Symphonia offers a beautiful world and deadly platforming, out now on iOS and Android
Overview & Key Takeaways
The platformer may be a humble little genre, but it's one that's defined gaming in all its endless varieties for years. But I think it's safe to say that the newly released platformer Symphonia is the first time I've seen classical music and elegant art married so beautifully with fast-paced, challenging platforming. The best way to describe Symphonia from what I've seen so far is that it's like Super Meat Boy, just replace the grotesque flesh theme with something more beautiful and elegant. That may sound a bit snobby, but take a look and you can certainly see the stark difference between the two, especially in terms of Symphonia's world. ... [MORE]
- Symphonia marries classical music and fast-paced platforming action
- Available now on mobile, it's scored by the Paris Scoring Orchestra
- Music adapts as you play, providing a dynamic backing track to challenging gameplay
The platformer may be a humble little genre, but it's one that's defined gaming in all its endless varieties for years. But I think it's safe to say that the newly released platformer Symphonia is the first time I've seen classical music and elegant art married so beautifully with fast-paced, challenging platforming.
The best way to describe Symphonia from what I've seen so far is that it's like Super Meat Boy, just replace the grotesque flesh theme with something more beautiful and elegant. That may sound a bit snobby, but take a look and you can certainly see the stark difference between the two, especially in terms of Symphonia's world.
Music platform
However, don't be fooled by its quaint style or the giant piano. Symphonia is just as demanding of players as something like the aforementioned Super Meat Boy is. Jumps and timings need to be spot-on (rather fitting for the classical music theme, I must say) to clear each level, and one wrong move spells doom.
Of course, the reward isn't just clearing the level and advancing through the game. Symphonia uses a dynamic music system that matches your actions. And that soundtrack, provided by none other than the Scoring Orchestra of Paris, is authentic concert-quality classical that really fits the world of Symphonia.
Again, not to come across as snobby (I do still love me some Super Meat Boy, probably more than I would Symphonia), but it is refreshing whenever classical music makes an appearance in games. So if you fancy a feast for your ears, as well as your eyes and fingers, be sure to check out Symphonia now on iOS and Android!
Symphonia is just one of many great releases gracing mobile this week, however. And you can keep up with just a handful of them by checking out our regular list of the five new mobile games to try this week, where we list the most interesting picks from the last seven days!
