Yes, you’ve heard it correctly. For me, Lumines is pretty much my Japan experience in a pill.
I have bought my first PSP in Japan after seeing it on Tokyo Game Show and watching incredible movies on Gamespot – contrary to many people in the world, I haven’t been drooling over it before it arrived. It was an instant love – it was there, I saw it, it saw me, trumpets, and I knew I wanted it.
The very first game I bought together with it was Lumines, which I then played travelling at night on Kodama Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka. I completed it, going through last level, on the plane starting from Narita airport on the day of my leave. I have played it during all my stay in Japan almost everyday, usually before going to sleep, and the experiences of Nippon have blended in my mind with the experiences of the game.
The thing about Lumines is that it is not so much about the game itself, but about the whole audiovisual experience it delivers, putting player in slightly trancey state/mood through combination of sounds and graphics. There are so many clones of Lumines, yet none of them is half as playable and I know no other game that puts player in such a trance (even Lumines II is less stylish and entrancing). Oh, and before we continue – remember that what we call a skin here is a combination of graphics, music and sounds for a given level (skin = the whole audiovisual set).
Traditional JapanNoh theatre, Kabuki theatre, temples of Kyoto and Kamakura, shamisen music, samurai parade in Hakone, maiko walking through Ponto-cho and crying of Sumo judges – somehow it all melts in this skin. I know, it is simplistic as hell of me to even think about squeezing all the cultural past of Japan into one game level, I am making a complete gai-jin ass out of myself, but anyhow this skin resonated well with all these memories of idealised traditional Japan.
Nightlife JapanNightclubs of Shibuya, discos of Shinjuku, karaoke clubs of Machida – for me, it’s all in this skin. Mondo Grosso music, lots of shiny elements, general electronic chaos, happy tunes, overall feeling of fun, explosions of bright colours – this is the face of modern Japan as I experienced it in my stroll through Tokyo nightlife.
TrainsIf you have travelled with trains in Japan, you know that this is dominating mode of transport and quite often they run on and under bridges not unlike the one depicted above. Quite often they go by shore, too. This music together with swiftly moving orange streak makes me feel a surge of memories of sitting on the train speeding by the seaside and watching other trains zooming in the distance while sun is setting over the ocean.
NatureIf you travel outside the neverending megalopolis of Tokyo and into the countryside, you will find some incredible forrests, flowing streams, beautiful spots far from the civilisation. This skin echoes these parts of my stay in Japan – the calm tranquillity of Japanese nature.
GamingBasically this skin is me with my PSP, even hands are up to scale. And the retro feeling and sound effects made me recall the beginnings of my digital journey through gaming worlds – ZX Spectrum+ games and Russian counterfeits of Nintendo’s Game & Watch. The childish fascination of still unbelievably simplistic, but already emerging electronic entertainment that has further lured me to study electronics, telecommunications, computer science and finally led me to NTT laboratories in Japan and Tokyo Game Show. It all sort of mixes with each other in this one skin.
SkyscrapersMinato Mirai complex in Yokohama, Landmark SkyTower, Tokyo Tower, skyscrapers of Shinjuku… I have been there, I have seen Japan from above, observing its countless blocks of flats crowded around numerous skyscrapers, I have been watching traffic for hours until night settled and lights shone, cities beneath my feet bursting with movement, animated with millions of lives rushing through the streets below. That feeling is present in this skin.
FarewellThe sky over Tokyo agglomeration is full of planes and they fly over you in most unexpected moments. The presence of nearby ocean was also something I remembered – all the canals entering the city, ports of Yokohama, island of Enoshima, shores of Kamakura…
My departure was marked by getting up at dawn, leaving in the darkness, travelling towards Narita airport, passing over Chiba by the seaside with early sun rising, with seagulls and planes in the air above.
The waking of the dawn, changing dark clouds into shining morning, Eri Nobuchika’s song going from slow and sad, to optimistic and strong, cawing of seagulls mixed with planes whooshing in the background – it completed the bitter-sweet feeling of leaving Japan.
Also, as I’ve mentioned, I reached this skin playing on the plane leaving Japan, so my stay was pretty much stretching between starting first level with hands shaking of digital lust on Kodama Shinkansen speeding through Japan at night, and completing the final level on British Airways plane, farewell tear still in the corner of my eye.
All the best moments of my stay were going through my head, called by progression through Lumines’ different skins, then I finally put away my PSP and began reminiscing about them again, personal slideshow displayed on the inner side of my eyelids, plane engines humming…
As you can see, Lumines is for me the very essence of Japan and somehow I can’t imagine it being conceived in any other place in the world. So when I am landing in Japan this time, I will be playing Lumines on the plane, for the sake of good old times, hoping that this stay will be as much, if not more fun than the last. And you may call me a freak.
Posted by barts706 
