Bit.Trip

Overview

The Bit.Trip franchise is a series of stylistic rhythm-action games released on Nintendo's WiiWare service through the publisher Aksys Games. There is six games in the franchise; Bit.Trip Beat, Bit.Trip Core, Bit.Trip Void, Bit.Trip Runner, Bit.Trip Fate and Bit.trip Flux. Gaijin Games, the developer, have always claimed that they wanted to six games and have gone on record to say that the sixth game is the end of the franchise. Bit.Trip Beat and Bit.Trip Runner eventually came to the Steam service . The developer Gaijin Games has made it possible to purchase the soundtrack to every game in the series online and you can find a link to do this on their website.

In 2011 Bit.Trip Saga and Bit.Trip Complete were released allowing players to play all the games in the series on one cart/disc. The gameplay focus of each game is different, but they share an aesthetic deeply rooted in pixel art and electronic music inspired by the early games of the late '70s and early-to-mid '80s. The games tell the story of CommanderVideo, though the narrative is subtle and requires players to search for and interpret many elements on their own.

Bit.Trip Titles

Beat

Bit.Trip Beat's gameplay is reminiscent of Pong, but turned up to eleven. The first game in the series, it tasks the player with deflecting dots flying from right to left using a Pong-like paddle. The game is controlled by holding the Wii Remote sideways and tilting it to move the paddle up and down the screen.

Core

Bit.Trip Core, the second game in the series, steps away from motion controls and is played entirely using the directional pad and a button. The focus of this game is to blast dots as they move into the path of the cross-shaped marker in the middle of the screen. The gameplay of Core is much more focused on keeping in sync with a rhythm than Beat.

Void

Bit.Trip Void, the third title in the series, tasks players with controlling a black ball called the Void, as they guide it through jungles of hazardous white-hued pixels to grab the black counterparts to make the Void, and the multiplier, grow. The gameplay is similar to that of a bullet-hell shooter like Ikaruga, the popular choice for comparison, because of the black and white beats is similar to the light and dark ships of the aforementioned title.

RUNNER

Bit.Trip RUNNER, the fourth title and beginning of the second chapter in the series, has the player taking direct control of Commander Video this time in this on-rails action platformer, having him jump, slide, kick, and more to avoid various hazards as he runs from one end of a level to the other. The game is played with an NES-like control scheme, holding the Wii remote sideways and making use of only the D-pad and the 1 and 2 buttons. Special guest band Anamanaguchi provided all the music for Bit.Trip RUNNER and in 2011 won an IGF award for excellence in visual arts.

Fate

Bit.Trip Fate the fifth game in the franchise sees you once again taking control of the admirable Commander Video this time floating in a bubble in an on-rails bullet hell shooter. The screen will scroll along while you can move back and forth on the line of light to weave between multiple bullets, this game is considered one of the hardest in the series. You fight a boss at the end of each level. This is the first game in the series to feature dubstep music.

Flux

Bit.Trip Flux is the sixth and final installment in the franchise and one that ties the series back to it's beginnings tying the series back to the first game, Bit.Trip Beat as it is also a Pong style rhythm game. It differs from Beat in that your paddle is on the right side of the screen, the beats that you have to deflect are not color coded and the game is slightly more difficult. To compensate for the harder difficulty the player is given a reprise in the form of checkpoints, meaning that the player does not have to play the whole level every time they get a game over.