I remember this game really well, it has wonderfully abstract graphics and fantastic music. This was a really interesting game at the time that tried to tackle

I remember this game really well, it has wonderfully abstract graphics and fantastic music. This was a really interesting game at the time that tried to tackle a number of the problems that show up with 3d platformers: - Controls - Alpha Waves uses tank controls - left and right rotate the character rather than move them. This control style continued for many years all through the Playstation 1 period and was a fairly natural fit for digital d-pad like controls. Super Mario 64 was the first game of this type that uses direct control (left moves him left, right moves him right, etc.) and it revolutionized 3d platformer control schemes. There is a clear break with games before and after Mario 64 w/r to this style of control. I believe some modern recreations of older games (some of the Resident Evil games) now use the Mario scheme even though the originals used tank controls. - Camera - Alpha Waves slots the camera directly behind the player with very little deviation left and right. The more dynamic camera found in later 3d platformers doesn't really exist here. The camera does rotate up and down to show different perspectives on the avatar, but IIR it's entirely up to the user to move it to where they wish. This technique is today very common and is usually mapped to the right control stick. - Depth Perception - One of the problems with 3d platformers is that there's no depth perception since it's not stereoscopic. This makes landing jumps and gauging other movements difficult. Games try to accommodate for this reality by using several "tricks" and Alpha Wave more or less figured many of them out. The first trick is a shadow that moves directly under the avatar. This often doesn't make sense given various lighting conditions, but provides a clue as to where the avatar is at any given moment. The second trick is to dynamicall move the camera above the shoulder of the avatar which introduces a bit of parallax and assists the creation of depth. An early game which combined these was the Playstation game "Jumping Flash" which forced the camera to take a top-down view and has a shadow target under the player that made landing jumps relatively easy. Alpha Waves is interesting because instead of forcing the camera like Jumping Flash, platforms have a forced "bounce" and the user controls the camera. It's a beautiful game that represents some really solid innovation that's totally worth at least 10 minutes of your time to check out.