Intonarumori

Finally posting my review on Lumines II, been too busy playing it for that, and also wanted to wait till I got 100% of the skins.

Well, I don't really see this as a squel, but most of an expansion pack. For those who caught the esscence of the first one, you should know It's all about how the "experience" changes with just the changes in graphics an music. Basically, the main add-on is the inclusion of almost the double of skins (graphics, music) which really add to the experience to those who where left wanting for more. The graphical remake of all the non-track maps from the original is really nice too.

The music video levels, well, I've seen lots of my friends getting drawn to play it because of them, but ultimately they end playing some other more abstract skins, so I can see some of the reason they are there (there are many music videos that work though, and some that merge really nice with the sound effects)

Some differences noticed during the gameplay:
-Animated, more detailed blocks.
-Special graphics for the 2x2 blocks
-Video Backgrounds
-Cooler combo animations (altough they can get a little distractive)
-Special animations of combo arrows for some of the skins

Some skins might look a little bith rushed because of the lack of these detail from lumines 2:
-Unique graphics for special blocks
-Blur effects
-Specific fonts for the skins
-Special grids depending theskin
-Layout of the fonts for some skins

Also, the loop feature in the first one is gone. This means the music won't get stuck if you stop doing squares. That actually added more interactibility for me. Mostly the features that were removed were barely noticeable at first glance, though they added a more "finished" feeling to the game.

About the other play modes, now they are much longer and interesting to play. They even got different backgroudns that changes as you adnvance on them.
The vs. CPU mode is mostly the same, though the enemies here look more stupider (a lion, a rocker, a robot, a guitar) while in the first all of them looked witty and smart.
The custom sking mode is basically making your own challenge mode with the skins you've unlocked. Too bad they didnt left the option to set the lenght of th song you're playing. Music video songs are usually completed before I can see them because of comboing, so I just have to slow down to see them complete... A problem I saw, is how the music video bg's go out of sinc with the line when playing the second time. Its actually annoying when you pay attention to how beautifully sinced it is most with the songs.(many where selected because of that, a repetitive chime that denotes the rythm).
The sysnthetizer mode... havent tried it much yet, but isnt that flexible T__T

One thing I felt is the desire to try to have this one as an improved version of the original. Yeah, the 4 coolest skins of the first one are gone, but you can feel how they tried to put substitutes for them (Havenly star has some of the feeling of shinin, the last level being very similar to lights, etc.) so there are lots of cool skins trying to make up for the missing ones... There arent many new skins when you've completed the 3 challenge modes, if you played the first one, but seeing some old skins remade is interesting too(I loved the new "Brash").

This game can be played when feeling sad, anxious, bored, hyper, there are skins for everything. You can throw the blocks slowly, trying to clear the screen totally, or you can go mad and try to do the biggest combos ever if you feel like it, or, in this second part, keep a 4x combo for the longest time you can. There are even skins that can make you cry (the finishing skins mostly, those 3 painting-like skins are awesome)

So I would recommend this one to anyone who wants to play lumines for the first time, the other looks more refined and has more of that "house" feeling, but does not offer as much content and variety as this one. I can say I was pleased with the game, and I was waiting for it eagerly...

If they would add downloadable skins and online multiplayer (and more Mondo Grosso :3) to a "Lumines III" I would buy it (hell, a total fanatic as me might buy it anyway... but I could start to get angry)