Into The Zone

"*Into the **ZONE**!*"
— Level vocals

**Into The Zone** is the twenty-first level of *Just Shapes & Beats* and one of the last normal levels in Story Mode.

## Description

*Into The Zone* is largely based on the synthwave musical genre, which was popular in the 1980's. The level's background and borders fits this type of genre.

Most of the level's attacks use pillars that sweep left and right, spectrum bars that attack are both sides of the screen, exploding spikes, and square tracks. The former being used more often after the second checkpoint.

The level's duration is 1 minute and 44 seconds before the track fades out.

## Story Sequence

Nearing the end of the its journey to restore its world, the Square, along with its companions, now needs to flip three switches or levers sealed off by a barrier in order to unlock the doors to reach to the next Boss Battle of the game, Final Boss. So that the Square can get the crown and finally obtain the last piece of the tree. There are three level selection hexagons nearby, the right hexagon starts *Into The Zone*.
After the level's completion, the triangle breaks the rightmost barrier which contained the rightmost switch. The boat sails to the switch and flips it, opening the bottom door. The player either continues completing the other levels in the area or goes to Final Boss once all of the switches are flipped and doors opened.

## Layout

First Phase
Waves resembling a music visualizer will appear from the right side of the screen in time with the guitar. A wave of rounded walls will come up on the bottom of the screen, slowly moving left in time with the music. While this happens, squares moving in a wave pattern will come from the right side on the top of the screen.
The music visualizer appears again, and this time waves will appear on the bottom with the rounded walls coming up on the top. This repeats, with the second time it comes up on the bottom having one wall which is much higher than the rest, marked by a vertical line. The second time it comes up on the top, walls will appear on the right, left, and bottom before disappearing.
The next part involves giant rounded walls coming from the right or left sides of the screen before moving to the right or left depending on which side they came out on. The visualizer will come back and appear on both sides now, again in time with the guitar. After this happens for a bit, you will reach the second checkpoint.

Second Phase
Walls will line the left and right of the screen with a vaporwave effect. During this part, the square waves will come up from the bottom and top of the screen while pulse bombs explode in time with the guitar—there are a lot of pulse bombs to avoid in this phase. They appear towards the top of the screen alternating on the left and right. Then, a giant laser will strike the center, with a warning beforehand, forcing you to move to the left or the right. This part then repeats. except now the pulse bombs can appear near the bottom as well.
Now, rounded walls will move and cover the top and bottom of the screen while pulse bombs explode on both sides of you, two at a time, in time with the music. After a bit, rounded walls will come up from both the top and bottom, slowly getting longer, and then disappear.

Final Phase
The part directly above will repeat, with the walls being longer, giving you less space to move. Then, lasers will strike the edges, removing them, and the vaporwave walls will reappear on the top and bottom.
Rounded walls will come in form the right, moving fast and alternating between the top and bottom. The player must ether dash through them or move carefully in a circle to avoid them. This will then repeat, but the walls will instead come from the left before lasers strike the right and left edges of the screen.
Next, the right side of the screen will release walls covering the top while the left one releases ones covering the bottom. They are slower than the previous ones, and again you must move in a circle to avoid them, or dash over them. This will then repeat. Lasers will strike the edges again, and then after a short break, the level ends.

Hardcore Mode Changes
First Phase* Wavy squares move faster.

Second Phase* Wavy square trails is slightly longer.

Final Phase* Rounded walls move slightly faster and have more room in-between.

## Gallery

BeginningFirst checkpointSecond checkpoint
## Trivia

* This level introduces the composer Shirobon and is the first song by them to be featured in the game.
	+ Other tracks composed by him featured in the game are FOX, On The Run, Granite, and Born Survivor. In addition, they remixed La Danse Macabre and Spider Dance (Remix), levels from Update 1.3 and Update 1.6 respectively.