For generations now, the marriage of music and video games has brought us some absolute classics. Whether it’s the comical hip-hop of PaRappa the Rapper, the million-dollar-making Rock Band franchise or the DLC-smothered Persona Dancing titles, the joining of big beats and button presses makes the two genres fit together as snug as a bug.
There’s a certain genre of music game, however, that likes to engage a little more with the rhythm and spirituality of the music itself, often presenting it in obscure, abstract ways. Titles such as Rez, Vib-Ribbon, Chime and Child of Eden, that attempt use the music to create a stage for the player to dance on, be that player a polygonal human avatar, or a long-legged, wire-frame bunny.
Just Shapes & Beats, by indie outfit Berzerk Studios, falls into the latter sub-genre of music games, attempting to deliver a fun-but-challenging interactive experience for you and your friends, laid over a series of great tracks, while breaking video rules with its abstract but magnetic mood. And, I’m glad to report, it succeeds.
Source: Destructoid Review: Just Shapes & Beats