Sound Shapes

Music and platform adventures is really nicely tied together in Sound Shapes, and the excellent level editor makes this game last for many hours. Still, the gameplay could have been a little bit deeper.

I can only hope the community breathes some life into this title. While the few songs that are included are a decent afternoon distraction, in the end, it feels like a wasted effort; the illusion of innovation wrapped in the familiar shell of Locco Rocco, LittleBigPlanet, and to a lesser extent, Frequency. Innovation is one thing, but familiarity breeds contempt.

Sounds Shapes is not a brilliant game, but it is a bold, often beautiful experiment that stands and sounds apart. And in one of the driest, dreariest periods for console gaming in memory, that's music to my ears.

Sound Shapes is a short, unremarkable platformer that's transformed into something quite special when mixed with the sights and sounds of its killer line-up of artists.

A rhythm platformer with a great focus on user created material. It has a nice minimalistic feel and playing to Beck's "Cities" is a great experience, but other than that Sound Shapes falls a little short.

I found it mightily upsetting to have something in my hands capable of such beauty, such triumphant gaming bliss, only to have that thing ultimately turn into disappointment and frustration. It's almost more upsetting than playing something that was never up to much in the first place.

Sound Shapes is an experiment that won't be the killer-app the Vita needs. But it still offers an experience unlike any other on both platforms.