BIT.TRIP RUNNER [Review by Uzzbuzz]Bit.Trip Runner is a platformer/runner game, and like most runner games, the goal is to make it from the beginning of the level to the end of each level without dying. Seems simple enough right? Well this one is not. Bit.Trip Runner will test your reflexes through three worlds of pain, while maintaining a reasonable difficulty. If you are not going for all the achievements, then getting through the game will be a challenging and rewarding experience, and if you are...good luck. You’ll need it.
Mechanics/Gameplay - The mechanics in this game are simple and straightforward. Hah, I made a pun. Yes, you only move straight forward to the right, while ducking and jumping (and more!) your way over and under the various obstacles that the game will throw at you. If the mechanics were unfair, I don’t think I would have played it to completion. Some of the bonus levels require such timing that if you felt that there was even a slight issue in the responsiveness of the controls, it would make the game that much more rage-inducing.
As far as I could see, I did not once have an issue with bugs; the game played smoothly from beginning to end. Although the game can get repetitive, the developers made everything just right so that it doesn’t become completely monotonous. I’ll talk about this more in the other sections, but as for the mechanics: smooth, simple, progressive, and responsive. Not exactly a very unique set of mechanics, but they’re pulled off fairly well, and they work with the game to not over complicate things. 8/10
Fun Factor - I would recommend this game in a heartbeat. Loads of fun, and although it can be a little bit expensive for a steam indie game, it is worth every penny. The achievements are a solid mix, covering every aspect, and aside from one level (3-2+Bonus for those wondering), I had fun going for the 100%. The game is heavily reliant on muscle memory, but even still, it is oh so satisfying once you get that perfect run. The feedback loop of the game is highly rewarding in its bright pixelated visuals, simple and elegant sound clips, and responsivity of the controls. This game was the first of the Bit.Trip series I played, and I’m glad it was. It won’t be my last, that’s for sure. 7.5/10
Graphics/Animation - Among the many games that have adapted the pixelated retro look during this generation, Bit.Trip Runner stands out. The graphics are eye-catching, popping, and at the same time not too intrusive and distracting to the player. After every level, if the level was completed 100%, the player gets to play a bonus level, which is an even more dialed down graphical experience, akin to old atari games. Don’t get me wrong, these levels look like old atari levels, and some of them may be just as hard, so don’t let the word “bonus” fool you. What’s nice about these bonus levels though, is that since the graphics are simplified to basic sprites, it truly allows the player to focus just on the bleeps and bloops of their actions. This is necessary, and if I had all the crazy colors and explosions of the main game following me into the bonus levels...well let’s just say it’d be a hell of a lot more difficult. It’s a good thing that the main levels are not as difficult in terms of timing.
The levels in each world all feel quite similar, but it does add to the flow of the design. It does feel like once you’ve played a few levels from the world, that you’ve played them all, but I’m sure the devs saw this and that’s why there are not excessive amounts of levels. (Only 36 including bosses!). This keeps the game fresh and you feel like you’re not moving along too slowly. The animations are clear, well defined, and exciting. Everything in the game is gamified: even the simplest obstacles feel so good to conquer every time just because of the great feedback done by the designers. 8.5/10
Music/Sound - Like I’ve hinted at above, the sound goes hand-in-hand with the graphics to make an extremely enjoyable experience. Sure, the music is fairly decent, but the sound effects are what shine through. Just the exclamation of making it through the percentages of gold bars collected in a level is a satisfying sound, as are many of the sounds in the game. Even upon death, you are made to want to jump back in there right away and get it done. The music seems to sync up with the obstacles in the level, which is perfect as it really trains you to almost be able to do the game blindfolded if you really wanted. These developers really knew their game, that’s for sure. It is all about the muscle memory, and every little flashy animation or sound effect is there to further reinforce the core skill required to make it through the game. Those of you with good rhythm will have an easier time with this, but that won’t help you in the bonus levels, which are devoid of music. You only have yourself, and the rewarding enhanced sfx of every single action you do. Now you might be saying, isn’t that a bad thing? In this case, no. You will want all the focus you can get for these bonus levels, and the sudden lack of music to enhance the sound effects really boosts concentration and reflexive levels. If you’re not humming every little noise by the time you’re done playing this game, you’re doing something wrong. 9/10
Replayability - The replayability isn’t exact what I’d classify as true replayability, but there’s definitely a force there that makes you want to play over and over again until you get that “one more level” beaten. I once sat there for over 6 hours just playing one level over and over again to finally perfect the bonus level. I actually did not end up beating it in that session, but it took all my willpower to pull away at that point. You won’t want to leave when you’re consistently making a little bit of progress. So yes, there isn’t replayability in the sense of many levels, game modes, secrets, and more. The replayability comes from the challenge. If you’re not up it, the game will not last you all that long, but if you are willing to beat every level 100% in its entirety, then you’re in for a treat that is well worth your money. This category is tailored more towards having lots of unique content, so against my better judgement, this is getting a lower grade than you may expect. 5/10
Level Design - From zero to eleven in a flash. Bit.Trip Runner builds on the basic instincts of a runner game in a smooth and elegant way, and unless you’re playing the bonus levels to perfection, the difficulty ramp was designed in such a way that you’re never too overwhelmed. Every world introduces a new feature. The first world mostly consists of just jumping and ducking, whereas the second and third worlds introduce kicking and blocking as well.
Pro tip: If you try to do the bonus levels the 100% right off the bat, then you will be extremely prepared for the regular levels. Even just doing the first two bonus levels will make you think the rest of World 1 isn’t really even necessary anymore.
The difficulty of the bonus levels is ramped not as well as the main game, as there seems to be no real progression of difficulty within the bonuses. This could be that they’re all hard as hell, so it is likely that they are all fairly evenly difficult, although 3-2 definitely takes the cake, at least for me. 6/10
Achievements - I’ve waited all review for this...probably why I always save it for last, so that I actually finish this darn thing~ Alright, so if you’re wanting to earn all of these elusive achievements then you will have to put in some serious time and effort if you even hope to earn the perfects. The achievements in this game can be broken down into three categories:
- Completion
- Perfection
- Misc
The misc achievements vary anywhere from simply dying, to collecting a certain amount of gold bars, to finding some hidden secrets. The completion ones are straight-forward and consist of beating each of the three worlds, as well as one for beating a world without exiting out, and for beating the gauntlet level, which isn’t all that special apart from being the longest level in the game, but not necessarily the hardest.
The perfection achievements are what you need to watch out for, and where the root of your pain for the next hours is going to come from. These achievements start off simple, for just beating one bonus level, to requiring you to beat every level and bonus 100% in a world. This eventually leads up to one of my personal favorite achievements: Master.Runner, for getting a perfect score in all challenges.
These achievements provide a balance between all the (few) features the game has to offer. None of them feel repetitive aside from the first two categories, but that is to be expected, so no harm there. Also, it’d feel a lot less rewarding if there weren’t an achievement for perfecting all of world one/two/three and instead just had one for all. There needed to be those time bridges in place to keep up the motivation (especially for the double achievement popup at the end). You should be able to pick up most of these without pulling out too many hairs, but if you want 100% you’re going to need a lot of perseverance. Good luck achievement hunters! 7/10
Overall, this game scores relatively high in all aspects. If you want an enjoyable and challenging, yet rewarding experience, give this a try. But, if you are not much of a fan of challenges, you may not get the hours out of this that you may have liked, despite the main game being relatively beatable to the average gamer. Fun for all ages and skillsets. Recommended.
Pros:+ Smooth controls
+ Player feedback is amazing
+ Well rounded, challenging achievement selection
+ No bugs
+ Fun for any skillset
Cons: - Not that much content/replayability
- Highscores don’t really mean that much
- Level design doesn’t stray too much from the norm
- Too(?) addicting sometimes :)
Overall Score: 7.3/10
3.5