Musical Mizuguchi

MORE MUSIC-THEMED GAMES FROM MIZUGUCHI’S CAREER

SPACE CHANNEL 5 1999 • DREAMCAST

Essentially a Simon Says-style rhythm game like Parappa The Rapper but without the freestyling, Ulala is a pink-haired space reporter who fights brainwashing aliens and rival reporters through the power of dance. Keep your ratings high, rescue more people and they follow you like a party parade, evolving the music.

LUMINES: PUZZLE FUSION 2004 • PSP

Mizuguchi’s first game at his own studio Q Entertainment would leverage the potential of Sony’s new handheld as an “interactive Walkman”, leading to a music-based puzzle game. The idea of clearing blocks using a sweeping ‘time line’ is ingenious in itself, but the audio and visuals takes it to another level.

CHILD OF EDEN 2011 • PS3, XBOX 360

A spiritual successor to Rez, this is also a musical rail shooter as the player enters a virtual realm called Eden and journeys into its Archives, purging it of viruses in order to resurrect Lumi by piecing her memories together. It also incorporates motion controls, via PS3’S Move controllers or Kinect on Xbox 360.

REZ INFINITE 2016 • PS4/VARIOUS

After taking a hiatus, Mizuguchi returned to Rez, this time reimagined through the game-changing arrival of consumer VR. The new immersive perspective was also the opportunity to create a brand-new standalone level, Area X, featuring new particle effects achieved with Unreal Engine, which also broke free of the original’s on-rails gameplay.

TETRIS EFFECT 2018 • PS4/VARIOUS

In the works for years, considering this was what Lumines was originally intended to be, Tetris Effect transforms a timeless game into a meditative concept album that imbues those iconic blocks with different sound effects, as well a whole new life-affirming meaning. Yes, it really is all connected.