The Bit.Trip series has become an odd staple in downloadable titles over the last few years. Immediately recognizable, undeniably popular, and simultaneously bizarre yet familiar, Bit.Trip games provide a unique twist on rhythm games that you really can't get anywhere else. With the release of Bit.Trip runner on the PC as of 2/28/11 on Steam, I figured it'd be appropriate to review it before Steam's infamous deals snag everyone's money.
Bit.Trip Runner is, at its core, a rhythm game. However, it's presented as a platformer, and although you cannot control your movement across the level (due to keeping with the beat), you perform jumps, slides, bounces, and other techniques to navigate the level. All of these actions correspond with the background music in some way, making it fairly easy to tell when you need to do things, though exactly what it is you have to do may not be immediately apparent. It's difficult to describe exactly how the game plays, so I'll be linking a video here of a later level (taken from Wii version).
This ties in nicely to my next point, which is that the game is incredibly fun to look and listen to. The music is great, especially in the boss stages, and the graphics are almost guaranteed to make you feel nostalgic for the 8bit games of your youth. It's the kind of game that can draw a crowd, much like the other Bit.Trip titles.
However, this game suffers from the same issues as the other Bit.Trips. The game is very unforgiving. Any mistakes whatsoever can ruin your run and make you start from the beginning. In Runner this is less of an issue because of the short level structure, but it was a common complaint of other Bit.Trip games and it's clear Gaijin Games doesn't intend to make things any easier. This is not a bad thing in and of itself. Challenge is good, so long as there's a reward for completing said challenges. But unfortunately, the game ends almost too quickly for there to be a real feeling of accomplishment. There are only 3 worlds, and again, the levels are short, meaning you've only got about 4-5 hours of gameplay here tops unless you're not particularly great at rhythm games. There's not much reason to play the game again afterwards, unless you're determined to 100% every level, but again, there's no real motivation to do so.
Does this mean Bit.Trip Runner is a bad game? Certainly not. It's a great experience from start to finish, it's just that there's hardly anything in between. It's certainly not worth the $10 suggested price, though when it's inevitably dropped to $5 you should consider picking it up. Alternatively, you could watch the entire game played perfectly starting from here:
And really, that's the issue with the game: it's more fun to watch than play. If, after watching some (or all, time permitting) of the videos you still feel compelled, go for it. But for me, the lack of depth and replayability left me dissatisfied once I had completed it, though admittedly I did enjoy what there was quite a bit.
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