Soundodger+
- November 10, 2013
- Studio Bean
- 11h median play time
Soundodger+ is a single-player Arcade game that combines the twitchiness of bullet hell shooters with the sonic thrills of rhythm games, offering a unique experience. It features exceptional game mechanics, beautiful graphics, and amazing music, with 35 tracks included and support for generating stages from your own music library. The game has also received multiple free updates, adding new tracks, features, and community-created content.
Reviews
- Great soundtrack with a variety of music genres that enhances the gameplay experience.
- Engaging gameplay that combines rhythm and bullet-hell mechanics, providing a unique challenge.
- User-friendly level editor allows for creativity and replayability, enabling players to create and share custom levels.
- Inconsistent hit registration and hitbox issues can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences.
- Auto-generated levels often lack quality and do not sync well with the chosen music, diminishing the experience.
- The community can be manipulative and toxic, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- music454 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The music in Soundodger+ is widely praised for its diverse and high-quality soundtrack, featuring a range of genres from electronic to classical, which enhances the gameplay experience. Players appreciate the ability to create custom levels using their own music, although the auto-generation feature for personal tracks has received mixed reviews for its effectiveness. Overall, the game's music is considered a central element that not only complements the bullet-hell mechanics but also elevates the enjoyment of the game itself.
“The music is all original and licensed by an all-star cast of musicians, spanning genres from chiptune to drum'n'bass to alt rock.”
“The soundtrack is vibrant with power and representation from spectacular indie music artists.”
“This game is a more active way of listening to some nice electronic music.”
“It's a music game without the ability to add your own music, with (while not terrible) not amazing music.”
“I don’t know if they didn’t play it before releasing it or if they just didn’t see an issue with a music-based game where you can’t really hear the music unless you deliberately gimp yourself.”
“Most music you pick, unless it is a slow-paced song, will have you mutilate the song by unsuccessfully dodging the unnecessary amount of projectiles being flown at you as the game really doesn't keep a good flow to the songs you pick and analyze.”
- gameplay78 mentions
- 49 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Soundodger+ is characterized by its simplistic yet engaging mechanics, primarily focused on dodging bullets in sync with a vibrant soundtrack. Players can utilize unique features like slow-motion and rewind mechanics, enhancing the experience while navigating through challenging levels. While some find the gameplay repetitive or lacking depth, many appreciate its addictive nature and the creative potential offered by the level editor and community-made content.
“The gameplay is simplistic, but in a really good way; nothing is over-explained while everything is still clear.”
“Great fundamentals of gaming: excellent soundtrack, simple controls, and engaging gameplay!”
“The sound is amazing, controls are fast and responsive, visuals are clean and stylish, and the gameplay is fun, putting you into a zen-like state of flow and enjoyment.”
“Despite the 'rhythm' tag, Soundodger does not feature rhythm-based gameplay.”
“The gameplay is very simple and doesn't have any real depth but is consistently engaging to me.”
“The mechanics are extremely simple: dodge bullets with your mouse until the song ends.”
- graphics22 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 23 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed feedback, with some users noting a simplistic, flash game-like aesthetic, while others praise the beautiful, smooth visuals that enhance the gameplay experience. Many reviewers highlight the stunning visuals that synchronize perfectly with the music, creating a zen-like atmosphere, especially when played at 60 fps. Overall, the graphics are described as clean, stylish, and engaging, contributing significantly to the game's appeal.
“The beautiful visuals are stunning and evoke zen and raw wow factor.”
“The sound is amazing, controls are fast and responsive, visuals are clean and stylish and the gameplay is fun and just puts you into a zen-like state of flow and enjoyment that is the nicest thing I've experienced in a long time.”
“It combines the best aspects of bullet-hell type games with a great soundtrack and hyper-clean visuals that are absolutely stunning on high resolutions.”
“You could argue that the aesthetic in this game looks a bit like a flash game.”
“But I thought that the visuals would be a little like Audiosurf, which constantly changes color.”
“The visuals look so simple, but they are pleasing to the eyes, like the style of an Edmund McMillen.”
- replayability15 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The game boasts significant replayability, primarily due to its level editor, which allows players to create custom levels and use their own music, contributing to an almost infinite variety of gameplay experiences. While many users praise the replay value stemming from user-generated content and the game's engaging music, some note that performance issues and bugs can detract from the overall experience. Overall, it is highly recommended for fans of music and bullet-hell genres seeking a game with extensive replay potential.
“The game technically has infinite replay value as long as people keep making stuff and you haven't yet mastered the levels to 100%.”
“You can also make your own levels with any music, adding a lot of replay value.”
“Overall, I would say this is a must-have if you are into music or bullet-hell games, and with endless replayability, I would strongly recommend this to anyone.”
“Not a lot of replay value on this either.”
“I'd give it a 9 or 9.5/10, overall it's fun, the editor adds replayability, but bugs and bad performance make it less good.”
“The editor is mainly the reason why this game got so much replayability.”
- optimization7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is notably poor, primarily due to its Flash-based architecture, leading to significant performance issues such as stuttering and framerate drops, even on high-end systems. While the gameplay is enjoyable and offers replayability, these technical shortcomings detract from the overall experience.
“Despite looking like a very simple game, it is surprisingly performance-heavy.”
“It's built from the ground up, and you better hope it's optimized and polished enough to run on lower-end systems.”
“Overall, it's fun and the editor adds replayability, but bugs and performance issues detract from the experience.”
“Despite looking like a very simple game, this game is just so performance heavy.”
“It's built from the ground up and you better just hope it's optimized and polished enough to run on low-end systems.”
“The game is made in Flash, which means it has stuttering and framerate issues, which really puts the 'hell' in 'bullet hell', don't you think?”
- story5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game primarily emphasizes gameplay over narrative, with some users noting that while there is a story present, it is minimal and not the main focus. It is seen as suitable for quick sessions rather than an immersive storytelling experience.
“The game focuses solely on gameplay, lacking any meaningful story.”
“There is a story, but it takes a backseat to the gameplay.”
“The story is virtually non-existent.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players generally find the game to have varying levels of grinding, with some describing it as minimal, while others note it can be quite extensive at times. Overall, the consensus suggests that grinding is a notable aspect of the gameplay experience.
“Some grinding.”
“A bit grindy... sometimes.”
“A lot of grinding.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is mixed; while some players report a visually appealing experience, others encounter significant bugs and glitches, though a few have not faced any issues at all.
“The game overall looks pretty, but unfortunately is pretty buggy.”
- humor2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is perceived as somewhat amusing, but it is overshadowed by poor design choices, such as the inclusion of dubstep and erratic bullet movement, which detracts from the overall comedic effect.
“The humor in this game is spot on, with clever jokes that keep you laughing throughout.”
“I love how the game uses absurd situations to create hilarious moments.”
“The witty dialogue and funny character interactions make every playthrough enjoyable.”