Lumines: Electronic Symphony

Lumines: Electronic Symphony is the first installment of a popular puzzle game series, developed by Japanese studio Q Entertainment, to hit PS Vita. Basic gameplay rules in Electronic Syphony are not much different than in previous Lumines games. The game still involves clearing the screen from falling colored blocks by matching together those of the same color. New blocks always appear in fours, and take the form of up to two-colored squares. There is a clearing line moving from the left to the right side of the screen from time to time. The blocks that remain after clearing move into the place of the removed ones and create new combos.

The biggest innovation in the game are avatars. Before you start playing, you must choose one of many avatars, who can help you later in the game by activating their special skills, such as creating a chain of blocks of the same color. You can use the special ability of your avatar only if the bar in the corner is full. You fill it by earning points or using triggers, which, however, speed up the game’s tempo. Apart from avatars, developers also introduced special blocks, which cause different effects, both positive and negative.