Overview:
BIT.TRIP RUNNER is a self-scrolling platformer with rhythm elements. More specifically, since the screen moves at a fixed rate, the obstacles (to avoid) and gold (to collect) arrive in a rhythm-based fashion.
Mechanically, the player will need to jump (space), duck (down), kick (left), and spring (up). Taught over the course of seven levels, the mechanics in BIT.TRIP RUNNER have a very low learning curved and the challenge comes in the timing, not in the controls.
[20150211]
Recommendation:
If you like rhythm games and platformers, then you might enjoy BIT.TRIP RUNNER. Of course, another key element is having patience and determination. While players with a great sense of rhythm and high-reaction may have the skill to complete a stage on sight, most of us will need to play a level over and over before mastering it.
Note that there will be less frustration for those who simply which to complete each level than those who wish to also collect all the gold bars. When trying to collect all gold bars in a run, a small mistake such as jumping too early or too soon is enough to miss a single gold bar.
Thus, as perhaps the case with most rhythm games, BIT.TRIP RUNNER will benefit from practice, since that builds both memorization and muscle memory.
[20150211]
20120716:
I was surprised to find that I owned this game. It was packaged in with one of the humble bundles (Humble Indie Bundle 4), but I haven't activated the keys until recently.
Today, my friend wanted to see what the game looked like. I've never played it before and was more than willing to start it up and have a look. As the fourth game made in the BIT.TRIP series, it isn't surprising the music and graphics are similar to BIT.TRIP BEAT.*
*BIT.TRIP.BEAT is the first game in the BIT.TRIP series and the only other BIT.TRIP game I've played so far.
I agree with my friend in that there seems to be a lot more going on with BIT.TRIP BEAT's foreground and graphics. [20150211: I read this today and I don't exactly understand what it means.]
I played the first three stages of ZONE 1.
[20120720][20150211 Edit]
20120720:
So far I've beaten the first ten stages of the ZONE 1 on NORMAL. Today I played them again and they are very useful in relearning the game. As a summary, we have the following: the first stage teaches you to jump, the third stage teaches you to slide, and the fifth stage teaches you to kick.
The game's sound and music are extremely satisfying.
The seventh stage teaches you to spring.
I believe an exclamation mark on the level select screen indicates all the gold bars in the level were collected. [20150211: Confirmed.]
[20120720]
20140104,6:
I spent some time trying to beat Level 1-11.
[20150214]
20150211:
Since this post only had one screenshot on it, I decided to play just a bit today and gather some more.
While doing so, I managed to get all the gold bars on two levels that previously lacked an exclamation mark. After getting gold bars for these two levels, I tried to play 1-10, but even the beginning was tricky and I stopped trying after five or six attempts.
[20150211][20190706 Edit]
20240324 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 4.0 hours (cumulative game time) / 4h 1m (Playnite)
Last Played: 20150211
20240417:
Resumed this game for the first time in a long time. Initially I thought there was no save, so I went to Game Save Manager to load an old save. But Steam said the cloud save was newer with a date of 20150211, which matches the date I last played, and so I kept that save and tried loading it again. Upon opening ZONE 1, I had realized my previous progress was intact.
Setup: Played with Xbox controller. The occasional rumble adds a lot to the experience.
Gameplay Log:
Jumping into the game, I initially hopped into 1-11, but then I briefly went back to 1-1, I might have played 1-2, and then I played 1-7 (per my notes above to remind myself how to use the spring).
With that under my belt, I returned to 1-11.
Eventually I beat 1-11 (without collecting all the gold bars) and went onto the boss stage.
Beat the ZONE 1 boss.
Completed 2-1 to 2-6 with all gold bars (sometimes I went to the next level before returning to collect all the gold bars)
While the game was fun to revisit, and I had some fun, I find i don't have the patience for this type of game. Having to repeat progress upon failure can be rather frustrating. Having to repeat progress simply because some element came as a surprise (especially so during the boss battle) is even more frustrating. It's unfortunate, because I love the musical component of the game. Overall, I would rate the game a 4.4 out of 5.
Steam Game Time: 5.8 hours (cumulative game time) / 1.8 hours (session game time)
BIT.TRIP RUNNER (PC) (2011)*
*BIT.TRIP RUNNER (WiiWare) (2010)
Relevant Links:
Bit.Trip Runner (Wikipedia.org)
Bit.Trip Runner (PC) (Metacritic.com)
BIT.TRIP RUNNER (Steam Store Page)
BIT.TRIP RUNNER is a self-scrolling platformer with rhythm elements. More specifically, since the screen moves at a fixed rate, the obstacles (to avoid) and gold (to collect) arrive in a rhythm-based fashion.
Mechanically, the player will need to jump (space), duck (down), kick (left), and spring (up). Taught over the course of seven levels, the mechanics in BIT.TRIP RUNNER have a very low learning curved and the challenge comes in the timing, not in the controls.
[20150211]
Recommendation:
If you like rhythm games and platformers, then you might enjoy BIT.TRIP RUNNER. Of course, another key element is having patience and determination. While players with a great sense of rhythm and high-reaction may have the skill to complete a stage on sight, most of us will need to play a level over and over before mastering it.
 |
| The intuition is to jump on the platform here, but to collect all the gold the player has to allow Commander Video to drop. |
Note that there will be less frustration for those who simply which to complete each level than those who wish to also collect all the gold bars. When trying to collect all gold bars in a run, a small mistake such as jumping too early or too soon is enough to miss a single gold bar.
Thus, as perhaps the case with most rhythm games, BIT.TRIP RUNNER will benefit from practice, since that builds both memorization and muscle memory.
[20150211]
20120716:
I was surprised to find that I owned this game. It was packaged in with one of the humble bundles (Humble Indie Bundle 4), but I haven't activated the keys until recently.
Today, my friend wanted to see what the game looked like. I've never played it before and was more than willing to start it up and have a look. As the fourth game made in the BIT.TRIP series, it isn't surprising the music and graphics are similar to BIT.TRIP BEAT.*
*BIT.TRIP.BEAT is the first game in the BIT.TRIP series and the only other BIT.TRIP game I've played so far.
I agree with my friend in that there seems to be a lot more going on with BIT.TRIP BEAT's foreground and graphics. [20150211: I read this today and I don't exactly understand what it means.]
I played the first three stages of ZONE 1.
[20120720][20150211 Edit]
20120720:
So far I've beaten the first ten stages of the ZONE 1 on NORMAL. Today I played them again and they are very useful in relearning the game. As a summary, we have the following: the first stage teaches you to jump, the third stage teaches you to slide, and the fifth stage teaches you to kick.
The game's sound and music are extremely satisfying.
The seventh stage teaches you to spring.
I believe an exclamation mark on the level select screen indicates all the gold bars in the level were collected. [20150211: Confirmed.]
[20120720]
20140104,6:
I spent some time trying to beat Level 1-11.
[20150214]
20150211:
Since this post only had one screenshot on it, I decided to play just a bit today and gather some more.
While doing so, I managed to get all the gold bars on two levels that previously lacked an exclamation mark. After getting gold bars for these two levels, I tried to play 1-10, but even the beginning was tricky and I stopped trying after five or six attempts.
[20150211][20190706 Edit]
20240324 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 4.0 hours (cumulative game time) / 4h 1m (Playnite)
Last Played: 20150211
20240417:
Resumed this game for the first time in a long time. Initially I thought there was no save, so I went to Game Save Manager to load an old save. But Steam said the cloud save was newer with a date of 20150211, which matches the date I last played, and so I kept that save and tried loading it again. Upon opening ZONE 1, I had realized my previous progress was intact.
Setup: Played with Xbox controller. The occasional rumble adds a lot to the experience.
Gameplay Log:
Jumping into the game, I initially hopped into 1-11, but then I briefly went back to 1-1, I might have played 1-2, and then I played 1-7 (per my notes above to remind myself how to use the spring).
With that under my belt, I returned to 1-11.
Eventually I beat 1-11 (without collecting all the gold bars) and went onto the boss stage.
Beat the ZONE 1 boss.
Completed 2-1 to 2-6 with all gold bars (sometimes I went to the next level before returning to collect all the gold bars)
While the game was fun to revisit, and I had some fun, I find i don't have the patience for this type of game. Having to repeat progress upon failure can be rather frustrating. Having to repeat progress simply because some element came as a surprise (especially so during the boss battle) is even more frustrating. It's unfortunate, because I love the musical component of the game. Overall, I would rate the game a 4.4 out of 5.
Steam Game Time: 5.8 hours (cumulative game time) / 1.8 hours (session game time)
BIT.TRIP RUNNER (PC) (2011)*
*BIT.TRIP RUNNER (WiiWare) (2010)
 |
| Flying jump kick! |
Relevant Links:
Bit.Trip Runner (Wikipedia.org)
Bit.Trip Runner (PC) (Metacritic.com)
BIT.TRIP RUNNER (Steam Store Page)
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