This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Brian Mohr.

Q Entertainment brought us the highly addictive and popular puzzler Lumines on the PlayStation Portable. The company is trying to make another hit by releasing a large variety of titles, including Every Extend Extra.

Unlike many other puzzlers, Extra is a completely different formula for the developers as it is an explosive puzzler, unlike Lumines. In EEE, players take on the role of a spacecraft. Your goal is to move it around and detonate it when enough enemy ships are close by. The main objective, of course, is to destroy as many enemy ships as possible. Although it’s a simple concept, it’s highly developed as later in the game you’ll be requested to make over 40 detonations at once, and that's a lot.

The game may only feature nine levels, but they are very challenging and require a lot of patience and skill especially when it comes to the boss fights. In those, players are required to put together various chain reactions of detonations that continue to get higher and higher. You’ll need to explode five ships, then eight, twelve, twenty, and so on. If that doesn’t make things difficult enough, each level features a time restraint. It certainly adds to the frustration by making the game even more difficult, but it also adds to the strategy once you get the hang of things.

As for the controls, they are very simple and easy for anyone to pick up and play. Gamers have the ability to move the ship with the d-pad or analog nub while any of the face buttons can be used to detonate your ship. The longer you hold down on the button, the bigger the explosion is. One other thing you are able to do is use the right or left triggers to separate the ship which allows you to obtain a higher number of enemies in a chain reaction.

Just like in Lumines, each level features unique graphics, animations and electronic musical tracks. To put it simply, the graphics are stunning and gorgeous. They do have that sort of Lumines colorful look to them, but it works in EEE. As for the sound, it’s not quite up to par with other games, but it has the same hypnotic techno beats you’re used to by now from Tetsuya Mizuguchi.

Really the only problem with Every Extend Extra is the modes of play and honestly it’s hardly an issue. As mentioned above, the single-player experience, while challenging, only has nine levels and that means the difficulty ramps up extremely fast while the experience is over rather quickly. There is the option to play arcade or the original version which is just the PC homebrew. Along with that there are the caravan and boss modes, but these are just repeats of what you’ve already done. Caravan lets you play any level you beat again and boss lets you battle the bosses again.

The only thing that really adds a lot to the longevity of the game is the multiplayer mode, which is very good. This will keep you busy for a long time so long as you have someone to play against. It is in ad hoc and lets you go head to head or play six-player vs. mode. Because it is such an unusual title, thankfully the developers included a game sharing feature to utilize the multiplayer option even more. The main problem is that after a few hours you’re probably not going to play EEE that much because it grows quite repetitive after that.

Every Extend Extra is a very different puzzler. The game features terrific visuals, audio and gameplay, but lacks slightly in longevity and modes of play. In the end, the game gets a bit tedious and repetitive after a bit of play and doesn’t take too long to beat. Considering it’s only $20, Every Extend Extra is a unique experience that is worth trying out by any puzzle fan. 

Controls are easy for you to pick up and play.

Although simplistic, the graphics are solid and impressive.

The hypnotic electronica is very well done.

Overall the game is fun, but not quite as much so as Lumines.

There’s a solid amount of play with single and multiplayer options, but it gets old quick.