LocoRoco is a new twist for platform games with an original concept, 2D graphics, catchy music, and fun sound effects. Instead of moving around stationary platforms, the player "rolls" the environment back and forth to move the LocoRoco through the levels. Each level has secret areas, hidden items, and power-ups which make the player larger or add features and music to the LocoRoco house.

The game is easy to learn and the controls are simple, using only the "O" and shoulder buttons during game-play. LocoRoco is single player game, but levels and house designs can be shared with other players in Wi-Fi mode. The levels are colorful and fun — while difficulty increases, things never get too hard to become frustrating. LocoRoco can be completed in several hours without collecting everything, and as with many classic platformers part of the replay value is going back through levels to find the hidden or overlooked items.

Graphics and audio are excellent. All of the graphics are flat, solid, unshaded cartoons, and the characters sing along with the background music. The environments vary and react differently based on their material (grass, trees, ice, bone, etc.) and affect player movement. Stages offer different background music, character voices, and effects which add to the charm.

LocoRoco is one of those few games that is suitable for any age, young or old. While we wish the game was longer, the original concept makes it one of the better titles for the PSP.

At first glance, Lumines appears to be like so many other Tetris-like puzzle games by arranging falling colored blocks to make similar colored blocks disappear. Don't let the general description fool you — Lumines is easy-to-learn and highly addictive.

The controls are simple: move the falling blocks left, right, down, or rotate them as needed. Match colors in patterns of 4 x 4 or more to score points and make the matched blocks disappear. The larger the matched group, the higher the score. Bonus points are also awarded for clearing all blocks of the same color, or the more difficult clearing all blocks from the screen. The catch is the "scanning bar" that moves from left to right across the screen. Matched groups do not disappear until the bar scans them, and the speed of scanning and falling blocks varies with each level.

Levels have "skins" with different colored graphics, backgrounds, groovy soundtracks, and sound effects. The sound effects are synced between the soundtracks and game-play, combining to create an extremely immersive experience. Everything works together to set Lumines apart from many similar games and make it feel like you're playing an iTunes or music player visualizer.

When the single-player action gets boring, two players with separate PSPs can compete "head-to-head" using Wi-Fi. Lumines entertains for many, many hours and with significant replay value — so be warned.

Lumines II slightly expands the puzzle action formula from Lumines. This sequel offers fancier graphics with animated blocks and background video, accompanied by music that is more mainstream. Other additions include Mission mode with timed objectives and a sequencer to create custom tracks.

The single-player Challenge and two-player Duel are unchanged from the first game, which is both good and bad. Fans of Lumines will immediately feel at home, but this title conveys far less excitement of discovery than the first — not only is the game-play almost identical but the music selections recognizably top-40. The new graphics and audio are nice, but they don't add enough over the original to hold interest for more than a few hours.

Lumines was a fresh take on the Tetris formula. Lumines II is a solid update and a worthwhile purchase for those that don't own a copy of Lumines, but it doesn't offer enough to set it apart from its predecessor.