Genre : Music/Rhythm
Developer: Gaijin
Publisher: Aksys Games
Players: 1 – 2
Retail Price: 600 Wii Points ($6)
Availability: WiiWare
An all too common occurrence in gaming is the sequel’s failure to carve individuality out of the framework left by its predecessor. One look at the dozens of Tomb Raider and Tony Hawk entries carelessly flung about the last decade should be proof enough of that. This is not the case, however, with Gaijin’s Bit.Trip Series, despite the fact that it’s so heavily built upon elements long passed. Bit.Trip CORE is anything but a rehash sequel, and proves that you can take a simple concept in unique directions with a little imagination.
Its simple looks are deceiving
Bit.Trip BEAT referenced Pong — fitting for the beginning of a series that alludes to the beginning of gaming. Bit.Trip CORE continues the same idea, following the pattern of early gaming’s evolution by building on established conventions to expand in new directions. That said, the base-concept in CORE is similar to what’s found in BEAT. The player must prevent the balls from continuing on their path — stopping them from flying off the screen is your objective. These balls come in a variety of patterns tied to the chiptune soundtrack, many of which will frazzle your eyes the first time you see them.
The patterns in BEAT came from one direction, many of which were overwhelming at first. Even still, the game feels like you could best it with some memorization and a little skill. To say that CORE feels more overwhelming would be an understatement, as the patterns here come from eight directions. The screen is divided into quadrants, the center occupied by crosshairs. Pressing the D-pad in any of the four directions while holding the remote NES-style deploys a line across a quarter of the screen. Press the 2 button and you’ll fire a beam in that directon. Any balls that come in contact with that beam are destroyed.
It all eventually makes sense... we promise
While the concept novel, the game itself would be worthless if the patterns were boring, or poorly designed. Gaijin knew this, however, and did an exempelary job laying the stages out. Sure the game starts simply at first with balls that travel in one direction, but it’s not long before they’ll arc, or bounce back when you hit them. They might explode and multiply back in the other direction or freeze your ability to shoot. According to Alex Neuse (one of the company’s founders and series’ creators), you’ll find that if you can get into the zone and move beyond ‘paying attention’ and into the realm of simple perception or meditation, you do better.” The interivew may have been in reference to BEAT, but it’s equally applicable to CORE. The game eventually requires you to navigate complex patterns through all four quadrants, but it’s never unfairly designed. Those who pay attention will find they get just a little bit further each time they die.
While the Atari 2600 may be dead and gone, its influence lives on in the design of Gaijin’s Bit.Trip series. Mixing simple elements of early gaming with modern audiovisual techniques the way they have creates a rhythm-based experience unlike any other; Bit.Trip CORE is the second success wrought by this formula and one worth checking out.
