The Bit. Trip games were developed by Californian outfit Gaijin Games for the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and the PC and were also ported on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Each game revolves around the adventures of a character named “Commander Video”, and features “a crazy mix of 80s aesthetics and modern game design.
After six Bit. Trip games in a row, Bit.Trip Runner, Bit.Trip Beat, Bit.Trip Core, Bit.Trip Void, and as the predecessor to Bit.Trip Fate and Bit.Trip Flux, Gaijin Games decided it was time for a major shift for the critically acclaimed and IGF award winning series. “The style change up. We were working on ‘Bit. Trip’ for so many years that we wanted to expand our wings a little bit,” explained Mike Roush, co-founder of Gaijin Games in an interview. “And also, we sort of have more power now on the Xbox, PSN, PC, and Mac, so that was also a factor.”
Bit.Trip Presents Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien was released as a downloadable title for the Wii U on the Nintendo eShop and on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux via Steam on February 26, 2013. It was then released on the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Arcade the next day. The game was released on the PlayStation Network on March 5, 2013.
Those interested to see if the new game remains true to its rhythm-music platformer roots and is a running leap forward in the game series should check our review.
Sound and Vision
Gaijin Games’ chose to abandon the 80’s inspired 8 bit graphics and create more cartoonish heroes and environments. This brings a breath of fresh air to our favourite Commander Video and the result is much more interesting in the gamers’ eye as now we’ve got a fully 3D world whereas the first game featured pixelated characters with 3D backgrounds.
The soundtrack once more brings some of the most infectious, rhythm-focused tunes in recent memory. What makes however the Bit.Trip games an experience like no other is the way that the series seamlessly blends every aspect of the game into the overall experience that makes it all work. The way the game plays shapes the visuals, which are wholly unified with how the game sounds, with the sound coming full circle and informing how the game plays. It’s a twist like no other.
