I guess so, but not like this...
Not being a massive fan of block puzzle games, I wasn't expecting much from this, well not until I realised who was behind it. A puzzle game from the guy who made Rez, now you'r expecting something special, and special it is.
You dont get much for you money, 1 player challenge, 2 player, versus cpu, time attack and puzzle, thats it, but thats all you need. We all know tetris made the gameboy, this kind of game is ideal for the portable style of gaming.
To sum this up quickly, I guess what WipEout did to build on F-zero Lumines does to for Tetris. It's cool, looks and sounds great (an understatement... if ever there was one) and pulls you in with simple but highly indepth gameplay. In fact to start with it all seems to simple, match four coloured squares into a 2x2 square to make them dissapear, but as with every other game of this type, thats all you need, you're soon stacking up and setting off massive chain reactions, often holding your breath as you wait for what seems like forever for the next screen wipe.
The levels (skins) themselves, are what keeps you coming back to this game, each with its own amazing graphic design and music/effects that react to the action and chain reactions as you play are the main draw here. Its really like playing one of those cool DVD album length music video things that artists like Beck, Orbital and Lemon Jelly have produced. But better because your in charge, making the music, messing with the sounds, plug some earphones in and drift off completely... great.
Still there are a few drawbacks, the game forces you to play through all the previous skins everytime you try and unlock a new one. I've clocked in many games in challenge mode at over half an hour only to loose and not get the next skin at all. Plus the verus cpu mode has the same problem, but is even more difficult. But generally you wont mind, as its just so cool to play it anyway.
Mizuguchi's game does for Tetris what Rez did for Space Harrier. Great style, simple as that.
