BIT.TRIP Runner

BIT.TRIP RUNNER is a difficult game to complete. But it is incredibly satisfying to beat many of the levels. The difficulty curve is a bit weird, with 1-11 being an incredibly long and tough level for the end of Zone 1. But Zone 2 ends up being a nice palette cleanser at least, but ramps up the difficulty nicely. Generally, the game is pretty fair in guiding the player as to what they need to do. Will everyone love this game? Absolutely not. The difficulty and lack of checkpoints will irk many a player. But many will relish the challenge and revel in the reward of simply a job well done. Biggest criticism is probably the boss levels music being harmonically uninteresting, especially compared to the rest of the game.

There aren't many good things you can say about this game. I think it should have been free, if I'm being completely honest. Here are my gripes: - The music is annoying an repetitive. - The music throws you off completely at certain points because it is very poorly plotted. - Buttons don't register sometimes, which is the most crucial thing they needed to get right. - Backgrounds blend too much with objects, gives eye strain. - Framerate issues. Unacceptable for such low quality graphics. I suppose the idea is decent, but when the delivery screws up pretty much everything it needed to get right, you're left with an objectively bad game.

The screen scrolls fast. And it's painful to look at because the refresh rate is locked to 60Hz. Other refresh rates are listed in setting, but as far as I can tell, it made no difference. Some games I can forgive for locking the refresh rate, but not this one.

Having played Bit.Trip Runner and Runner 2 in their entirety I believe I can give an extremely fair review of this first installment. Bit.Trip Runner is a rhythm based platformer in which you do not control your movement horizontally. Those mobile games that are called "runners" got their inspiration from this game but have fallen short because they lack the depth of this game. Your main objective is to avoid objects by sliding under, jumping over, blocking, and even kicking them out of your way all to the most sublime 8-bit chip tunes ever to grace a video game. Along the way you collect bars of gold for level completion and multipliers that increase your score. If you collect all of the gold bars in a level you are free to go to the old school bonus challenge after that stage which kicks you back into Atari 2600 age graphics and sound heavily inspired by the game Pitfall which are much more challenging than the regular levels. Collect all the gold bars in the bonus stage and you have officially completed that level. To some this game can be punishing. I will be the first to admit that I hate games that are made to kill you with cheap deaths. I am a fan of hard games that are hard but fair like Super Meat Boy, VVVVVV, and Trackmania. Bit.Trip Runner is one of those games. It has the great level design, music, and gameplay to keep you charmed and coming back for more. If you can't handle sucking at a game at first only to get better with practice, this game is NOT for you. In certain levels you are supposed to suck until you get the pattern down. The sequel Runner 2 is much more forgiving, has more up to date visuals, and is not as good. I liked Runner 2 and it should be played, but IMO this game is the pinnacle of the series. It's less forgiving but much more rewarding. Bit.Trip Runner was the reason I had to play Runner 2. So if you're frustrated, it's ok. You're supposed to suck at first. That's why it feels so good when you no longer suck and win!