Sound Shapes

 PlayStation Vita
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 173 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 123 out of 173
  2. Mixed: 31 out of 173
  3. Negative: 19 out of 173

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  1. Lakyforever
    Aug 14, 2012
    1
    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    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.    … Expand
  2. Crash48493
    Aug 18, 2012
    2
    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 aThe 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    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

7
#7 Best PS Vita Game of 2012
16
#16 Most Discussed PS Vita Game of 2012
53
#53 Most Shared PS Vita Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 55 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 55
  3. Negative: 0 out of 55
  1. Official PlayStation Magazine Benelux
    Oct 1, 2012
    86
    Some games are brilliant because of their simplicity. Take Sound Shapes for example, a game in which you roll a ball through colourful, minimalistic environments that vary from grey office buildings to beautiful sceneries of nature. [October 2012, p.78]
  2. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Sep 25, 2012
    80
    Sound Shapes' ready-made content is refreshing, creative and fun – but it's also in very short supply. That said, there's a more than capable platformer waiting for you here, and it's backed up by a versatile level editor that's pregnant with possibilities. Queasy has laid one heck of a good egg, and we honestly can't wait to see how many ways the community will cook this up. [October 2012, p74]
  3. Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)
    Sep 20, 2012
    90
    It's particularly satisfying on Vita, where the back panel is used to move and adjust pieces, but Sound Shapes otherwise plays identically across platforms. [Nov 2012, p.84]
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