Sound Shapes is a difficult game to describe. Explaining it in simple terms cannot do such a deeply layered game justice. But over-explaining it would make it seem complicated, when in fact it's beautifully simple.
If Little Big Planet, LocoRoco and an old school PS1 game called Vib-Ribbon had alovechild then Sound Shapes would be it.
At its heart, Sound Shapes is a simple platformer. Get your gelatinous blob from a start point to the end point of a side-scrolling level, picking up items and avoiding enemies and pitfalls along the way.
What gives Sound Shapes its beauty are the items (or notes) that you collect throughout the level. Each one adds a new note to the soundtrack and, as more are collected, further layers of sound are added. Obstacles and enemies each pulse to their own beat, adding yet more layers.
Before long, getting to the end of the level doesn't hold such urgency anymore as the music becomes ever more enjoyable. And, with the music supplied by the likes of Deadmau5 and Beck, enjoyable is the perfect word for it.
Each level lasts about 10 screens, but the single player campaign is fairly short. What brings almost endless replay value to Sound Shapes is the excellent level creator by which you can make your own or play levels designed by others. More items to use in the level creator are earned by completing levels in the campaign.
Sound Shapes is one of those games that needs to be played to be appreciated as at face value it could easily be overlooked.
