Is it 2005 again? Sony has a new PlayStation handheld out and the launch lineup includes Hot Shots Golf, Wipeout, and Lumines. That’s fine, because Lumines is just short of Puzzle Quest in terms of addictive, you-will-see-the-game-when-you-close-your-eyes puzzle action. Lumines Electronic Symphony is the newest version of the game, and one of the more compelling launch titles for the PlayStation Vita, even if it is the same game you played so many times before.

Lumines Electronic Symphony is a music puzzle game, and like all music games and most puzzle games, that means it’s only a slight step forward in its gameplay made more interesting by new tracks and skins. It’s not a bad thing, but if you were expecting new gameplay mechanics or varied music, you’re going to be disappointed. That said, it’s still as addictive as it was when it first hit the PSP in 2005.

If you haven’t played Lumines before, the idea is simple. You have a wide playing field where squares of four blocks drop down. You need to arrange those blocks into larger squares before a line passes over them, erasing them. The bigger the squares and the more per sweet, the more points you get. Music plays in the background, and the graphics and beats sync up to make a hypnotic effect. That’s the full extent of it.

The game cycles through different skins, each with its own music from groups like Aphex Twin, Orbital, and Faithless. This is the game’s most compelling part, because the music syncs perfectly with the faction, putting the player in a relaxed state of concentration few puzzle games can evoke. Unfortunately, the music isn’t particularly varied, and even Chemical Brothers and Underworld tend more towards the mellow than the engaging. Wink’s “Higher State of Consciousness” sounds more like a parody of trance, with a bland beat backed by a monotone voice saying “Ascending to a higher state of consciousness” every few seconds. It’s less aurally stimulating and more like a musical enema. Fortunately, you can make custom playlists and keep playing the skins and songs you like. Hopefully DLC will come in the future.

To put a twist on the action, you can earn and choose different avatars that give you special powers, like spawning a remove-all-adjacent-colors block or three all-one-color blocks in a row. They don’t make a major difference, and you’re as likely to forget about them for minutes at a time as you are to use them. You can also earn experience whenever you play, which unlocks more avatars and skins.

Besides the endless and playlist modes, there aren’t a lot of gameplay options. A challenging Master mode takes you through sets of fields with increasing difficulty and block goals. A Stopwatch mode makes you get as many points as you can in a limited amount of time. A Duel mode lets you go against another player locally in the usual game of “the more blocks you drop, the more they get.” That’s about it. The game can go online, but only to check the World Block, a daily block of several million squares the entire online Lumines community chips at to get an experience bonus. They’re fun diversions, but you’re still going to stick to the same gameplay regardless of what you pick.

The game looks great on the Vita’s OLED screen, but it’s still a 2D puzzle game. Blocks drop, the background flashes, everything gets bright and colorful, but it’s not too different from the other Lumines games. The higher resolution is nice but not really a major improvement.

A new Lumines game is like a new Tetris. If you don’t already have a good version, you’re going to play it. Lumines Electronic Symphony is on the PS Vita, which just happens to not support UMDs and doesn’t have the PSP versions of Lumines and Lumines 2 on the PS Store. It might not be a system-seller that shows why the Vita is so great and why you should buy it, but it’s the one title you’re likely to come back to again and again when you get bored or finish your other games. At least, until Disgaea 3 or Persona 4 come out on the Vita. Games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Wipeout 2048 might look better, but you know you’ll go back to block dropping regularly when you get the chance. This is just the latest incarnation of it.