So,
Bit Trip Runner finally gets its well deserved sequel. The infinite
runner was by far the greatest asset of the Bit.Trip series of games,
as well as being one of the shining stars of the Wiiware service. Now
the star of the show, Commander Video, is back with an assortment of
oddball chums for another forced scrolling adventure in twitch
platforming.
For
those of you unfamiliar with the infinite runner genre, a brief
synopsis may be in order. Basically, it plays much like a 2D
platformer such as Super Mario Bros on NES, but instead of exploring
the game at your own pace, the screen constantly scrolls to the
right, with your character in a fixed position. This means you must
use the abilities of the character in question to avoid the many
pitfalls thrown at you from the right side of the screen, be they
jumping, ducking, blocking and so on.
Commander-Video is joined by some super friends
The genre has seen a boost in
popularity due to being perfectly suited to
touch screen mobile devices – even the classic Atari game, Pitfall!,
has been rebooted into an infinite runner. But Bit.Trip Runner made
the genre its own by creating a game that
is as much about music and rhythm, as it is about quick platforming
skills. The sequel sticks closely to the formula set by its
predecessor, though ramps everything up a fair few notches. The first
thing that strikes you is the massive visual improvement over the
first game. Gaijin have done a sterling job giving the graphics a
more modern and appealing look, while still retaining its retro
charm. Commander Video is no longer a homage to 8-bit sprites, but a
fully fledged 3D model, as are all his friends, and the enemies that
stand in your way. The backgrounds are a treat for the eyes.
Colourful, vibrant and full of life, a cross between a Saturday
morning cartoon and the enchanting areas of Super Mario World.
The first world is a dream-like sky stage
The
sound is, again, intrinsically linked to the gameplay – hence the
Rhythm part of the long-winded title – with each music track
building in intensity as you collect the red plus symbols located
throughout the stage. The tracks manage to be a hypnotic mixture of
energetic and chilled out, and are pleasing to listen to, but it
would have been nice to have had some more pumping tracks. The
selection on offer can often feel quite sedate compared to the
frantic action on screen. The sound effects bleep and bloop along
with the on-screen action and are in sync with the track itself,
meaning you can get into the flow of jumping ducking and dodging in
time with the music.
Jumping over the new mid-stage checkpoint awards big points
The
goal is, as always, to reach the end of the stage without hitting
anything. Collecting the gold pieces is not mandatory but will reward
you with a perfect rating, and the option of firing yourself from a
cannon for bonus points. As well as his previous abilities,
Commander-Video has plenty of new tricks up his sleeve. After
completing World 1 he is granted the new ability to strut his funky
thang with the tap of the right trigger. His dance moves (and those
of his unlockable friends) are suitably ridiculous and will raise a
smile, but they also award points each time you do them, meaning
score chasers will be shaking their booty at every available
opportunity as they dash through the stage.
Collecting every piece of gold in a stage lets you fire your character
from a cannon in order to obtain bonus points
Additional
obstacles are added to the stages, such as loop-de-loops that you
must swirl the right thumb-stick along with to score highly, airborne
obstacles that must be fly kicked out of the way, rails to grind or
hang from and many more. Each new object is introduced at a steady
rate that feels natural and it never overwhelms you. The same can be
said for the difficulty level. One of the main criticisms of the
first Runner title was its unforgiving difficulty, and while the
sequel will have you shouting expletives at the screen in the later
stages, the first half of the game is a lot easier going for those
with quick reactions. Gaijin have added the option to change the
difficulty level at any time, and there are new mid-level checkpoints
to soften the blow of a last minute collision as you near the end of
a stage.
The game has a zany sense of humour throughout, from the silly dance
moves and character costumes, to these adverts that pop up
The
game comprises of 6 Worlds, presented in a world map style familiar
to those of you who enjoyed Super Mario World. Many stages contain
alternate routes to the exit, increasing replayability and making the
game far more interesting than the first Runner game. Also important
is the key vault stage on each world that, once beaten, make
previously transparent large keys appear throughout many stages.
Going back to one of these stages allows skillful players to find
hidden costumes and unlockable friends that can be accessed from a
character select screen. The characters and their bizarre outfits are
also pretty amusing, though the half fish man's swinging nads are
pretty disturbing in a Ren & Stimpy kind of way.
The world map is a nice throwback to classic platform games from the SNES era.
Many
of you will be sad to hear that the Atari 2600 style bonus stage that
awaited you at the end of a perfect run is gone (booo!). To be
replaced with even cooler 16-bit SNES style hidden levels (yay!),
discovered by locating hard to reach golden Famicom cartridges in
certain stages. These are outstanding, and remind me of classic
1980's arcade games such as Wonder Boy and, as such, are a real
highlight. Less impressive are the rather tedious cannon blasts at
the end of a perfect level completion.
The amazing 16-bit bonus stage in all its pixellated glory
Runner
2 offers a lot for replayability for score chasers. Jumping over the
new mid-way checkpoints awards players with a massive score bonus,
while collecting every item, taking the harder routes and dancing at
every chance will see your final score skyrocket. The online
leaderboards, including close comparison micro-leaderboards shown at
the beginning and end of the stage will keep you dedicated to beating
your friend's scores or just getting as high as you can overall.
One of the boss encounters that await you at the end of each world
The
game does have some problems that mar the overall experience, though.
The main issue is the amount of visual clutter. For a game requiring
pinpoint timing and pixel perfect jumps, there are far too many
deliberate distractions. Checkpoint characters dance around in your
way as you pass, stop signs explode when you hit them, firing massive
pieces right in your line of sight, and giant creatures run around
alongside you in the background, drawing your eyes away from what
matters. These are clearly put here to artificially increase the
difficulty and take away from the pure test of skill the game should
be.
Stages contain multiple routes which is a great change over
the predecessor's linear stages
Equally
irritating is the entirely unnecessary use of Charles 'Itsa meea,
Mario' Martinez, whose unique vocal styles are used throughout. The
cut-scenes themselves are pretty amusing but I draw the line at
having him introduce himself by name every time you start the game.
With a title as long as Bit.Trip presents Runner 2 - Future Legend of
Rhythm Alien, it takes too long and is unskippable. It soon begins to
feel like the scene in Ground-hog Day when Bill Murray meets an
annoying former associate over and over again, culminating with Bill
punching the guy in the face. After hearing the Runner 2 intro for
the umpteenth time, you will begin to relate.
Slide-jumping between narrow gaps gets the pulse racing
Gripes
aside, Runner 2 is the perfect follow up to the original and easily
surpasses its predecessor in every way. Gaijin have really developed
the usually simplistic genre into something with a lot of depth and a
tremendous amount of replayability. It can be enjoyed by casual
gamers as much as seasoned platform addicts with a penchant for high
score chasing. Runner 2 will make you smile and it will make you
swear out loud, but it will keep you coming back as it is such a
hypnotic and enjoyable experience.
The
Good
- Excellent new visual style
- Perfectly synced rhythm platforming
- Multiple routes and lots of secrets
- Online leaderboards and addictive score chasing potential
- Awesome 16-bit bonus stages
The
Bad
- Intentional visual clutter can confuse during gameplay
- Could have used more energetic music
- Hi, I'm Charles Martinez and... arrrrgh!
.jpg)
Developer : Gaijin Games
System
Reviewed : PC & XBLA
Also
Available On : PSN, Wii-U
Price
: £11.99 / 1200 points
Thanks
to the kind folks at Gaijin Games for providing a PC and XBLA version
to review.
