Like many of its Indie brethren, Audiosurf appears not unlike a student project at a glance. Everything from its visual style to its core gameplay – and especially the elegant simplicity with which it is all presented – smells of a product that may well be more experiment than game. But Audiosurf is a game; a tweak on a puzzle formula so fundamentally quintessential that the experimental vibe need not be sacrificed. There is a lack of surface complexity here: this is a game that has established its premise and thrived on it, and the result is a refreshingly simple, yet supremely playable experience that masks a considerable layer of depth.

The tagline of 'ride your music' is one of the most profoundly concise descriptions of any game we've ever read. And Audiosurf has itself ridden the wave of acceptance that the music fusion genre has enjoyed over the course of a decade that, according to commonly used media hubs, has actually reviewed Rez with more enthusiasm the second time around. With the likes of this, as well as Mizaguchi's other classic, Lumines, not to mention Vib Ribbon and other related titles influencing not only its own gameplay, but also the public's willingness to accept it, Audiosurf stands a very good chance of attaining the attention that it (to say nothing of its predecessors) rightfully deserves. Ride your music? It's a condensed wow powerleveling statement that the public may finally be ready to understand.

So, how does it all work? Well, it's a bit like Columns disguised as a futuristic racing game where speed is controlled by the music rather than traditional acceleration. The player picks a song, and then Audiosurf takes the desired track and turns it into a linear race-course of sorts, spread out over three primary lanes and two safety zones. With the course laid out, the music kicks in and it becomes necessary to use a ship-shaped avatar to collect the blocks of various colours that stream down the three lanes, storing them in a grid at the base of the track. Match three or more blocks of the same colour and they will disappear, adding points to your score in accordance with the total combo, as well as what colour they were. Overfill any one of the bars and it will be emptied, robbing the player of points rather than awarding them, as well wow powerleveling as making their ship insubstantial and unable to collect new blocks for a short time.

Ships themselves come in various sorts, spread over three difficulty levels. Each has a unique function, such as Pointman's ability to pick up and store a block of a certain colour, or Eraser's useful skill of eliminating colours entirely. These seem gimmicky at first, but they quickly open up their own unique benefits, and allow for a wide variety of wow gold play styles from relaxed to insane.

As for the blocks themselves, much like the erratic courses, they work in timed accordance with the music that plays. Red blocks, which are worth the most points, come at more intense moments of songs, while cooler colours are more common and appear during calmer periods. Expect also the odd power-up, such as score multipliers and bricks that will apply a uniform colour to your current collection. Unsurprisingly, they all come forward in harmony with the music's beat, an aspect that is quite easily Audiosurf's greatest, inevitable shortcoming: a game that generates what could be interpreted as its note placement off-the-cuff will never quite be able to match the meticulous refinement found in the likes of Guitar Hero or Rock Band.

But this is hardly a deal breaker. For one thing, the random generation is pretty good, and in many ways any imperfections are harmonious with the chaotic nature of the visual tracks that have been born from the audio ones. Audiosurf isn't so generous as to scroll its bricks towards the player at a consistent pace – the speed at which the track is traversed is wow gold up to the music, and if the selected track wants to indulge a sudden burst of tempo, then prepare to adjust your projected trajectory to cater for the fact that you'll soon be speeding downhill and facing a much more brutal brick onslaught.

In terms of its visuals, Audiosurf has settled on a look that could be described as artfully sterile. The visuals are very clean, and unnaturally smooth. But they're never boring: with all the effects maxed out the background becomes rife with activity, and the course itself appears to suffer a seizure. And if that's not enough, Audiosurf also empowers its players with basic Photoshop-style customisation, allowing for a choice of background colour as well as a few screen filter effects. Appropriate really, as customising the experience seems to be a recurring, welcome theme in this game.