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Sound Shapes
PlayStation Vita
Released On: Aug 7, 2012
7.8
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 178 User Ratings
7.8
71% Positive
126 Ratings
126 Ratings
19% Mixed
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
11% Negative
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 178 User Ratings
7.8
71% Positive
126 Ratings
126 Ratings
19% Mixed
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
11% Negative
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
I purchased this game when I first got my PS VITA and it's one that I keep going back to. As a cross-buy game it is nice to be able to play it on my PS3 and, now that I've gotten my PS4, it was nice to see it waiting for me to download and install.
The music is great, the artwork is great, and the game can be ridiculously hard at times... which, I suppose, is part of the appeal.
The balance of the game is something worth mentioning. While some levels are ridiculously difficult, other levels are ridiculously easy, with a variety of difficulty levels in between. It seems as if the games designers made it so that the difficulty would rise and fall with the music, much like the way that the player adds to the music as a track progresses.
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PlayStation Vita
Sound shapes is a 2 dimensional platformer that has a heavy emphasis on music.. The more coins you collect in a level, the more notes will play in that level. Speaking of the music, it is incredible. The upbeat and snazzy electronica in earlier levels and the slower alternative tunes in later levels make for the best sounding game on the vita to date. Graphically this is a very unique looking game. It is simple, but detailed, and the spartan, almost minimalist style resulted in one of the prettiest platformers ive seen. In terms of gameplay, sounds shapes plays extremely similarly to most other side-scrolling platformers. You move forwards and backwards with the D-pad or the analogue stick depending on your preference, and you can also jump with the x button. Nothing new there. However, there are a few wrinkles that the formula. Your character, a blob, can stick to certain surfaces. This allows the blob to move up and down walls and even move backwards and forwards while upside-down. The blob also has two different modes: blob mode and ball mode. Blob mode is the mode that allows you to stick to surfaces etc., but while in ball mode, you can't stick to surfaces or move up walls, but you can move a lot faster and jump much further. Blob mode is the default mode and you can switch to ball mode at any time by pressing and holding square or R1. There is really not a lot wrong with this game. It looks fantastic, sounds, fantastic and plays fantastic. There are a few small gripes, some of the levels are not particularly creative or enjoyable for instance, but that's pretty much the only negative I have. It is also of stupendous value (especially if you own both the ps3 and ps vita). The main campaign isn't very lengthy only lasting about two and a half hours. their are five "albums" with around four multi-part levels each. But don't worry. Sound shapes has tonnes of replay value. With a fully featured level creator and extra modes that are unlocked once the campaign has been completed. The level creator is definitely a very strong part of the game. It might not have quite the complexity or potential of little big planet 2, but it's simpler to create good levels in sound shapes, even if you're like me and are no good at level making. My biggest issue with the level creator is that some of the rear touch controls to spin objects around on the ps vita version, but it's only a minor flaw and the rest of the touch and rear touch controls in the level creator work surprisingly well. Another thing that greatly adds to the replay value are the modes you unlock once you've beaten the main campaign: beat school and death mode. Beat school is a collection of twelve levels in which you are dropped in the level creator grid and a bit of music plays in the background. In beat school, each square on the grid is a different note. Your objective is to find out what the notes are and work out where they are on the grid. it's a fun distraction for a while and a good way of earning some trophies, but the real focus here is death mode. In death mode, you must collect a certain number of coins in a small area of a level while under a time limit. It's RIDICULOUSLY hard and there are tonnes of obstacles. you have to dart around the area like mad jumping and grabbing coins. There's a deathmode level for every campaign level and this is sure to keep Hardcore platforming fans and trophy hunters like me busy. Sound shapes is definitely one of the gems of the playstation network. It's an absolute bargain at £9.99 regardless of whether you own a ps3, a ps vita or both. You're getting more than your money's worth with Sound shapes, and every self-respecting platformer fan should own this game. If you own a vita or ps3 do yorself a favour. BUY SOUND SHAPES!!
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PlayStation Vita
This is a AMAZING (rhythm) game, why you may ask... well... It has good visuals, comfortable, simple controls, a GREAT level editor, and a great online community.
The only thing partially wrong with this game is the campaign mode, because it is very short, and you can beat it in under 2 hours, but after you beat the campaign you get basically a challenge mode to give you a little more to do.
Anyway, this game gets a 10 out of 10 from me and I recommend this game to anyone.
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PlayStation Vita
A game that relies heavily on player-created content. The meat of the game comes from making your own levels and downloading ones made by others. If that's not your thing then this might not be the game for you. What little content it does already come with mostly just serves as a way to introduce players to the game's at times touchy mechanics.
All of this revolves around a musical theme. Every item you use to make up your level makes a sound in some way. This allows for you to not only create exciting levels, but great music at the same time. The two systems come together beautifully allowing for a new take on creation systems. You'll by crafting new levels with both your eyes and your ears.
As far as the actual gameplay goes it's a rather simple platformer. The only distinguishing feature is the ability to stick to some surfaces. Of course the creative type can ensure it does become much more than that. Some issues with cross-saving does occur in regards to trophies, but everything else works fine allowing you to take your creations with you and let you finish them on the go.
Those who aren't big into creating their own fun might find this package to be a bit lacking. However there is plenty of hidden depth here for those who are. Even then the wealth of content created by other players can add hours of extra content. Those with a knack for enjoying or creating original tunes all while playing or creating their own games are sure to find a treat here.
I give "Sound Shapes" a 7.5/10.
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PlayStation Vita
Sound Shapes is an amazing sound creating game that lets the player create anything he can think up. Sadly, it is also bug ridden, forgotten, and short lived. Sound shapes canpaign can be completed in about an hour or so. Its a fun and pleasung hour but far too short. There exosts however an online section where millions of player levels can be tried. Unfortunately the menus dont do a very good job of organizing and often times the "daily level" is up for a week.
In Sound Shapes designing your own level can be thrilling and take up hours and hours, days and days of your time. Sadly too though your level can be completely erased if you dont copy at least three of the same file. Bugs ride the editor very here and sometimes even an invisible sound chip can ruin your whole song.
Overall, great game but it feels unfinished and out of date. Maybe a #2 will perfect it.
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PlayStation Vita
The game started really good. First, you have to play the campaign. It lasts about 2 hours, and was quite nice. Nothing revolutionary game-play wise, but nice art and music, an interesting experience. When you have finished the campaign, you unlock two new modes: Beat School and Death Mode. In Beat School, you hear a track and have to write down the "notes". It was nothing special, but a nice addition.
The next mode, Death Mode, is were things are starting to get ugly. There are 20 Death Mode levels, for each level, you can get a silver trophy, it is a big part of the game and you need to complete it to get the platinum trophy. Every level consists of one screen of the campaign, where you have to collect a number of notes. These notes appear randomly on the whole screen.
The problem with this mode: You have an extremely strict time limit. In combination with those randomly spawning notes, it means that most of the time, even if you are playing perfect, you won't get all notes. So you have to repeat the level over and over until you get lucky with several notes spawning nearby. To complete all levels, you need on average about 50 tries per level (sometimes I needed only 30, but too many times 100+). That means you will probably die 1000 times, and will need about 20 minutes or more per level, that's at least 7 hours on those boring, and really horrible levels. I don't think this is acceptable for a video-game in 2012, and it is certainly not fun. The last important feature of the game is the editor. Here you can build your own levels, upload them and share them with others. This is probably the best part of the game, which is, in some way, quite sad.
I think the game has potential. I liked the (short) campaign, the editor, and Beat School isn't too bad. But what really destroys this game is Death Mode. It is so unfair and bad, that it made me really hate the game. Maybe they will release a patch to make it a little bit more bearable, but I doubt it.
PS: If you want to see what Death Mode looks like, you can find some levels on youtube
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PlayStation Vita
Frustrated.
The uniqueness in the mechanism in this strange game is undeniable. But as an action game it doesn't do anything new and as a music game there is not satisfaction to be had from the incoherent control, visuals, sound and music. The "harmony" simply isn't there.
And the editing mode is easily as complicated as that in LBP. Not recommended unless you have to find out how disappointing this wonderful idea ends up with.
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PlayStation Vita
Summary Sound Shapes has you play, compose, and share on the NGP in this side-scrolling platformer, where you create music with your actions using the touch screen.
Rated E
for Everyone
Platforms:
- PlayStation Vita
- PlayStation 3
- PlayStation 4
Initial Release Date: Aug 7, 2012
Developer:
- SCEA
Publisher: SCEA
Genres: