Maybe even Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his team didn't, in their wildest dreams, ever imagined that Lumines will be this big. Not only did it take the classic Tetris head on but in the process it also separated itself from it. Putting emphasis on its audio-visual element, as can be seen in their previous works like Space Channel 5 and Rez, they solicited the musical talents of Shinichi Osawa (Mondo Grosso) and Dragon Ash singer KJ, for the opening theme entitled "Shinin" and a closing theme by Eri Nobuchika called "Lights." Paving the way for Lumines to become the "it" puzzle game that we know then and now.

Lumines II

Sophomore slump? Not for Lumines II. Director and designer for Lumines and Lumines II, Ryuichi Hattori, admits that, they didn't veer away much from its predecessor where gameplay is concerned. Instead, they focused more on the audio-visual element of the game, literally. Adding more than 20 vocal tracks, including video, or renowned artists like the Chemical Brothers, Black Eyed Peas, Beck and Gwen Stefani.

Download: [Lumines Crew Interview]

The full article awaits after the jump!