Game Review: Bit.Trip Core (WiiWare)
Back in the early days of video gaming, simple blocks were used to depict the visuals. The basic nature of these games made them easy to get into. Nowadays, games that still use these blocky graphics on purpose are considered artistic. With Bit.Trip Core out now for WiiWare, the purposely pixellated visuals make the game both easy to figure out AND artistic.
In Bit.Trip Core, you have a crosshair in the middle of the screen and can ‘shoot’ a beam up, down, left, or right. Hold the Wii remote sideways like a classic NES controller and use the D pad and buttons to shoot. Dots will come in from all directions and you must zap them as they pass by. ChipTunes 8-bit style techno music plays in the background, and the blocks will go by in time with the music. So it’s as much about rhythm as it is shooting. And that’s all there is to it, really.
If you hit a bunch of dots, you’ll boost your score and fill up a meter that lets you use a bomb to clear out on screen blocks when things get hectic. If you miss too many blocks that go by, the screen will turn black and white like an old Pong game. Miss too many blocks in this mode and it’s Game Over.
There are three different songs of varying difficulty you can select, and each one of them is nearly 15 minutes long with a ‘boss’ battle at the end (and one of them makes reference to Missile Command, even!). You need to complete one song before unlocking the next, though. Bit.Trip Core is pretty difficult anyway, but luckily a second player can join in to help out at any time. Even though it’s a pretty simplistic game, Bit.Trip Core is a good deal at only 600 points, especially if you like retro styled games, artistic titles such as Rez, and challenging music titles like Guitar Hero.
Kid Factor:
No violence or objectionable material in this game. Just shooing blocks. It can be considered somewhat educational and beneficial as it teaches music, rhythm, memory, and coordination skills. Some kids may be turned off by the steep difficulty and dated graphics. The two player co-operative mode makes it a great game for families and players of varying skill levels to enjoy it together. Bit.Trip Core is rated E for Everyone.
August 4th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
I’m torn on the difficulty of these Bit.Trip games. BEAT had the same exact problem. Songs were too long, bosses at the end, and stages had to be unlocked one at a time.
Despite all this though I’m entirely in love with the series. The retro visuals and audio, the simple yet challenging game play – it captures an age of gaming that has long since passed.