Boss battles don’t include any checkpoints, so you’ll have to be precise with your dashes in order to survive. If you get hit too many times, you’ll rewind to a previous checkpoint. I was glad to see that you don’t die in a single hit, and instead, you’ll see chunks of your form fly off as you have four hitpoints and three lives to spare. These muted colors are safe zones and won’t harm you until they become the deep rich neo pink that will break your little shape apart. Most of the time you are given clues or tells on where the next pink shape of death will appear, either by flying across the screen or fading in from the background. In fact, since you are dodging and dashing through the levels, it feels like attempting a pacifist mode run. The visual style while simplistic is highly effective, evoking memories of Geometry Wars, which is an excellent company to be in.

Through the story mode (which can be played with others locally), you navigate your rectangle through a maze of pink objects cluttering the screen, all in tune with the music. The title of the game truly represents the nature of what the game entails, namely shapes and beats. That’s right the game features fully functional boss encounters that will have you cranking your speakers to 11 and banging your head along to the beats. Every musical note of each song is beautifully rendered through the use of shifting/exploding shapes of different sizes, requiring you to dodge and dash your way through the chaotic rhythmic action and boss battles. Unlike most rhythm titles that follow a traditional style of playing along with musical tracks, you are merely trying to survive against an onslaught of pink shapes in the same vein of a bullet-hell shooter.

A very unassuming title, Just Shapes & Beats was one of my most anticipated titles after speaking a very brief time with it at PAX East 2017.

Just shapes and beats trailer