Sound Shapes is a Musical Gameplay Platform Game released in 2012 for the PS3 and Play Station Vita. It was developed by Queasy Games and published by Sony. The base game comes with several "albums" worth of levels organized by theme. Once the player completes all these levels, the bonus "Death Mode" is unlocked, where the player needs to collect a sequence of notes within a time limit while not dying. Also included are "Beat School" levels, which are more of a Puzzle Game where the player needs to figure out how to place notes to match a given backbeat or melody.
The game also includes a level creator and player made levels are a large part of the replay value.
This game provides examples of:
- Arrange Mode: In the Death Mode, you're placed in a specific screen from the main levels and need to collect a sequence of notes within the time limit. If you hit any red hazard or run out of time, you need to start over from the beginning.
- Checkpoint: A generous amount in the normal levels, usually at least one per screen, and with infinite lives. This is because you will die. A lot.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: As the loading screen helpfully tells you, red things are dangerous. Touching the color red will kill you instantly.
- Final Death Mode: Called, well, Death Mode. Each one consists of a specific screen from one of the main levels, where you need to collect a certain number of notes within a time limit. Run out of time, or hit a hazard, and you need to start over.
- Flip-Screen Scrolling: Levels are separated into multiple discrete screens, and you move between those screens by going off one side. Whenever you move to a screen, the music will change based on the items in that area, with their sound staying in the soundtrack until you move a few screens away.
- Level Editor: And they can be published online for other players to experience.
- Level Goal: A turntable, appropriately.
- Luck-Based Mission: Most of the Death Mode levels boil down to luck, because the notes spawn randomly, and it will frequently be impossible to gather them all within the time limit. This makes many of the levels very frustrating, since you have to play perfectly and in many cases still can't win.
- Multi-Platform: A somewhat unusual example in that the game is on three Sony systems (the PS3, PS4, and Playstation Vita.) Additionally, the "Cross Save" feature is used, allowing you to transfer your progress from one version of the game to the other.
- Musical Gameplay: Most things on the screen make a sound, whether passively or when interacted with, and all those sounds come together to form the game's soundtrack.
- No Plot? No Problem!: There's no explanation for why your blob is going through these levels. You just enjoy the platforming, scenery, and music.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Your shape-blob-thingy dies instantly from touching anything red. Fortunately, checkpoints are frequent.
