You wanted more Lumines action and you got it, as Buena Vista Games releases Lumines II from Q Entertainment. This sequel will captivate you with its block dropping strategy and hypnotic sights and sounds. I'm more than pleased to bring you our review of Lumines II for your handheld PSP.

Lumines II plays vary similar to the first conception Lumines from 2005. This is relieving because the first Lumines game was near perfect for its genre. The Lumines series was created by Testsuya Mizuguchi who masterminded other titles like Rez and The Dreamcast's Space Channel 5. Even though Lumines Live has hit the Xbox 360, it feels more at home on the PSP.

If you're not familiar with Lumines, I'll break down the gameplay and rules for Lumines II. Like the original Lumines II is all about moving blocks onto other blocks, the trick in Lumines is to match colours side by side with the blocks that contain four little squares that are coloured with two different shades. Once you have the colours laid down you'll be working with a timeline that constantly move across the screen deleting squares you make. So, along with the placement of the blocks you need to work on your timing to really earn the big points. Lumines II might sound a little complex if you haven't played it, so the best way to sum the gameplay up is to think Tetris with a standard block size and then update it and make it cool.

Another attractive feature to Lumines which has been expanded in Lumines II is skins that overlap your game. The skins are like a skin you would throw on Winamp or any computer program to change its look, the look changes, but the all the functionality stays the same. You could refer to the skins as levels in Lumines because that is the only time the gameplay will change. In Lumines II boasts more skins then before with a total of 60 skins. Each skin varies in the background graphics, colours, and variants on the shapes. Lumines II ups the skins by one by adding video skins which is a brilliant merger. With the new video skins you will have music videos that play behind your game and Lumines II has grabbed some great artists and some of their best videos. The video skins move Lumines one step ahead of all other puzzle games and up the production and entertainment value of this game.

The artists who's videos are features are as follows, Beck, Black Eyed Peas, New Order, Hoobstank, Gwen Stefani, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, Junior Senior, The Go! Team, Missy Elliot and Genki Rockets which is actually the creators side project. Hearing and watching Gwen's "Hollaback Girl" or "Pump It" from the Black Eyed Peas pretty surreal and great integration in a game that already has a strong visual and sonic presentation. If this doesn't become a standard in more games, I'll be shaking my head, because when done right it works well.

Lumines II includes a few other game modes besides the main mode which include a mission mode, multiplayer 1 vs. 1, challenge, time attack and CPU vs. Puzzle. Each mode is fairly self explanatory and if you have played the Xbox Live version you'll already have a heads up. I do have a small qualm with Lumines II and that retains to the Mission Mode. I wasn't a big fan of this mode mainly because it was too challenging and compared to the rest of the game that ramps up in difficulty. In the mission mode you go from an easy mission to a drastically hard one in a simple jump which in the end makes this mode frustrating. All the extra modes are entertaining briefly, scratch the mission mode, but the real game is the standard Lumines.

Q Entertainment improves on the original Lumines by adding stats tracking, tutorials, and gaming sharing along with the other returning modes. These are little things, but the little things actually help make a better rounded product. I love stats, and any junkie will be addicted to mapping their progress. The other modes include a mission mode, multiplayer 1 vs. 1, challenge, time attack and CPU vs. Puzzle. Each mode is fairly self explanatory and if you have played the Xbox Live version you'll already have a heads up.

I do have a small qualm with Lumines II and that retains to the Mission Mode. I wasn't a big fan of this mode mainly because it was too challenging and compared to the rest of the game that ramps up in difficulty. In the mission mode you go from an easy mission to a drastically hard one in a simple jump which in the end makes this mode frustrating. All the extra modes are entertaining briefly, scratch the mission mode, but the real game is the standard Lumines.

If you want a second helping of Lumines II go right ahead, you can never get full of addictive and fun gameplay. The original Lumines did everything right and Lumines II follows suit with an upgrade to the visuals with music videos interlaced with the game. Lumines II might not have the same impact as before, but Q Entertainment is still on the pulse.