surf school 48

In essence, Audiosurf is a music visualizer with rhythm/music gameplay. The game's environments are dynamically generated based on any song the player picks from his music library, supporting file types such as cda (music disc), mp3, ogg, wma and songs from iTunes. Most of the levels are futuristic floating worlds, where the song is represented as a race track. With the tag line Ride Your Music, colors are bright, elevation and hills match the game's tempo and synchronize the visuals. Intense actions go downhill at a fast speed or take place in tunnels, while slow build-ups go up slopes. Beats usually lead to small and regular hills. There are many objects along the track that move along the game's rhythm. As a game, it introduces a vehicle on the race track with an overall design similar to the Wipeout games. Players are not able to alter the vehicle's speed, which is controlled by the current song's rhythm, but can move left or right.

Next to freerides with no specific goals game elements, gameplay has been divided into different modes based on three difficulty levels. Players usually have to hit or avoid certain blocks, or use the different colors to build combinations of blocks on a grid. As well as the environment, the series of blocks match the game rhythm and a small sound (from four variations) can be set to go along with the music. The core elements mix the matching system of Guitar Hero with the dynamic gameplay of games such as musika or Phase, even carrying hints of Lumines or Klax.

The music can be chosen from anywhere on the hard drive, but the game also includes a radio where freeware songs can be played. The vehicle on the tracks can be controlled using the mouse of the keyboard, but in the Double Vision mode with two vehicles both have to be used at the same time, or are controlled by two players simultaneously. There are no weapons, but certain modes allow the player to push objects to another column on the grid, hold on to blocks, shuffle them or destroy certain colors. In the modes with multiple colors, there are special blocks with additional points, multipliers and icons that turn all blocks on the grid into a certain color. The player cannot die. Instead, a short respawning phase is shown where no blocks can be hit. There is a tutorial, and a freeride mode where the scenery can be admired without gameplay elements.

Next to points acquired during the race, additional trophies are awarded afterwards based on skill. The tracks are automatically divided into three levels of achievements (bronze, silver and gold) with a set amount of points. Individual rankings are kept for each of the songs, divided over the game modes and difficulty levels. Further filters can limit the lists to the player's country, friends on his list or recent plays. The player can also alter the colours of the different blocks.