June 30, 2009 - This coming Monday, Nintendo will launch its 100th WiiWare title in North America. Which game gets the honor of hitting the milestone? That would be Gaijin Games' follow-up to Bit.Trip Beat, the aptly titled Bit.Trip Core that continues the combination of rhythm gameplay with arty, retro-style visuals. I really enjoyed the original and would definitely recommend putting down the 600 points, if only to experience how well the Wii remote handles the old-school style paddle control. Nintendo invited me down to check out the final version of Bit.Trip Core, and though I'll hold off on my final review for when it hits the Wii Shop Channel next week I really liked what I played.
Bit. Trip Core is almost identical in concept to the original Bit.Trip Beat, but the shift in control shifts up the gameplay into something completely different. Instead of twisting the Wii remote to whack back Pong balls to the rhythm of the music (the balls represent a beat to the song), you'll use the D-pad to zap these balls in time to the background soundtrack. The screen's segmented into four quadrants, and you can zap the balls as they cross four different lines, each represented as a direction on the D-pad. Push up for the top line, down for the bottom line, and left or right for – you guessed it – the left or right line. Pushing in that direction isn't enough – that's just the set up. While the line's active, tapping the 2 button will zap any ball crossing the line.
Just like Bit.Trip Beat, the game gets brutally challenging quickly. The beginning simply weans you into the action, and you'll have to really keep an eye on every pixel of your television display to track the Bit balls as they slide onto the playfield. Perfect timing is key, and you'll have to make sure you're tracking when the balls will slide over the four lines. If the action gets too intense, the designers offer up a smart bomb that can be used only once per level. Utilize it wisely.
Alex Neuse, head of Gaijin Games and lead designer on the Bit.Trip projects, was on-hand to talk about the game. I noted that the game definitely felt inspired by Imagic's Cosmic Ark, in the same way that Bit.Trip Beat's gameplay had a Pong vibe. "You are a keen observer, Mr. Harris," he told me. "Cosmic Ark, one of my favorite 2600 games, was a definite inspiration. I wonder what will inspire us next…"
One of my biggest gripes about the first Bit.Trip game was its extensive level system – challenges seem to go on for longer than they should. It seems that this is also the case with Bit.Trip Core, though Alex did mention that it wasn't the first time he's heard my criticism. "Bit.Trip Core was already too deep in development to make any changes that felt appropriate to accommodate this criticism," he said. "While there are things about the level flow that I really like, we have heard this criticism and are considering changing things up slightly for Game #3."
So what's next for the series? "Each game in the BIT.TRIP series will sport a unique new control scheme from previous games in the series," Alex hinted. "We went from one axis to two from Bit.Trip Beat to Bit.Trip Core, and from spinner to +Control Pad. I'm sure there's an input style that the gaming community is familiar with that we're going to do soon." Online leaderboards might even make it into the series somewhere down the line. "[They] are something that we are considering for future titles," he told us. " We want to make sure that when we start supporting the feature, that it is done right, is well-designed, and gives players everything they want."
Bit.Trip Core lands on Wii this July 6th. We'll have a full review when it's available.
Yeah, IGN is really a footnote most of the time nowadays. If not for the fact that they get decent interviews and the occasional early hands-on or first look at a trailer I'd probably stop reading their site!
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Topic: Bit.Trip Core is WiiWare #100
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