Audiosurf
| Audiosurf | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Invisible Handlebar |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release | February 15 2008 [1] |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle, Rhythm |
| Mode(s) | Mono, Pointman, Double Vision, Vegas, Eraser, |
Audiosurf is an IGF award-nominated[3] puzzle - rhythm hybrid game created by Invisible Handlebar[4]. Its stages visually mimic the music the player chooses, while the player races down these stages collecting colored blocks synchronized with the music .
Gameplay
In Audiosurf the player controls a levitating spaceship-like craft similar to those found in the Wipeout or F-Zero video games. The play then maneuvers it down a colorful multi-laned highway, collecting blocks in a manner similar to Klax. The ship is controlled either by a mouse, the arrow keys, the number keys, or an Xbox Controller.
Scoring points
The aim of the game is to score points by collecting colored blocks (called 'cars' in the game) and forming clusters of 3 or more of the same color. The more blocks one accumulates in a cluster, the more points are scored. In the default color settings of the game, blocks in hot colors such as red and yellow are worth more points and cool colors such as blue and magenta are worth less points. There are also bonuses, such as finishing the song with no blocks in the grid or collecting all of a certain color, which increases the score by a certain percentage.
Environment
Audiosurf enhances the experience of the players chosen music collection by synchronizing its environment, traffic patterns and scenery to the events in the players chosen songs. The dynamics of the music being played is reflected in the tracks elevation, surface and layout. For example, if a player were to choose to play a very soft and mellow song, the track would be uphill, very slow, relaxing and rich in cool colors. If a player were to choose a very intense and loud song, the track would be downhill, sped up, thick with traffic and lit up with hot colors.
Characters
The player can choose different characters to play as in the game. There are three difficulty levels to choose from. Each character has its own unique ability.
Casual Characters (Easy)
- Mono: Only two colors on the track. One must dodge grey blocks
- Pointman: All the basic colors, with the ability to pick up one block of the players choice before dropping it when and where the player sees fit
- Double Vision: This mode has four lanes as opposed to the conventional three lanes. There are two ships, each on either side of the highway and can only move around in their side's lanes. The left hand ship is controlled by Keyboard, the right hand ship is controlled by the mouse
Pro Characters (Medium)
- Vegas: When the player waits in the shoulder (a lane where no blocks will appear), a meter will appear, that will randomly rearrange the gathered colors when filled up.
- Eraser: Slightly more difficult than Pointman. Instead of the ability to pick up blocks, the player has the ability to get rid of all gathered blocks of a certain color.
- Pointman Pro: A more difficult variation of Pointman, with the same abilities.
- Pusher A medium difficulty setting, where the player has the ability to "push" blocks into the lane to the left by holding left-click as they're collected, or to the right by holding right-click.
- Double Vision Pro: Medium difficulty variation of the Double Vision mode.
Elite Characters (Hard)
- Ninja Mono: Mono on hard difficulty, without shoulders.
- Pointman Elite: Pointman on hard difficulty. No shoulders.
- Pusher Elite: Pusher on hard difficulty. No shoulders.