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.

Unfortunately, the game has a very short set of easy levels, and then it goes full rugpull into the rhythm game hybrid that it was hiding behind the curtain the whole time. And you have to start (metaphorically) juggling chainsaws in the form of multiple obstacles requiring multiple solutions in very short order. Commander Video has no visual presence or personality. The progression system makes little sense, going from Hyper to Mega, to Ultra, to Extra. The visuals are a bit of a hyperactive glurge compared to the player's flatness which can make it hard to judge the depth and distance of an obstacle. Frankly, these games all have a style which hearkens to before 1983, in a bad way. So why would you have bought it when it was new? The shredding styles of Anamanaguchi, mostly. Which frankly can be a bit much at times and only extends for far into the tracks. Unfortunately for the musical styles of Anamanaguchi, the rest of the game series kinda stinks, even Trip Runner 2. Oh well, it goes back to the classic days after all, where you got a free music album with a deeply mediocre game. Thanks, Follin Bros!

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.