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Since music can muster such a visceral reaction in us of like and dislike, when a game comes
along that allows us to interact with music, it is usually received favorably. If it's
a game like Guitar Hero which has a set track list, the game can be lauded or decried based
on if the list resonates with fans of those songs, but games like Audiosurf and Synesthetic,
which allow the player to use their own music collection favor much better, also because
these games are tied to playable versions of those visualization programs that come
with iTunes and Winamp. As long as you don't get motion sickness or have problems with
epilepsy, Synesthetic can be an audio visual feast.
The game starts by having you select a song from those on your iPhone. Once that song
is prepared, it is playable in three different game modes. Vibe is the default where you
just need to avoid hitting obstacles, as that will reset your multiplier and impact your
score. Flux is the most game-like of the modes raising your multiplier based on traveling
through the same color gates, and making decisions on whether to reset said multiplier to change
colors. Finally Wave is vibe mode, just with a harsher penalty in hitting an obstacle,
turning you into a ghost for a short period of time. The pros and cons of the game can
be discussed in vibe mode so let's go with that.
The path you travel along is reminiscent of Boost, where you're turning along a cylinder
of twists, turns, and bombastic colors. In the background you may notice that some obstacles
have a black outline. This is the only indicator the game gives for avoiding oncoming obstacles.
There's never any indication of which way you should be traveling, and the only feedback
you get when you've made a mistake is a bleak sound dampening, which can actually be quite
shocking when you start to really get into the groove of a track. The thing is that these
mistakes can pop out of nowhere, even when you feel you're following the path indicated
by the black outline in the distance. This is only compounded in Wave mode, as often
when coming back as a ghost, you'll smack right into something again and spend the song
perpetually ethereal.
Overall this doesn't lessen the impact Synesthetic has too greatly. Traveling in this world of
vectors, fractals, and neon while grooving along to your favorite songs is a great experience,
but as a game, even a simplistic one, it kind of falls short. Even so, if you like music
games, this one is well worth the price of admission, and it'll definitely give you a
new perspective on your favorite songs.