SLOW AND LOW

Zone mode, available after you fill a meter by clearing lines, slows time to a crawl, the music and visuals fading away for a spell. Here you can clear out the board without advancing the line counter that governs your progress through a certain song, and it notionally serves two purposes: letting veterans go for high scores in search of SS ranks, and giving the less skilled a chance to clear out the board during a tricky phase. While it serves those purposes well enough, we frequently find ourselves ignoring it. Its design, like a super combo or ultimate ability, means you don’t want to use it now in case you really need it later. Moreover, why would you want to deprive yourself of the festival of sound and light that makes the game truly sing?