So I'm actually kind of on the verge of recommending and not recommending Melody's Escape. I'll explain, of course, but in the end I do recommend this - just to a certain crowd of gamers.

Now, I have previously reviewed Audiosurf, and after finishing everything I wanted to do in Melody's Escape I moved on to Beat Hazard. All three of these games are similar in the whole "play your own music" motif, but each game has vastly different gameplay mechanics. And I have to admit, out of these three "play your own music" games, Melody's Escape did the least for me. Don't get me wrong, it's not a terrible game, just not a fantastic one in my eyes.

In short, Melody's Escape is a running game set to your music. You control a female protagonist named Melody and tap certain directional keys to correspond with obstacles, such as sliding, jumping, and kicking through blocks. There are sections for each type of intensity, as well. The background changes to a slightly hotter color and the scenery moves faster as the intensity of a song builds up. On top of this, there are also slow-motion sections of long jumps for cooldown segments of songs, which I think is quite a nice touch despite being rare, as I've only encountered such sections maybe 3 or 4 times out of the hundred-ish songs I played. Finally, there are multiple difficulties you can choose from. The easiest has you press only one directional key for each section of a song, and the hardest has you use both WASD and arrow controls for certain types of obstacles, which poses a substantial challenge.

However, besides the decent gameplay, this game has a few issues for me. First off, the visuals in this game are very basic and bland, and the game isn't nearly as visually appealing as Audiosurf or Beat Hazard. Even the menu looks rather boring. Unlike other rhythm games I've played, Melody's Escape features no music on the menu, and I think that's a nice facet that rhythm games ought to have. In Melody's Escape, the menu is just silence, save for the minimal "beep" sounds that you hear when selecting options on the menu.

There is also very little to do in this game and minimal incentives. There isn't a sort of leveling up system or anything to unlock, nor leaderboards for songs, rendering your high score on songs to not have much purpose. The only real incentive in this game is the 8 achievements, which are all relatively easy to get if you're going for them. It only took me around 8 hours to get them all. After that, it comes down to merely playing for fun. And I'm not a huge fan of games that are solely made to pass time unless there's actual incentives or things you can do afterwards.

Anyways, if you want more of a "for-fun" rhythm game customized to your music to pass the time with, Melody's Escape would be a good purchase for you. If you're into games with more of an incentive and contain more for you to do, consider Audiosurf or Beat Hazard instead. However, keep in mind this game is still in Early Access as I write this and is probably awaiting a few changes, so I can hope that some of its issues will get fixed in forthcoming updates.

Audiosurf is a very, very unique game and is definitely a landmark in the music/rhythm game genre. Unlike other rhythm games, which limit you to specific in-game songs, Audiosurf is limitless - it allows you to play any - that's right, any - MP3 of your choice, so you can suit your gameplay to your own music tastes. This freedom is rarely found, if at all, in music games, and it has set the stage for other music games in the vein of it, such as Beat Hazard and the more recent Melody's Escape. In my opinion, Audiosurf has infinite replay value, as long as you have a large amount of songs to play.

Basically, Audiosurf is a game where you can "ride" your music to a track that moves and flows in sync with the song, as you hit blocks along the way. It’s sort of an amalgamation of F-Zero’s gameplay and Rock Band’s note charts (albeit less precise). Each MP3 has leaderboards, and for songs that haven't been played in the game yet, you have the opportunity to make the first play on a song and create the leaderboards for it yourself. Of course, this isn't the case with more popular songs that many people have played. Leaderboards also have a comments section, where you can (obviously) comment on a song. A neat aspect of leaderboards (and probably my favorite) is that if you get dethroned from the global leaderboards on a song, you’ll receive an e-mail by default, though you can turn it off if you’d prefer. You’ll also get an e-mail if an Audiosurf friend beats your score on a song, regardless of whether you have the throne on it or not.

There's also several ways you can play Audiosurf: just for fun or for competition. Audiosurf has a variety of different characters that are well-suited for both beginners and the more advanced players, amongst three difficulties - casual, pro, and elite. For example, Mono is the easiest (but also lowest-scoring) character, with a simple strategy - hit the colored blocks and avoid the greys. Then, there are the trickier (but higher-scoring) characters along the way, such as Eraser (my most-played character), which allows you to erase blocks and undo erases to create organized matches, and Pointman, which allows you to scoop up blocks and place them in different spots. It is highly recommended that beginners start with Mono, though, as I have had friends try the more complex characters from the get-go and it did not go very well for them.

However, I’m not going to go as far to say the game is for everyone, as people have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to video games. Aside from the fact that you obviously have to like some sort of music, quick thinking, reflexes, and sense of rhythm play a big part as well. Also, if you are one of those people that tire out of songs easily (like myself), you shouldn’t have a problem for the most part in Audiosurf, but if you play for competition and someone dethrones you on a song you like, you may end up playing the song repeatedly to get a good-enough run to reclaim the throne. It’s happened to me a time too many :P

All in all, if you’re a music lover and want a new visualization experience to go along with your music, Audiosurf might be for you. Be warned, though - it’s very addicting if you have a large library of music.

I've played through this game countless times, and it's great. I'll try not to spoil too much, but don't let the happiness and bright colors make you think this is a kid's game. Trust me, it is everything but.

I only had to play this for 2 minutes to realize its awesomeness. You control a character called Captain Viridian, and you have to solve several complex puzzles by defying the laws of gravity. It's really fun, and the music soundtrack is spectacular, especially for chiptune.