENCY! For every block you drop, you should make it your goal to complete at least one block. Equivalent exchange :)

If anyone has any more specific questions, I could probably keep blabbing, but this is a long post already. As a final note, let me just say that the game gets ridiculously fast after you've looped the skin cycle twice at level 200!

[Jasoco]

While I'm no where nearyour 800,000 score, I have impressed myself once again tonight. Just when I never thought I'd make it to 100,000 and past "Working in the Hole", in one fell swoop, I added 9 whole skins to my repa..repert.. um.. that word I'm looking for.. Collection I guess.

Sister Walk
Da-Di-Do
Strangers
Holiday in the Summer
Take a Dog out a Walk
Big Elpaso
My Generation
Meguro
Spirits

New high score: 224,847

Getting closer to Lights. I can almost feel it! This is the first game where I seem to get better every time.

I guess I have about 8 or 9 hours to go before I get the next hidden skin to go with Rodent. But my two ultimate goals are to make it to Lights, and get that 999,999 skin.

[Querjek]

I hiy 630,000ish points yesterday, and made it to level 150. Bah.

[blissfulnoise]

I've had Lumines since release and I've gotten quite good at it. My current high score is 821,340 (Level 228). You actually get a skin for maxing the score counter at 999,999 - so I'm closing in on that ultimate goal.

Well darn it. I've rocked the game past 160 and scored about 750,000 points, but I didn't think there was anything left to unlock on challenge mode and I kinda threw the game.

999,999... here I come.

[ddockery]

Decided to drag this back up from the dead...

Does anyone have tips on beating the vs CPU mode? I can get to the 5th guy most of the time, and the sixth twice. This mode is brutal, and I don't see myself ever conquering all 10, especially since you restart on #1 every time. Is there a strategy that seems to help?

[Oobgarm]

Decided to drag this back up from the dead...

Does anyone have tips on beating the vs CPU mode? I can get to the 5th guy most of the time, and the sixth twice. This mode is brutal, and I don't see myself ever conquering all 10, especially since you restart on #1 every time. Is there a strategy that seems to help?

The only tip I can give is to speed up your block placement. Don't give the CPU a chance to react. That's really about it. The fourth one got me a lot, then the fifth one caused a lot of problems. I've gotten to the 10th level once, but I was decimated.

[PDorr3]

I never got past like 120k points, and that was with a lucky 20k start (getting a screen clear combo, its easy if u get a 4 color block for first block in start of game, 20k points)

[ddockery]

Apparently the key is is to cry in public about how hard it is. Previously I had gotten to the 6th opponent once (with the blocks that look like silver/gld leaves). Over lunch yesterday I tried once and beat that one, and the next 2, and was decimated by #9. Of course since then I was beaten on #4 twice and gave up again. I'll get it, eventually. The key (for me) is to play every block as if the PSP is on fire and dropping blocks will put it out. Be as ruthless as possible.