Quick Review: Waveform

Go with the flow!

Gotta adjust to catch everything!

A creation of Eden Industries released on March 20th, 2012, Waveform is a deviously tricky action puzzle game. You control the little sphere at the left of the screen, following the titular orbiting waveform; and your task is to collect the little orbs of light on the way. However, those orbs are in various arcs, and thus you must adapt your flight pattern to catch them. You do that by holding down the left click button of the mouse and moving up and down, which changes the wavelength’s height, and left and right, which changes its length. The shorter the length, the faster your sphere flies.

Maneuvering carefully between patches of dark matter.
It's the only way to survive! And your sphere gets bigger
the bigger multiplier you have...

Several mechanics get added through the first world, taking place around Pluto and moving up the Solar System. For starters, rings that multiply your score for every light ball, all the way up to 5X. These multipliers count as “extra HP” for your sphere. Then, a proper hazard joins the fray: Dark Matter squares, when struck, will destroy nearby orbs, and will cost your own sphere an HP and a multiplier. Orbs with traces are also introduced, and you are encouraged to modify your wavelength to catch the entire trace, as every 100% you get from those gets added to the end level score.

Yeah... I don't think I'm gonna hunt down any 100%s here.
I can barely make it to 60% on any of them!

After which, your score is calculated, counting all absorbed energy orbs, the multipliers, and any bonuses, and your score is tallied against the game’s 100% completion rate. You earn one star for every 10% (as well as extras for any achievements you unlock during gameplay). You can use those stars to unlock some levels in each world, represented by a planet of the solar system (…Well… It starts at Pluto, but you get the idea). In those special stages, the mechanics are changed; the view becomes wavey and wobbly, or the screen darkens periodically, or anything of the like.

Gotta, uh, absorb 'em all, I suppose?

New mechanics get added constantly; starting with the second world, the orbs in space now come in multiple colors, and the multipliers you collect will only affect the score of a specific color of orb. Or what about mirrors that cause your light sphere to bounce off? Oh wait, let’s make the opbs move, too! More complexity!

Holy crap that's a lot of mirrors. Look at all that bouncing!

This is the type of game where you play through a level first, then must learn it to find the right path and sequence of actions to get the perfect score. If you are the type to hunt down those scores – or to just get through the entire game and its many challenges at least once – then it’s very easy to go “just one more”, as levels are short. The ambiance is chill; the music is good. There’s plenty of challenges to be found, the base gameplay is simple but ramps up in complexity over time as new mechanics get added. And whenever effects are applied to confuse the player, they’re effective. The biggest issue with the game is that it needs some player-side fixes or else the software won’t load properly; but the community is on it and provides the easiest fixes, available in the game’s folder. And even then, I’ve had the game revert to its non-functional state at random times between play sessions. Personally, it doesn’t appeal to me all that much, but I can see how it could keep someone interested.

Waveform is available on Steam for 1.68$ USD.