Bit.trip.complete is a
superb compilation of challenging and innovative titles. While it might seem
like it blends together, gamers will find there are 6 distinct games, all of
which bring a different mechanic personality to their gameplay. The bt.trip
games star Captain Video, a pixellated figure who runs through the games’
cinemas and even takes center stage in a few of them, making them feel a bit
more coherent. The games all share an 8-bit aesthetic that’s reductionist
back to the Pong-era, with some modern touches. They have simplistic
gameplay mechanics mixed with rhythm gaming to create a unique, innovative
feel. Most players should begin with Bit.trip.beat, a title that begins as a
takeoff on Pong. You control the cursor at the left of the screen and need
to block and defend the square balls that come at you. The controls and
gameplay mechanics are deceptively simple: you need to hit the ball in
sequence to the music in order to stave off their attacks. Controlling the
cursor only requires you to moves the Wiimote up and down and it tracks your
movements expertly. Other games have different controls, but the basics are
deceptively simple. Things start off slowly, since you only need to hit one
or two of them at a time. Once the pace quickens, the game’s challenges
gradually heats up. These mechancis might sound simple, but you’ll
definitely need more skills as the game gradually heats up. After the first
few rounds, balls come at you in waves and then come more elaborate
patterns.
The trick to succeeding in Bit.Trip.Beat is to hit the squares sequentially
so that the score multiplier and bonus increases. As you defeat more and
more of them, you’ll enter the Hyper mode where background visuals become
more elaborate, the music becomes more intense and layered. If you beat
enough levels, you’ll pass checkpoints and you’ll unlock additional
challenges. However, when you miss a couple of them, the game puts you back
a little bit and you can see the graphics and intensity devolve. Miss too
many of the balls and you’ll enter the Nether mode, where all the visuals
completely devolve into the most simplistic black and white graphics
reminiscent of Pong, while the soundtrack is reduced to primitive bleeps and
blips. Here, you are in danger of losing the game completely if you miss
another item. The good news here is that you can upgrade back to the mega
mode if you catch enough of them. You progress is measured on the status
bar, with indicates either how far you are from the next stage, or how many
hits you can take before you lose the game in nether mode.
The next games in Bit.trip sequence take the basic approach of Bit,trip.beat
and expand on it. In b.t.core, you’re in control of a cross-hair at the
center of the screen and have to light up bars that cross the screen as the
dots pass them. It’s a deceptively simple task at first, but as the dots
come at you with increased intensity and speed, the challenge becomes much
harder. You’ll definitely need those split second reflexes in order to
succeed in this one as well. Its definitely a harder game that b.t.beat, so
you’ll need to keep that in mind. Luckily, it benefits from the standard Wii
controller’s ease of use and its later stages, where things really begin to
flow, feel a like like creating music, though with a gaming twist. The
visuals in this one are very much like in Beat, with a cool retro approach
giving a pleasantly low-tech sheen to them. As in the other games, progress
is measured by the status bar and the game goes back and forth between
standard and nether modes. Things take a diversion in Bit.trip.void. Here
the objective is to control a large black ball that grows larger as you
collect smaller black blips that come at it. The challenge is to avoid the
white blips, which will immediately reduce the size of your white ball as
they impact your ball. Take too many hits into your white ball and you find
yourself reduced back almost to nothing. Here, the patterns are similar to
previous games, but the object is to avoid, the complete opposite approach.
Its just as challenging as the other modes, but its style of play is
different in that you have to move the ball around the screen. The controls
are different as well, using the Wiimote pointer or the classic controller’s
analog stick to move around the screen,
The
biggest outlier in the compilation is Bit.trip,runner, which isn’t much like
the other games in any way. You control Commander Video as he runs through
various platforming stages, avoiding objects while trying to collect as much
gold as you can. These stages begin simple enough, but they require you to
be perfect on every run, otherwise you go back straight to the beginning of
each stage. As you complete stages, new abilities such as bending or
grabbing are added, which makes things even more difficult. The patterns
become even more elaborate with each stage, so you’ll need an excellent
memory, It’s a very hard game to progress through, especially if you are
more accustomed to easier games elsewhere on the disc. Remember, a single
error brings you right back to the beginning of the stage, which can make
things enormously frustrating if you don’t have the patience for it. There
aren’t the stage-downs that come up in the other games, which leaves you no
room for mistakes, and makes this an exercise in skill. This is easy the
hardest game on the disc and probably the one you might want to tackle once
you’ve gotten the hang of the earlier games.
Next up, players will find a slightly easier time
of it with Bit.trip.fate a kind of on-rails shooter where you take Commander
Video on a run on a set path and have to destroy anything that gets in his
way, Its not as easy as it sounds, since you’re limited to the path you have
and can’t change this. Its not as easy as it sounds, since the enemies have
a way of converging on your location, making it seemingly impossible to
escape their bullets. However, you can add additional shooting powers by
collecting the power-ups you find along the way. Finally, things come full
circle with the final game in the series, Bit.trip.flux, This is very much
like beat in its approach, though it has much more elaborate backgrounds and
more challenging patterns of dots for you to deflect, making it a very
difficult challenge and one that you shouldn’t try and tackles unless you’re
at least proficient on Beat’s style of play. You definitely won’t get far if
you haven’t tuned-up your skills, since things ratchet up in intensity much
faster and the pace is absolutely unrelenting and unforgiving.
These six games represent a full cycle of development, and it shows in their
increasingly elaborate presentation, which pays tribute to the earliest
electronic games. The simple visuals and graphics are immediately appealing
and should resonate with players who grew up during the 70’s and 80’s. There
are definitely a number of tributes here that are subtle yet fun and make
the game very much a cool flashback to an earlier time. You can definitely
tell a lot has gone into the design as well, with a high level of difficulty
and challenge. This approach is another key aspect in how the game rekindles
the 8-bit era, which was defined by its emphasis on skill over style and
gave players few short-cuts. Those who aren’t ready for this type of
challenge will probably find themselves frustrated by Bit.Trip’s lack of
leeway, but those looking for a challenge will definitely enjoy it. The game
rewards players by unlocking extras such as a soundtrack and short videos
along with a few extra modes. Bit.trip.complete is definitely one of the
more interesting and enjoyable compilations we’ve played on the Wii, While
the themes are very much tied together, there’s plenty of variety in their
gameplay with different control schemes and approaches used in each game to
keep your interest-level high throughout.
- Michael Palisano
