History VideoGame / JustShapesAndBeats

''Just Shapes & Beats'' is an indie video game developed by ''Creator/BerzerkStudio'' for UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. The game is best described as a combination of intensely difficult bullet hell games along with rhythm action. The game offers four-player co-op multiplayer, a story mode, and an electronic-chiptune soundtrack by 20 different musicians.

** “New Game” by Nitro Fun features references to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' and ''VideoGame/PacMan''. A couple other songs also use the Mario jump and warp sounds.

* MakeMeWannaShout: After its OneWingedAngel form is fully revealed, The Boss begins blasting you with lasers from its mouth. This, combined with the music's heavy bassline, makes it seem as if he's screaming out lasers.

* SuddenlyVoiced: After spending the entire game terrorizing you, your friends, and the lands, The Boss speaks the only line of dialogue in the entire game (actually a sample from the background track but its mouth flaps accordingly) during the second phase of their fight:
--> [[spoiler:"YOU HAVE BEEN '''DESTROYED'''."]]

* BonusBoss: "[[VideoGame/ShovelKnight La Danse Macabre]]" cannot be fought in the main story mode. Instead, it's available in Challenge and Playlist modes.
** The Lost Chapter update also provides "Spider Dance", which can only be played after beating the main story thanks to being part of the [[BonusLevel Lost Chapter.]]

* SurpriseCreepy: It's only shapes and beats! [[TemptingFate How could it be creepy?]]

''Just Shapes & Beats'' is an indie video game developed by Berzerk Studio for UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. The game is best described as a combination of intensely difficult bullet hell games along with rhythm action. The game offers four-player co-op multiplayer, a story mode, and an electronic-chiptune soundtrack by 20 different musicians.

** This applies to the [[spoiler: final boss himself as well, once you obtain your EleventhHourSuperpower. At this phase, no matter how much attack you take from him, you take no damage while his spiky orbs and attack methods slowly run out, and all he can do is slam the ground with his head until he is inevitably defeated.]]

* {{Ironic Echo}}: The first boss ends with it hitting itself with the sound effect of an 8-bit explosion that is at the end of the levels set music. Later, the same explosion sound effect plays as [[spoiler:it rips the tree made of the three {{MacGuffin}}s out of the ground.]]

* LifeMeter: The aforementioned "fill" of the player shapes. [[spoiler:The BigBad also gets one for the [[FinalBoss Till It's Over]] level]], explaining [[CurbStompBattle just what kind of boss battle]] this is going to be.

* MakeMeWannaShout: The FinalBoss, during its second phase, constantly blasts you with lasers from its mouth. This, combined with the music's heavy bassline, makes it seem as if he's screaming out lasers.

* NightmareFace: The BigBad gets [[spoiler:a huge angry demonic and spiky-looking face when he becomes his OneWingedAngel form]], in contrast to his cartoony angry/happy face they have for most of the game.

* NoNonsenseNemesis: Just when the player's about to obtain the final giant triangle, the BigBad wastes no time in [[MacGuffinDeliveryService stealing it from them and using it on himself]]. [[spoiler:After he's killed the player and the player uses HeroicResolve to put themselves together, he descends during the "IT'S NOT OVER" screen and [[HopeSpot smashes the player before they can even continue the fight.]]]]
* NotQuiteDead: The first boss. The credits seem to appear a bit too early after beating him... cue WhamEpisode where it's revealed he's not dead, and then starts wrecking the world and turning it pink...

* PostFinalBoss: [[spoiler:The final track in the game in Story Mode, "Till It's Over". At this point you've been given an EleventhHourSuperpower that gives you an automatic laser that you use to destroy the BigBad, but more importantly said superpower also makes you invincible (you still get knocked back, you just can't die).]]
* PowerUpgradingDeformation: When the [[spoiler:BigBad jams the final [[McGuffin giant triangle]] into himself, he turns from a grinning face into some... eldritch bleeding egg-like thing as it summons wormlike tendrils. Partway during the fight it "hatches" into his final form as some giant skeletal looking jaws.]]
** Also his transformation from a {{Cyclops}} to a [[MadEye wild eyed maniac]] with a SlasherSmile.

* PurposelyOverpowered: Your [[spoiler:SuperMode]] is given only at the very end of the game and it's clear why [[EleventhHourSuperpower you only get it there]] -- [[spoiler:it easily destroys the BigBad's OneWingedAngel form while you won't even take damage when hit]].
* RecurringBoss: Taken to its logical conclusion in this game: The BigBad is ''the first boss.'' He also thoroughly averts VillainForgotToLevelGrind, as each encounter with him is entirely different and more frantic than the last.

** Midway through the ''Lost Chapter'', [[spoiler:a reawakened and enraged BigBad proceeds to chase the player up the caverns, only for them to [[SealedEvilInACan end up in the state they were in]] at the beginning of the main story mode]].
* RottenRockAndRoll: The BigBad spends his free time rocking out at the top of his EvilTowerOfOminousness, with thunderstorms looming around him.
* SelfDisposingVillain: The bosses tend to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard kill themselves via their own attacks]] or tire themselves out via expending too much energy, since the players are incapable of attacking them. [[spoiler:Subverted by the final boss, where you gain the ability to attack and blast the daylights out of him]].

* SuddenlyVoiced: After spending the entire game terrorizing you, your friends, and the lands, the FinalBoss speaks the only line of dialogue in the entire game (actually a sample from the background track but its mouth flaps accordingly) during the second phase of their fight:

* SlasherSmile: The BigBad gains one after absorbing the power of a corrupted triangle. This, along with his TwitchyEye, tells you he's... [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity not quite there anymore.]]
* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:After the BigBad seemingly destroys the player for good and everything looks hopeless]], the blue cube friend [[spoiler:uses the two MacGuffin triangles he was wearing to help put the player back together ''and'' give the player an EleventhHourSuperpower that is capable of beating the BigBad]].
* SpikesOfVillainy: Aside from being pink, anything coated in spikes tends to be trying to kill you. The BigBad himself is of course no exception, gaining more and more spikes with each of his forms. [[spoiler:During "Annihilate" he achieves a final transformation which eliminates any trace of roundness in his face, [[NightmareFace among other things.]]]]

* TrickBoss: The [[spoiler:FinalBoss counts. After what appears to be an epic chase sequence and a rather... underwhelming-for-a-final-boss battle, you beat the villain. Then, just as you're about to get the last giant triangle, the BigBad [[MacGuffinDeliveryService knocks the player shape away and jams it into his head]], resulting in his OneWingedAngel form.]]

* TwitchyEye: The villain's eye gets much more twitchy as the game goes on, indicating that he's slowly going mad.

* UnexpectedShmupLevel: The [[spoiler:final part of the final boss fight is this. After two of the three triangles rebuild and empower you, you gain the ability to fire lasers and a WaveMotionGun at the villain to actually hurt him. During which, you're invincible too.]]

* VillainBall: If the BigBad didn't toy around with the player and leave two of the three {{MacGuffin}}s alone without trying to reclaim them while the player got to them, [[spoiler:he wouldn't have been beaten by the player's EleventhHourSuperpower provided by the two {{MacGuffin}}s they collected]].

** After the player foils most of his plans, the BigBad's motive changes from "take over the world and rule over everyone" into "destroy the player no matter what". He's grinning smugly and confidently for most of the game as he toys around with the player, but once he transforms into his final form his face turns into a ''very'' angry looking and spiky one and is now completely hell-bent on the player's destruction.
** During the [[spoiler:last third of the final phase of the final boss where he's badly broken and exhausted pretty much everything like his OrbitingParticleShield trying to kill you, all he can do is try to smash the ground at the player's position angrily and cause a shockwave, lacking any projectile attacks]].

* YouAreAlreadyDead: When the BigBad [[spoiler:uses the last MacGuffin on himself and hatches into its OneWingedAngel skeletal face form, the music for the stage screams "YOU HAVE BEEN DESTROYED!", with accompanying text appearing below the boss. He's also right about it too, since it ends with him utterly destroying you in a HopelessBossFight.]]

* AnimalMotifs: [[CreepyCentipedes Centipedes]] for [[spoiler:the BigBad's OneWingedAngel form, which appears have a centipede-like body]]. Throughout their fight, it summons centipede-looking worms that fly across the screen in a wavy pattern.

** "IT'S OVER" also appears when it seems as if the game's complete before the BigBad reveals that they're NotQuiteDead, after which it changes into "IT'S OVER?" as they wreak havoc on the land.

* BookEnds: Nitro Fun get not just one, but ''two'' boss levels featuring the BigBad, which are aptly named New Game and Final Boss. [[spoiler:[[NonIndicativeName Although, they are not exactly the first and last songs]].]]

** The {{Big Bad}} drives a triangle into itself twice. The first time is to regain its power after being defeated in "Long Live The New Fresh". The second time is to [[spoiler:gain even more power to defeat the hero. [[EldritchAbomination It works... for a while anyway]].]]
** The very first attack the BigBad uses when it fully forms is to smash the ground with its arms to create shockwaves. [[spoiler:The very last attack it uses before its defeat is to smash its face into the ground to create shockwaves]].

* ClippedWingAngel: During the final boss battle, [[spoiler:after you get your EleventhHourSuperpower, you start destroying the BigBad. At first, they appear in their OneWingedAngel form like a LivingStructureMonster, but you quickly start destroying the segments that make the "room", and they opt for an OrbitingParticleShield. After enough damage, they're badly damaged, without any weaponry/terrain and unable to even fire a single shot. Their only attack becomes a futile bid to kill you by smashing the floor to create a shockwave.]]

* CombatBreakdown: When the [[spoiler:BigBad is on its ''very'' last legs, they lose all projectile attacks and can only smash the ground to make shockwaves.]]

* CosmeticAward: Your reward for completing the various "unlock" challenges the game throws at you is... more effects and characters on the main menu, which includes [[spoiler:the boat, the helicopter, some of the flowers, your square friend, corrupted flowers, in addition to the BigBad's forms as the DJ and guitarist]].

* CreditsGag: Towards the end of the prologue cutscene where the BigBad goes on a rampage after reawakening, they come across a credit saying "''design by Lachhh''" and promptly shoot it to bits with their EyeBeams. The ''credit itself'' isn't too happy about it.

* CurbStompBattle: The very final part of the game [[spoiler:has your player character revived by ThePowerOfFriendship and two of the three {{MacGuffin}}s, rebuilt into a laser-shooting shape... which also has ''infinite hit points''. No matter what the BigBad does to hurt you, [[ForegoneVictory they can't kill you, and you can hurt and kill them]].]]
* DancePartyEnding: The ending shows all the characters [[spoiler:including the BigBad]] at a rave party, with [[spoiler:the BigBad (in his first boss form) as the DJ]]. [[JustifiedTrope Were you expecting anything else?]]

* DrunkWithPower: The Boss seems to have become become this after morphing into his second form. The final battle with him even shows him wearing a crown and surrounded by minions, as if he's a king.
* EasyModeMockery:

* EldritchAbomination: The [[spoiler:BigBad's final form -- its eyes start crying blood and it starts summoning what appears to be eldritch tentacle centipedes. It then hatches into a much more sinister being with what appears to be a snake-like skull for a head.]]
* EleventhHourSuperpower: At the very final part of the game [[spoiler:where the BigBad has smashed you to bits, your blue cube friend uses the power of two of the three triangle {{MacGuffin}}s to restore you... and also gain an invincible, laser-shooting mode.]]

* EyeScream: When [[spoiler:the final boss jams the final triangle in its head to transform into their final form, you get to watch its eyes swell up and ''burst.'' In the first phase of the true final boss, you have to dodge the blood dripping from its exploded eyes.]]

* FightingFromTheInside: Throughout the fight against [[spoiler:your corrupted cube friend, they'll constantly flicker between their regular blue self and their corrupted pink self. At one point they even turn back to normal and try to crawl away, but then gets hit by pink lasers which re-corrupt them.]]

* FissionMailed: [[spoiler:During the FinalBoss fight, you're cornered into the boss's mouth and eaten, resulting in what appears to be a GameOver. You can revive as usual...but the boss simply subverts this trope by killing you again, and if you continue to try, it'll just keep knocking you back down. Double subverted when your friends come over to revive you with an EleventhHourSuperpower.]]

* ForegoneVictory: The [[spoiler:final part of the final boss where the players get their EleventhHourSuperpower]] is pretty much a victory for the player character(s) since they are [[spoiler:capable of firing at the boss, and while the players can be hurt, it doesn't do any damage.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: During ''Lycanthropy'', one of the goopy-eyed corrupted plants you've been dealing with transforms into a new form that has a spiky evil face. [[spoiler:The final boss undergoes a similar, yet far more sinister transformation.]]

* GameOver: Lose all your lives in Story Mode and the words "IT'S OVER" will appear on the screen. Choose to continue by repeatedly smashing the "SPACE" button, and your character [[PullingThemselvesTogether pulls themselves together]] via HeroicResolve and the word "NOT" pops up between the two words, turning it into "IT'S NOT OVER". [[spoiler:This is attempted against the villain's OneWingedAngel form after it destroys the player, but it puts an end to that by smashing the player right there and then during the "IT'S NOT OVER" screen.]]
* GenericDoomsdayVillain: It's never truly explained ''why'' the {{Big Bad}} is trying to take over the triangles/world, it just... is. But it makes for one hell of an adventure!

** This also occurs in the level [[spoiler:"Annihilate"]]. This time, the [[spoiler:final boss traps you within their mouth before chomping down, thereby destroying you. And just when the player gets back up from death and tries to fight again, ''[[HopeSpot it descends and smashes them to bits again]]''.]] Again, losing all your lives anytime before then still gives a normal GameOver, however.
** A reverse example in the level [[spoiler:"Till It's Over"]]. With [[spoiler:your EleventhHourSuperpower, you can thrash the boss to your heart's desire, and the level WILL always end with the boss dying, releasing the third {{Macguffin}}.]]

** The first boss destroys itself when its own four arms RocketPunch... back into its face. Partway through the fight, their RocketPunch fists also hit them in the face which cause them to become angry.

** After you beat "Final Boss", you reach the top of the tower to claim the crown with the last triangle. Just as the triangle is released and is about to work its magic, the [[LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand music grinds to a halt]] while [[spoiler:the BigBad reappears to push the player out of the way and gain the power to transform into an EldritchAbomination]].
** When the player [[spoiler:is eaten by the final boss]], the "[[GameOver IT'S OVER]]" message appears as your character begins piecing themselves together, turning into "IT'S NOT OVER" as your character begins to continue... and then [[spoiler:the BigBad descends, right before smashing you into bits again. They do so repeatedly if you attempt multiple times.]]

* InterfaceSpoiler: After beating the first boss, you get an achievement/trophy named "It's Over". The land forms and credits roll, as if the player has finished the game. The problem is that the information for said achievement/trophy says "Beat the tutorial boss", which means that there's much more to come.

* MadEye: the BigBad in its second form.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: The giant pyramid that attacks you [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere out of nowhere]] in the "Barracuda" stage. Because of the game's lack of dialogue, we never do find out what its role and motives are. It's unclear whether it's [[TheDragon a dragon]] to the BigBad, affected by the corruption and turned evil like the two subsequent bosses, just trying to protect its territory, or some other thing. We don't even see it joining the DancePartyEnding.

* CorruptTheCutie: [[spoiler: This is eventually what happens to your blue cube friend, and throughout its boss battle, you can see it obviously struggling to fight the corruption.]]

* DetachmentCombat: Used by the first boss, who can grow arms and [[RocketPunch send them out to fly around and punch you]].

* DrunkWithPower: The BigBad seems to have become become this after morphing into his second form. The final battle with him even shows him wearing a crown and surrounded by minions, as if he's a king.

** Also the four "[[VideoGame/ShovelKnight Just Shovels and Knights]]" tracks. They are unlocked by getting enough beat points (or by using amiibo in the Switch version).

* FreakyElectronicMusic: ''Annihilate'' is one of the notable examples for the game. Composed by Destroid, Excision and Far Too Loud, this song actually fits [[spoiler: for the final showdown between Square and the [[EldritchAbomination now-monsterous]] [[BigBad Boss]] in a terrifying {{Dubstep}}-like matter]].

* MickeyMousing: This is the main mechanic of the bosses and levels because they move and attack with the music it also serves as a way to have their attacks be telegraphed.

* CoopMultiplayer: Up to four players can play at a time. If a player dies, another player can revive them by running into their ghost.

** Also the four "[[VideoGame/ShovelKnight Just Shovels and Knights]]" tracks. They are unlocked by using amiibo or getting enough beat points.

* {{Mondegreen}}: The song in the final boss does NOT say "You have been destroyed" (as per the game itself). It's actually a name drop to the composer, "You been been Destroid".

** "IT'S OVER" also appears when it seems as if the game's complete before the BigBad reveals that they're NotQuiteDead, after which it changes into "IT'S OVER?" as they wreck havoc on the land.