MELODY'S ESCAPE

The idea of generating auto-runner platformer levels based on songs you put into it, which then have gameplay in perfect sync with the song, is really, really neat.

Unfortunately, the actual gameplay that results from the songs looks incredibly boring. I mean, it's not platforming at all. It's just playing DDR on a controller, with an animated running chick as decoration in the background. Also, although the game is matching the song's beat and has a good idea of when instruments cut in and out, the individual button inputs have nothing to do with the song.

For example, there's one point in Numb where there's a long sliding ramp in the level at the same time as the singer holds a long note, and it seems like maybe it's on purpose, and you get excited. But then later there are similar slides that don't correspond like that. So it seems like the timing of that first ramp was just pure chance that it worked out that way, and they picked this song for their trailer video because it did. Also I'm pretty sure there are no actual button inputs on that ramp; gameplay-wise, it's exactly the same as any other empty stretch. The character just does all that stuff automatically.

I'm vaguely impressed with some aspects of the technology, but the game looks awful.

I got Melody's Escape on the steam winter sale. I tend to enjoy rythm-based games. Or at least theoretically. Melody's Escape works best with music that has a clear beat, because it apparently has some kind of beat-based algorithm and sometimes that algorithm fails and it falls back to what seems to be "how loud the music is" (which also generally works okay)

So saying that I'm kinda also saying that using RMN Music Pack music or music that is created to be kind of a background thing. It doesn't necessarily work great for Melody's Escape.

I would say that Beat Hazard is still probably the best game that generates stuff from music (in my opinion anyway). Since it isn't necessarily rythm-based. But the music can give you the "flow" quite easily.