Ubisoft brings Lumines for PSP handheld system to Europe

Today, Ubisoft, one of the world’s leading videogame publishers, announced that it has joined forces with Bandai Company, Ltd to publish and distribute Lumines in Europe. This critically acclaimed music and luminary action puzzle is slated for release in conjunction with the official launch of the PSP in Europe.

Lumines is an addictive, hip, and stylistic musical puzzler reminiscent of Tetris that transcends any puzzle game to date. Created by renowned designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi of REZ, Sega Rally, and Space Channel 5 fame, this puzzle game delivers a unique gameplay experience that challenges players to bust blocks while grooving to evolving rock, techno, and pop musical scores.

“Ubisoft is thrilled to partner with Bandai and Q ENTERTAINMENT to bring Lumines for the PSP to the European launch,” said John Parkes, director of marketing at Ubisoft. “Lumines is such a unique and exciting title, we're very pleased to add it to Ubisoft's lineup of superior games.”

Game Features

• A Simple Puzzler: Users are challenged to control a block until it lands on the ground, creating a square using blocks of the same colour. In order to delete the shape from the field, it must be larger than 2 squares by 2 squares. The larger the square you delete, the higher your score.



• A Unique Puzzler: Any expanded square regions will be deleted when the Sequencing Bar passes by. A player’s success is determined by how far you can expand the square regions in order to delete large boxes at once.



• In Sync: Each key action generates sound effects. The flow of the Sequencing bar and the speed of the descending block are synchronized with the beat of the background music. Once a block is deleted, a music file is played. The more blocks destroyed in a sequence, the better the music.



• Single Player Modes: Enjoy 24 stages of graphics and music in Challenge Mode, race the clock and beat the odds in Time Attack Mode, earn graphical skins and avatars as you battle CPU characters in Duel Mode and draw shapes with blocks in Puzzle Mode.



• Multi-player Functionality: Through Wireless LAN technology, the user can compete with an opponent in the “VS.” Mode



• Multiple Game Stages: Four stages, each with its own musical theme and sound effects, offer increasing levels of difficulty tied to beats-per-minute.



• Changeable Skins: Users can earn graphical skins as they clear various stages throughout the game. Skins can then be changed to the users liking, much like a media player.



• Collectible Characters: Players can increase their collection of characters by beating CPU characters and clearing stages. They can show off their Lumines skills by using the characters they’ve earned as an avatar, giving themselves a unique identity.

Music led by J-pop artist Shinichi Osawa brings light yet funky tracks adding a depth to Lumines.

Since its December 2004 launch in Japan, Lumines has sold over 40,000 units, becoming one of the most popular launch titles available for the PSP handheld system. The European release of Lumines offers new enhancements including a quicker loading time and skin changes.