Author Topic: The Sounds & Shapes of Jonathan Mak (Read 2440 times)

Shaka Khan · « **on:** August 07, 2012, 09:24:59 PM »

I've been playing Sound Shapes today and talking about it in the Vita thread until I realized it's also playable on the PS3, arguably better. So why not break from that depressing thread and shill for an actually good game for a change?

My Bore brothers, the time has come to wrap our necks with girly scarves and sip on some white tea while we enjoy the latest Queasy Game creation.

Sound Shapes is a PS3/Vita game, buy either for $14.99 ($11.99 for PS+) and you'll get both, a.k.a #YOBO. It also supports cross cloud saving to carry your progress from one version to the other, not to mention a platinum trophy if you're a slut.

It's meant to be a mix of rhythm and platforming. And since it's coming from the Everyday Shooter creators I wasn't too worried about it sounding good, but what's pleasantly surprising is that there's a competent and challenging platformer hidden underneath it. It contains a campaign, level editor, and a community section designed like your average social media hub.

The campaign is broken into 5 "albums", with each album introducing new aesthetics, sounds, objects, contraptions, enemies and color palettes for the editor. They're pretty fun and will inspire the creator inside you with clever ideas for you own levels, where you'll hopefully be able to mix and match elements sensibly.

Each album is composed by a different musician and graphic artist, thus making each one look and sound almost like a different game. The campaign is on the short side, but if you factor in community levels and the two special modes you unlock after completing the campaign, you'll realize it actually has a decent value.

Bottom line is that it looks good, sounds good, plays good, and packs a good value for a $12 game (assuming you're one of the cooler kids).

GB Quick Look: http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-sound-shapes/17-6417/

Community section to browse and queue levels on PC: http://soundshapesgame.com/community.html

And with that, I'll adjust my frames and wipe this cum off my lip. Gochiso-sama deshita, Jonasan-kun.

Bebpo · « **Reply #1 on:** August 07, 2012, 09:44:49 PM »

Wait, this is by Jonathon Mak? He's the guy that did that shmup right? The one that was good and had cool music.

I should give this a shot.

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #2 on:** August 07, 2012, 09:52:32 PM »

If you're referring to Everyday Shooter, then yup he's the same developer:

Bebpo · « **Reply #3 on:** August 07, 2012, 10:24:48 PM »

Yeah, that game was far better than it had any right to be. Probably best twin-stick shooter that's not geometry wars this gen.

cool breeze · « **Reply #4 on:** August 07, 2012, 10:30:49 PM »

I went to buy this and noticed I have $11.43 in my psn account :'(

I'll get it tomorrow if I remember to buy a card.

Takao · « **Reply #5 on:** August 07, 2012, 10:32:09 PM »

Toronto indie scene delivering the goods.

My city making me proud.

Also, apparently this game got government funding. Take that Dennis Dyack!

Cerveza mas fina · « **Reply #6 on:** August 07, 2012, 11:17:12 PM »

I agree, Sound Shapes is pretty awesome.

Deamau5, Beck, the music is tight and the platforming can get pretty cool. And for 12 bucks you can't go wrong.

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #7 on:** August 07, 2012, 11:17:53 PM »

Deadmau5' levels are :|

Cerveza mas fina · « **Reply #8 on:** August 07, 2012, 11:24:17 PM »

Hmm but the music man!

I think the game is worth it for 12 bucks already, but if some talented people get cracking on levels it will be really awesome. This game begs for a decent headset too.

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #9 on:** August 07, 2012, 11:35:00 PM »

I'm not disagreeing. They're levels are by far the best in the game in terms of music and challenge.

Cerveza mas fina · « **Reply #10 on:** August 07, 2012, 11:39:15 PM »

I feel like we're connecting here man.

Takao · « **Reply #11 on:** August 08, 2012, 03:47:36 AM »

I'm just about to start the Deadmau5 levels. Will I cry?

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #12 on:** August 08, 2012, 03:56:11 AM »

They're great, and while not nowhere near nail biting, they're packs the most challenge for sure.

I'm playing the beck levels right now. They're not as challenging, but I think it's my favorite visual style out of all the albums. It has a nice comic/doodle look. The music has vocals too, so it feels quite different.

tiesto · « **Reply #13 on:** August 08, 2012, 08:50:22 AM »

I want this for the mau5.

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #14 on:** August 08, 2012, 09:18:27 AM »

Downloading now for Las Vitas.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #15 on:** August 08, 2012, 11:26:23 AM »

Wait, is this out for PS3? I thought it was out for Vita only and PS3 was following later this year.

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #16 on:** August 08, 2012, 01:42:41 PM »

Yup, it's out for both. Buy either and both versions will be automatically added to your download list.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #17 on:** August 08, 2012, 01:52:55 PM »

NICE. Everyday Shooter is one of my faves this gen.

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #18 on:** August 08, 2012, 02:01:58 PM »

This thread has inspired me to go play Everyday Shooter on Steam. I played it only a little bit.

tiesto · « **Reply #19 on:** August 08, 2012, 02:20:34 PM »

Oh wow, I thought this was just Vita exclusive... will definitely pick this up for PS3... I still have to get Dyad as well.

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #20 on:** August 08, 2012, 02:31:56 PM »

DYAD was awesome as well, but at times it was too hardcore and twitchy for my taste. This game is way more accessible.

Huff · « **Reply #21 on:** August 08, 2012, 05:59:28 PM »

Just plat'd it using only the vita. Man the challenge mode really sucked sometimes. Some of the levels you had to have the perfect luck to beat the time limit regardless of skill. But it only took me a couple hours to do all 20 levels so it wasn't that bad.

The level editor challenges were pretty fun, I wish there was more of those. Or that the community could make their own.

I'm going to give the game a break and come back to check out the community levels in a couple weeks. Great game.

Verdigris Murder · « **Reply #22 on:** August 08, 2012, 06:40:13 PM »

I honestly thought that Sony had removed staggered launch windows, idiots. Is it a touch screen and button combo? Anyway we get in here in Devon next week.

MyNameIsMethodis · « **Reply #23 on:** August 08, 2012, 06:45:02 PM »

touch screen is only used for creating I think

Verdigris Murder · « **Reply #24 on:** August 08, 2012, 06:49:49 PM »

Oh. That's a shame.

Takao · « **Reply #25 on:** August 08, 2012, 07:51:50 PM »

Actually there are very subtle hints in levels where you can touch the screen to add beats to the song playing.

tiesto · « **Reply #26 on:** August 08, 2012, 09:23:54 PM »

Trippy, abstract graphics and electronic music are my videogame kryptonite. It's the equivalent of stats, hex-grids, and lolis for Prole.

Takao · « **Reply #27 on:** August 09, 2012, 02:55:24 AM »

Yeah, the Deadmau5 stages (design, and challenge) are by far the best, though music wise I liked the Beck ones most.

cool breeze · « **Reply #28 on:** August 09, 2012, 05:17:35 PM »

picked up a point card and bought this

Vita downloaded started at 150 minutes for about a 1 gig download. Tried it on my PS3, down to 30 minutes. Iphone stuff downloads a gif in like 4 minutes.

ghetto ass Sony servers

Huff · « **Reply #29 on:** August 09, 2012, 05:40:51 PM »

Mine downloaded in like less than 10 minutes on both.

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #30 on:** August 09, 2012, 06:45:15 PM »

Death Mode is kind of souring my otherwise pleasant experience with this game. Randomizing note placement can be rage inducing sometimes; it's not really difficult, just luck-dependent, which is a bad choice design-wise. Beat School is cool, though. I wish it had more trials, or as huff said allowed user-creation.

cool breeze · « **Reply #31 on:** August 09, 2012, 06:50:54 PM »

This game is really cool

and yeah, you need to use the analog stick. I'd imagine it plays better on the PS3, but my TV isn't as nice of a display.

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #32 on:** August 09, 2012, 07:44:50 PM »

GB Quick Look: http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-sound-shapes/17-6417/

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #33 on:** August 09, 2012, 08:20:34 PM »

Fwiw, you can visit the community section on their website, sign in with you PSN, browse levels and queue some up. You've got new releases, most played, greatest hits, and deadliest levels. Unfortunately you can only judge them through their thumbnails, as there's no audio or video previews. To play the queued levels you go to your profile's favorite section and you'll notice the queued levels marked with + as opposed to a heart. It's a really dumb way to do it tbh but it'll do for now. At the very least it makes it easier to share your levels on the internet.

http://soundshapesgame.com/community.html

Huff · « **Reply #34 on:** August 09, 2012, 08:21:48 PM »

Quote from: Shaka Khan on August 09, 2012, 07:44:50 PM

GB Quick Look: http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-sound-shapes/17-6417/

Jeff doesn't appear to be very good at videogames for someone that makes a living off it

cool breeze · « **Reply #35 on:** August 10, 2012, 12:56:02 AM »

Death mode is dumb. It's completely luck based. I can run out of time because it decides to place coins on opposite ends of the arena, try again, and finish with 10 seconds to spare because it spawned all the coins in one place.

the beat matching mini-game is great. I'd buy a stand alone version of that alone.

cool breeze · « **Reply #36 on:** August 10, 2012, 10:29:01 PM »

The cross platform / cloud saving thing would be great if it worked. I want to play this on PS3 and it fails to log in. Can't figure out a manual way to get my save data to my ps3.

And suddenly the game crashes when trying to connect :'(

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #37 on:** August 10, 2012, 10:36:44 PM »

A lot of people are experiencing the "Unable to sync, check settings" Cloud Syncing problem, they promised to fix it but haven't yet. The current workaround is to quit the game, sign out of PSN, reboot the game, sign into PSN through the Cloud Sync option.

cool breeze · « **Reply #38 on:** August 10, 2012, 10:53:39 PM »

thanks for trying to help, but yeah, still broken.

TEEEPO · « **Reply #39 on:** August 14, 2012, 03:59:04 AM »

story of my life

Shaka Khan · « **Reply #40 on:** August 14, 2012, 03:59:32 AM »

Huff · « **Reply #41 on:** August 14, 2012, 07:44:58 AM »

i actually liked that death mode stage. felt like it was one of the ones where being good and able to use the music really helped more than luck

Takao · « **Reply #42 on:** August 14, 2012, 07:46:26 AM »

Quote from: Huff on August 14, 2012, 07:44:58 AM

i actually liked that death mode stage. felt like it was one of the ones where being good and able to use the music really helped more than luck

Yeah, that was one of the first ones I completed.

chronovore · « **Reply #43 on:** August 14, 2012, 12:19:56 PM »

This game is the first thing to make me regret not having my PS3 with me in the USA.

...I may buy a Vita.

Verdigris Murder · « **Reply #44 on:** August 16, 2012, 04:45:48 AM »

I'm in two minds about this: I'm not really a platforming fan, as I find the whole mechanic pretty antiquated, but I dig the general aesthetic and the generous checkpoint system.

3 levels in, does the music become more interesting?

Verdigris Murder · « **Reply #45 on:** August 16, 2012, 04:46:20 AM »

Also wtf at some of the ugc.

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Author Topic: The Sounds & Shapes of Jonathan Mak (Read 2440 times)