Sound Shapes is a rhythm-based platformer developed by Everyday Shooter creators Queasy Games about an adorable blob who collects musical notes. Originally developed exclusively for the Playstation Vita, the game was ported to PS3 as well before its release in August 2012.

No plot? No problem! You are an exceptional little blob (nicknamed Timmy O'Toole by Podcast Beyond) who plays through musical platforming levels. That's it. You there! You like platforming and music? Good, 'cause that's all there is.

No the only thing here is Timmy and the levels. Everything is incredibly simple and fits in with the musical aesthetic very well. You stick to like-colored objects. Red things kill you. Roll into a ball to move faster, but you don't stick. Everything in the world makes a different sound, collect coins to add notes. The game is extremely easy, but it's a very different type of experience then a Super Meat Boy or Spelunky. Despite the ease with which I completed this game, I enjoyed the non-gameplay facets so much the simplicity and ease of the gameplay only facilitated my enjoyment.

Being a rhthym-platformer, one might suppose the music in Sound Shapes is very important. The music is entirely licensed, taking some fairly big names like Beck and Deadmau5, but also a few smaller musicians like I am Robot and Proud. The music is positively wonderful, taking each individual object in the game's world and combining the notes into a beautiful symphony. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a lot of electronic music on this soundtrack, but there's also a lot of nice acoustic stuff across the game.

Playing through the levels also unlocks items for use in user generated levels, which are one of the biggest draws for the game. The main game is short but sweet, but
the addition of UGC gives the game limitless potential. The community has created a stunning variety of original and interesting levels beyond the main game

Though one might think the PS3 is the better platform for any cross-platform game, I definitely prefer the Vita version. Using headphones makes for a significantly more immersive experience, and the level creation is far more intuitive with touch
screen controls.

In a sense, Sound Shapes doesn't really do anything wrong. The game is so simplistic it can never fail because it wasn't overly ambitious. What we have here is a
short but delightful game to experience, with some very high highs, but nothing truly spectacular. And sometimes, that's okay. 7.5/10