Sound Shapes is an absolute delight. Created by the folks over at Queasy Games, the highly anticipated Sound Shapes is an addictive side scrolling musical platformer. It was released last week on PSN store for the PlayStation Vita and the PlayStation 3. Even though there are some issues that are hard to overlook, this game is one of the best reasons to own a PlayStation Vita.
Like any other platformer, Sound Shapes tasks you with getting from point A to point B. The difference in this title is that instead of battling enemies on your voyage, you collect music notes. Each note you obtain gets added to the background music of the game, thus creating a complex and wonderful tune. Enemies and other level decorations add their notes to the song as well.
A game based on music must have a grade ‘A’ soundtrack. Thankfully, Sound Shapes knocks it out of the park. Because not only is there one amazing soundtrack, there are 5, each created by a different musician. Songs range from Deadmau5’s upbeat electronic music to I am Robot and Proud’s peaceful melodies. Every one of the songs are a pleasure to play through, and some of the tracks may even leave you speechless.
The game features 3 different game modes. Campaign mode, where you play through different albums, each with their own distinct graphics. After you complete the 5 album long campaign, you unlock the other 2 game modes. Beat School, were you try to match a section of a song by placing notes on the screen. And finally, there’s Death Mode. Death mode requires you to retrieve a certain amount of notes without dying, under a very strict time limit. This mode can become very, very infuriating, so beating all of the levels will take some time and patience.
Sound Shapes is also available on PS3, and when you buy one version, you get the other for free. There is almost no difference between the versions, other than the menu layout. Sound Shapes allows you to sync your save from your Vita to PS3 and vice versa. The game has the same trophies across both versions, but they aren’t connected. So, when you earn a trophy on Vita, you don’t receive it on the PS3 until you sync the save. So, trophy lovers like myself will be ecstatic to find that you will get double the trophies for this game, including a double platinum.
The game comes packed with a level editor, enabling you to make your own songs and share them with the world. I have played a lot of games with a level editor, from Little Big Planet to inFAMOUS 2, and I can easily say the editor is the best I have ever used. It is very simple to put together levels and songs, and not to mention a ton of fun. The community has already done some fantastic stuff with the level editor and the game has only been out in the wild for a week. You can expect to see a lot of unique levels for some time to come.
Alas, the game isn’t perfect. For a good 4 days after the game was released, the servers were down. No one could access user created levels nor sync their saves. While the issues have been fixed for the time being, it was a little ridiculous not being able to play online for most of the first week. Furthermore, I received more than a couple “Scripting errors” where the game just crashed on me. These issues shouldn’t be enough to halt your purchase, but they are prevalent nonetheless.
Sound Shapes is a fantastic adventure. It is great to see Sony pushing these unique titles to the PlayStation store, and I hope to see more titles like this in the future. With the level creator, the 3 different game modes and all of the community levels at your disposal, this game will keep you busy for a long time to come. Go pick it up, it’s well worth it.
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