Since my computer room tends to have people in it, most of the time my speakers have to stay muted. Still, when I get the urge to be a heroic guitarist, a revolutionary dancer, or an elite agent of beat, no one can stop me from having the volume go up to 11. To quote Dire Straits: I want my JiG! This week in The Vault, lets give a round of sound for three games whose awesome audio is music to my ears.
- Sound Factory - A rare fusion of the rhythm and time management genres, Sound Factory, by Luke Whittaker is a cartoony feast for the eyes and ears. Helping Dink balance his commitments both to making tires and to making music with whatever he can find around the factory is a little daunting at first. However, there are beautiful harmonies waiting in the chaos to be found my you. From the popping of tires to the squeaking chorus of mice, this is the home version Stomp could only dream of. Ten minutes with Sound Factory and Luke's previously featured A Break in the Road will remind you just how much music is in the world around us. All we have to do is listen.
- Music Brothers - Music Brothers, by Korean developer HanGame is a music game stripped to its barest essentials. Hit the right key and a pleasant tone is played and you feel happy. Hit the wrong key and you sound a unpleasant tone that makes you feel just terrible. While superficially similar to DDR, Music Brothers is more a game of proper sequencing than keeping to the beat, making it easy for even someone as anti-rhythmic as me to pick up. Watch out though... the cute and chirpy graphics masks how crushing the difficulty gets by the end of level 20. Take your best shot, maestro!
- la Pâte á Son - Ever wonder what a one-man-band built by The Incredible Machine would be like? One look at this Shockwave webtoy by LeCielEstBleu convinces me that it would be awesome. la Pâte á Son is a cool piece of creative experimentation that gives you the tools and the freedom to create absolutely mesmerizing melodies by making chain-reaction devices Rube Goldberg would adore. Beautiful pastel visuals and a Dr. Seuss-like collection of instrument parts gives the game an infectious sense of whimsey that's hard not to like. If any game can be described as "impressionist", surely this is it.
While we welcome any comments about this weekly feature here, we do ask that if you need any help with the individual games, please post your questions on that game's review page. Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and rediscover some awesome!
Well that was a bit of fun sound exploration! This vault was fun and valuable. I wonder if I can use this page in my music classroom?
I remember Music Brothers. Great game. I achieved an enormous dexterity at it.
Now I recall having played Music Brothers with an interface in english at ijji.com
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