When the PSP hit the streets, one of the most popular launch titles was Q Entertainment's Lumines. With ex-Sega bigwig Tetsuya Mizuguchi behind the steering wheel, Lumines offered up a cool new twist on the falling-block puzzle genre as well as some cleverly integrated music and beats. Spin on a year or two, and Lumines II and Every Extend Extra are now hitting the PSP. EEE takes a different approach to puzzle solving, so instead of lining up and nuking small blocks on the screen, our attention is turned to crafting larger and larger chain reactions of explosions instead. The obscure method of visual delivery is arguably EEE's strongest point, but the repetitive nature of the gameplay sadly steals away from what could have been so much more.

The game doesn't really have any kind of story save for a sci-fi stylized theme where the player pilots a spacecraft through numerous levels, called drives. These drives provide some of the slickest, trippiest visuals I've seen on the PSP so far, and coupled with the awesome techno bleeps and bloops, this is easily the most impressive aspect of the game. The idea now is to perform multiple controlled detonations of your craft in an environment where enemy craft (represented for the most part by small blobs and shapes) fill the screen. The bigger the explosive chain reaction, the more points you score.

Unfortunately you're up against a strict time limit that must be bested in order to clear each drive. If you crash your ship before you have the chance to detonate it, you'll lose five valuable seconds. You'll also lose a ship from your stock, which ultimately determines how many explosions you can cause. EEE's key to success then turns into a highly sensitive game of biding your time and waiting for the right moment to blow things up.


The controls are very basic, with the player using only the D-pad or analog stick to move the ship around. Any of the four regular buttons can be used to blow your ship up, but if you hold down and charge an explosion up, you'll have a greater bomb radius to work with -- be careful you don't wait too long, as you have a limited time before an explosion occurs after charging has begun. You can also separate your ship's core from its body by holding either L or R while charging a hit. This allows you to move the epicenter of an explosion away from the ship and net a higher number of enemies from a safe distance.

And so with the basic understanding of scoring points by activating chained explosions, there are a few more factors that will help you overcome the bosses, time constraints and other nuances of the game. Quickens play a large role in racking up high scores. You'll be able to scoop up a maximum of eight quickens (which are left behind by certain types of destroyed enemies). Each one gathered will increase the speed and frequency of the enemies onscreen, and at the same time, they will pump up the tempo of the music and sound effects. The quickens are absolutely the key to achieving huge scores in EEE. Onscreen, you'll be able to track a number of different statistics such as your ship's stock, number of quickens currently held, and more importantly, the amount of points needed before you hit your next extend -- and this is the way you gain extra stock for your ships.