In summary, Just Shapes and Beats is like a full game version of some of the battle mini-games in Undertale. As you can see from the site, I like pink. I can’t say the same for the full game as I have to admit the last stage in the demo was bloody hard and I did have to restart a few times. At times the screen was so jam-packed full of hazards that you’d assume the difficulty was unrealistic, but if you pay attention (and listen to the music for hints), the beginning stages are very doable. Instead, it was a series of waves of increasing difficulty. With the introduction of bosses, I expected to unleash some sort of weapon to shoot objects out of the sky, but there was nothing of the sort. You could play it on mute and could still beat the stages, but other than not waking anyone up in your household, there would be no point as the music is spot-on.

The first few waves are easy (you get a checkpoint for the side-scrolling parts), and the only time I died was when I was reaching for the sub-woofer remote to turn it up – the score is fantastic. Then gradually, the projectiles start getting mildly overwhelming, with the soundtrack becoming ever so more dynamic. Meh, it’s ok, but there has to be something simple to ease or hook you in – a tutorial if you will. So the first introduction to the game is a teaser a few beats, collect a shard to boost your health and dodge some projectiles. With the demo, I needed it to grab me by the balls pretty quick as I have such a backlog, I only have time for something that I can get into that gains my attention swiftly.

Defender gets colour overhaul, but loses definition on the ship Source: Berserk Studio Each part of the square is made up of smaller shapes that represent your health, so after a few hits, you lose your life, with only a handful of continues to play with. You see, in Just Shapes and Beats you play a shape (spoiler) that evolves from a triangle, slowly into a square. Unlike games such as Thumper or classics like Parappa the Rappa, you needn’t time your moves with a button press, but it does elude to your next move. Just Shapes and Beats is a rhythm game of sorts.

Just shapes and beats trailer