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Parents' Guide to

Symphony

By Marc Saltzman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Fun arcade space shooter set to your own music collection.

Game Windows 2012
Symphony Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Symphony Game: Screenshot #1
  • Symphony Game: Screenshot #2
  • Symphony Game: Screenshot #3

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What’s It About?

Why simply listen to your music when you can interact with it? A new independent PC game called SYMPHONY uses your own personal music collection to provide an intense arcade shooter for your mouse-clicking finger. It might not have the depth or replayability as other computer games, but this digital download is fun and frantic. Winner of two awards at the 2012 Indie Game Challenge – namely, the \"GameStop PC Digital Download Award\" and \"Technical Achievement\" -- SYMPHONY tells of a sinister entity that's imprisoning your music and you must liberate your songs one by one. After the brief introduction to the story, the game then asks your permission to scan your hard drive for music. At the start of each level, you can choose which song you want to play or let the game play a random track for you (or select one of the songs bundled with the game). The game can best be described as vertical shooter reminiscent of '80s arcade hits like Galaga, but with \"vector\"-like graphics seen in classic coin-op games like Asteroids, Missile Command, and Battlezone.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Symphony is good, but its gameplay isn't unique -– save, maybe, for working with your existing music collection. You'll see your ship at the bottom of the screen and must fire projectiles at various enemy ships. You can move your ship around on the battlefield, which is necessary to avoid enemy fire and collect the power-ups and other items left behind by fallen ships. While it's more apparent in some songs over others, the enemy ship movement is tied to the melodies and beats of each song, rather than simply playing your music in the background. While it's a single-player game, Symphony offers a per-song leaderboard so you can compare your scores with others, plus there are 30 achievements and medals to unlock. Over time, you'll unlock new weapons, power-ups, achievements, and other items; repair and customize your ship; and defeat tougher bosses.

The fast-paced and family-friendly game is accessible and fun -- but repetition sets in after a few songs. Sure, upgrading your ship and earning medals serve as dangling carrots, but don't expect to stay engaged for long periods of time. Instead, Symphony offers a quick arcade shooter fix, set to your own music. The $10 game can be downloaded at EA's Origin network, GOG.com (Good Old Games), Playism, and GameSpot's ImpulseDriven.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the appeal of independent games. Affordable indie games are different from expensive, blockbuster titles. In what ways? Why do you like playing indie games?

  • Families can also talk about playing music games. Did you like controlling the music of this game? Did it make you like it better?

Game Details

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