Sound Shapes

This is a game where visuals, audio, and mechanics sync up in a way that feels effortlessly organic. I'm sure the work put in to making it that way was anything but effortless, but it paid off. Sound Shapes is a reminder that great, creative things can be done in the music gaming genre.

There is an endless amount of replay value, thanks to the brilliant tracks the community is already hard at work on. The simplicity belies a brilliance developers have yet to touch on Sony's new handheld platform.

It's beautiful, simple, unique, and if you ever had even the slightest interest in creating your own music, you're going to love Sound Shapes. If the thought of creating music is overwhelming to you, still, you're going to love Sound Shapes.

Queasy Games revitalises the platforming genre with its melodical masterpiece.

If you love music and you love video games-and especially if you love rhythm games-Sound Shapes is simply a must-buy title. For the low price of fifteen dollars, you could be creating that musical masterpiece you've always dreamed of but simply lacked the tools needed to compose it.

Fresh platforming and an ace soundtrack-building mechanic make this a joy to play. [Nov 2012, p.83]

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]

The best thing about Sound Shapes is how elegantly it blends really interesting musical elements into accessible gameplay.

Once again, despite Roger Ebert, a game finds a way to blend art and gameplay together in a fun and accessible way. Sound Shapes isn't really like anything else, and that's a shame because more games could stand to experiment like this.

This is one of the few truly unique titles on the PlayStation Vita and you should definitely buy it. It's not perfect - save synching doesn't work the way it should and we sure would have wanted some more albums to lengthen the running time - but then again: nothing really is.

Sound Shapes is an interactive piece of art. The easily accessible gameplay makes for a fun 2D platformer on its own, but the music and visuals really turn some heads. Even when creating something in the editor you'll think you're in paradise, a place where everyone can be an artist.

If you only listen to Cradle of Filth or Jay-Z you will probably find very little to enjoy about the game. But if you like your music a bit softer and a bit more electronic and if you like the idea of making music and then sharing it with your friends (and the world) I can't imagine a better game for you.

The handheld is perfect for the game's creative aspirations: the built-in levels are short and perfect for a portable, and it's easy to hop into the creator, mess around with something and save quickly whenever inspiration takes you. Mashing up audio, visuals and interactivity into a wonderful experience, Sound Shapes should definitely be on your playlist.

Sound Shapes is easy to play and fun to handle – a must-have for every Vita-player.

Sound Shapes is a pure gem. Awesome music and clever graphics are mixed together into a marvelous cocktail. The deep editor grants tons of great content, just like it happened with LittleBigPlanet.

Sound Shapes boasts an effortless dedication to intoxicating the player's senses through its sights and sounds. Call it distilled bliss or displaced affection, but there's an explicit sense of euphoria acquired by absorbing Sound Shapes' rich presentation. It's great at being a game, but it's better understood as a favorite song or album. It's something to be played and enjoyed if for no other reason than the sheer pleasure of repeating the process.

It's an experience I intend to play repeatedly, wearing out the virtual grooves in the metaphorical albums.

Artistic pleasures combine with death-defying platforming in the excellent Sound Shapes.

Connection problems and online funkiness aside, Sound Shapes absolutely floored me. Just about everything it does – and with its grand aesthetic taken as a whole – will blow you away.

Sounds Shapes is an excellent platformer, but the music that progressively fills each stage as you move forward is really what makes the game something special.

Even without the content creation mode, Sound Shapes would be something unlike anything else on the Vita, or even on consoles. While some might complain about Sound Shapes' willingness to be finished and enjoyed, I dare anyone to go through it remaining non-transfixed by exactly what Queasy and their musical and artistic partners have assembled. Sound Shapes is video game pop music, and those don't need to be dirty words.

Sound Shapes has emerged as one of the Vita's finest games, seemingly out of nowhere. It's deep and complex enough for the hardcore whilst remaining accessible and fun for those that just want something a little bit different.

The main campaign in Sound Shapes is a synesthetic journey through the personality of four great artists, but where it shines the most is in the flexible and entertaining music editor.

If you own a Vita, Sound Shapes is a no-brainer, especially since a purchase gets you both the handheld and PS3 versions of the game. That said, we'd also heartily recommend it to those consigned to TV play, provided you have even a passing interest in fiddling with music, and/or games. Few creation-oriented games make it feel so effortlessly rewarding to fiddle in this way.

Sound Shapes is a fun game to while away the hours with. Kids will love it and so will older gamers looking for a fun challenge. But the real love will come in enjoying playing inside a wonderful piece of art, and then creating your own.

An absolute steal at £9.99, and worth far more than that. Sound Shapes has justified the outrageous hype surrounding it. More than just a good game, it's a great showcase for the system. More of this, please.

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]

Sound Shapes offers an ingenious synergy between sound and level design. This results in a great audio-visual experience, although a short one. The level editor luckily prolongs its life, offering a simple and deep way to release your creativity.

Sound Shapes is a game you simply have to play to find out how good it really is. You can easily play a single number, but the game is also well suited for long play sessions filled with synergy between the music and the 2D platforming. The campaign may be a little short and the Death Mode is simply unfair, but the simple yet complete level editor makes up for this.

One of the more innovative and atmospheric titles of the generation. In addition to the platforming issues, I had some problems with online connectivity, but both complaints are (relatively) minor. All in all, you're looking at a completely original experience that combines a number of different elements into one undeniably appealing package.

Sound Shapes is one of those downloadable jewels for platforming and music fans. Its only flaw is that it is a bit short in the campaign mode, but it compensates for it with several challenge options and a comprehensive editor. One of the most original PSN games in months.

Sound Shapes is not the best platformer you'll ever play, but it deserves your attention for its accessible level editor and playful visualizations of sound.

An inspired and creative musical platformer game with indie values but a great execution.

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]

A beguiling soundscape, layered over artwork that varies from thick comic-book strokes to sheer psychedelia.

Don't get fooled. This is not just another "rhythm/ music game". With Sound Shapes you'll find yourself trying those beautiful platform levels again and again until your PS Vita runs out of battery.

Sound Shapes is a fresh take on platformers. Visually varied and original, its stages are combining the talents of different couples made of a musician and a graphic artist, and its a delight to discover and play their contribution level after level. Plus, the community tools for level creation will take over once you're done with the campaign.

The user-generated levels seem to promise nigh on infinite content, but the interplay between music and design that the best Sound Shapes levels achieve is a difficult thing to master.

Sound Shapes will ultimately live or die by its community, which at the time of writing is in dire need of a sonic boom in terms of both users and quality levels. With support, it'll grow into something glorious. But even without, it's yet another novel and wholly entertaining reason to get a Vita. But you probably still won't.

Remember that monologue of Elwood Blues in Blues Brothers 2000 about the music? Sound Shapes is that in the form of a playable musical experience like no other. Music is not only the soul of this indie title for PlayStation 3 and PS Vita, but the spine too in the aspect of a classic vintage 2D platform experience with a distinctive and unique visual styles that even carry within it a complete level & music editor, which only would have been needed a longer Campaign Mode.

So while the campaign's filled with visual pleasures and colourful tricks, it's in the stark white spaces of the editor that Sound Shapes really dazzles, stepping away from the museum of hallucinations that all rhythm action games offer and threatening, at times, to become a genuine musical instrument in its own right.

As with Rez and Lumines before it, Sound Shapes hybridizes a genre to put the focus on music over complex gameplay, and creates something entirely distinct from what we typically perceive as a "game."

Everything is extremely simple. All the harmony between gameplay, music and visual design of levels is simply amazing.

The PS Vita finally gets something to sing about with a beautifully conceived mix of platform action, striking visuals, and perfectly orchestrated music.

Sound Shapes is a small work of art that mesmerizes videogamers thanks to the variety of styles, graphics and sounds.

Sound Shapes is an experiment that doesn't quite live up to its potential, but if you play it as a challenge of your skills as a level and audio designer, there's a unique experience here that shouldn't be missed.

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.