Bit. Trip Core

Developer: Gaijin Games
Publisher: Aksys Games
Date of Release: June 6 2009
Platform: Wii – WiiWare

Genre: Music/Rhythm
Players: 1 or 2 cooperatively

In the first Bit. Trip game you controlled a Pong-like paddle and reflected incoming blocks by tilting the Wii remote. Bit. Trip Core changes this dramatically by now having you work completely with the D-pad and the 2 button (and occasionally the 1 button). The game remains in the music and rhythm genre by having you hitting blocks in time with the beat and in doing so will add more notes to the song playing. You control a red plus-sign-looking object in the center of the screen and when colored blocks fly past you, you must press the button in their direction (if the block is above you – press up) and hit the 2 button when they reach the line you have created. Each time you hit a block it plays a note and thus adds to the background music. Hitting enough of these will cause the music to become more complex and that much nicer.

This brings forward the biggest downfall to the game: the difficulty. The controls are easy to get used to, but the game has no form of tutorials so you’re left figuring things out for yourself. This causes the learning curve to become quite high. And with the level of difficulty the game can ramp up to, more explanations would have been a good idea. Though, once you do master the controls and begin to understand what all the meters mean, you will have a great time. It’s just a matter of struggling through your first few plays of the game as you face the difficult challenges while learning how to play.

Though the game does offer two player co-op for each of the three levels (and once again, it doesn’t ever explain this or even hint at it). In this you will both control the center plus-sign-object so that you can send out more lines and hit more blocks as they are shot around you. This does a great job of causing the game’s high difficulty to be a bit less of a challenge and can be quite a fun mode with your friend. The inclusion of a second player makes those crazy screen filling patterns much easier as you can now break down the sequence for two players.  However, it would have been nice to see some sort of competitive mode added in this. Seeing how many more blocks and points I earn compared to my partner would have been nice.

The music in Bit. Trip Core is probably its biggest feature. Each of the three levels has their own unique song and the better you play – the greater the music. Playing poorly will cause the music to revert back to its original, basic tune; while playing well will add new tracks to the song and make it much more complex. Bit. Trip Core also keeps the black and white failing sections in it. These are parts where if you begin to miss too many blocks the screen loses its color and you’re left with a black background and white blocks to hit. At this point the music no longer plays and the only audio will come from your controller each time you hit a block. This adds another layer to the audio in the game as the Wii remote’s built in speaker is used in a great way.

The next best feature to the game is the style of graphics used to showcase it. As opposed to highly detailed areas and realistic filters that are seen in a lot of today’s video games Bit. Trip Core has a classic 8-bit look to it. Everything is made out of blocks (or “bits”) of solid and bright colors. The only complex display of images to be found in the game are the images playing in the background. Even then, upon a closer inspection, you will notice that they’ve just combined many blocks together to make a more detailed picture and to keep a retro feel to the game. The better you play, the more colors will be added to your screen. What was once a black background with a few images here and there will now be a screen flashing a rainbow of colors as new and more complex patterns of blocks are shot around.

The length of the game is also something of a double-edge sword. It only has three levels to it and thus – only three songs to play. It also has no support for online leader boards, which is quite odd considering the game is all about achieving new high scores. On the other hand, each song will last around fifteen minutes and the amount of diversity to each level’s block patterns is nice. This along with the ability to play with a friend can add a good level of replay value.

Overall Bit. Trip Core is a great successor to the Bit. Trip franchise and differs enough from the previous installment to warrant a purchase. Along with the lower price point and the choice for two player co-op, the game becomes that much more enjoyable. And though you may have to tackle a steep learning curve, once you’re accustomed to it, it becomes fun and easy. Bit. Trip Core is a great looking and sounding game and can be a fun way to kill fifteen minutes.

Pros:

-          Great music
-          Lovely visual style
-          2 player co-op is quite a lot of fun and can help for those tougher areas
-          Nice length to each level/song

Cons:

-          Steep learning curve
-          No online leader boards
-          Only three levels/songs to play

The Save Factor
With a starting price of 600 Wii Points, the Save Factor for Bit. Trip Core is:

600 Wii Points (The full price!)

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