Bit-Trip-Runner
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Review: Bit.Trip Runner
Bit.Trip Runner is profoundly difficult, as anyone who has played a previous Bit.Trip game would guess. It's probably one of the hardest games I've ever played, and in a way that most developers don't dare to make their games. Basically, if you already have high blood pressure or a short fuse, you should stay far away from Bit.Trip Runner. And if you don't, you should wear the Wii wrist strap while playing. Not because it uses motion controls, but because you'll occasionally get the impulse to throw something. If that doesn't scare you off -- if you welcome the challenge, or are a patient person in general, perhaps with access to the occasional cup of soothing tea -- then you'd do well to try out Gaijin Games' rhythmic, nostalgic version of the side-scrolling platformer.
Take your wall on a Bit.Trip with vinyl wall graphics
Are you enjoying this week's WiiWare release, Bit.Trip Runner? Would you like it even more if it were non-interactive, huge, and stuck to your wall? LTL Prints, who offers vinyl wall graphics based on Jet Set Radio Future, Dragon's Lair, Super Meat Boy and more, is now selling a line based on the Bit.Trip series and Gaijin Games' iconic, blocky Commander Video character. The vinyl prints range from the easily recognizable (Commander Video himself) to the abstract (a set of rectangular "beats" as seen in Bit.Trip Beat, and simple icons representing the first three games). The prints come in a variety of sizes, from one foot long ("laptop size") up to seven, so finding space for some Bit.Trip artwork is significantly easier than beating a Bit.Trip game.
NintendoWare Weekly: Bit.Trip Runner, Looksley's Line Up, Kirby Super Star
It's quite the week for the DSi and Wii as far as downloadables go -- Bit.Trip Runner arrives on WiiWare today and EA, Tecmo Koei and Konami all offer solid titles for DSiWare. Oh, and you can finally get your hands on Looksley's Line Up, the interesting 3D DSiWare game from Nintendo. There's even a new Virtual Console game starring a certain hungry pink blob to check out!
European Nintendo downloads: Bit.Trip Runner, Ghoul Patrol
The fourth game in Gaijin Games' retro-esque, musical Bit.Trip series arrives in Europe today, three days before Commander Video runs across the Atlantic Ocean. Should your tastes run more toward shooting than running, you can play Ghoul Patrol, the second game about zombies having eaten someone's neighbors. DSiWare is packed with stuff, including EnjoyUp's original DS version of Chronos Twins and a time-management game about fire trucks. Ghoul Patrol (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Bit.Trip Runner (WiiWare, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) AiRace (DSiWare, 1-6 players, 500 DSi Points) Brain Drain (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points) Chronos Twins (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points) Fire Panic (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Sudoku Challenge! (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Run to your printer for Bit.Trip Runner papercraft
Gaijin Games and Paper Foldables have provided us with an activity with which we can keep busy while waiting for the May 17 release of Bit.Trip: Runner. In anticipation of the chiptune-soaked, sidescrolling action game starring Commander Video, Gaijin posted the template for this papercraft Runner diorama. If you throw it across the room, it'll kind of look like the game in motion! But there's no way we'd ever do that after spending hours meticulously cutting, folding, and gluing this model together. In fact, we're just going to get some of that puzzle glue to drench this with. If you like building papercraft Bit.Trip models, there's a Commander Video, too, also created by Paper Foldables.
Bit. Trip Runner crosses the finish line in Europe first
Bit.Trip Beat hit Europe a month after it arrived in North America, as did Core. Void was almost three months behind. However, European Wii owners won't have to wait in agony while the western hemisphere enjoys Bit.Trip Runner. In a brief announcement, Gaijin Games revealed that the chiptune-filled rhythm platformer will be released in Europe in Australia on May 14, three days before it arrives in North America. To help you decide whether or not this is welcome news, we've embedded the trailer. You'll find this out when you watch, but spoiler alert: yes, this is probably great news if you're a PAL gamer.
Bit.Trip Runner sprints to WiiWare May 17; Summer DSiWare releases dated
The main highlight of the latest transmission from Fort Nintendo is that Bit.Trip Runner, the quirky rhythm-platformer from Aksys Games, is scheduled for release on WiiWare on May 17. Seriously, guys -- get on the hype train before it pulls out of the station. As for DSiWare, there's a whole bunch of games being released over the next few months, including Photo Dojo, X-Scape and Metal Torrent. Head past the break for the full list of whats and whens.
You should probably watch this Bit.Trip Runner trailer
Gaijin Games has released the first trailer for Bit.Trip Runner, the fourth game in the WiiWare Bit.Trip series. Now we can see what the developer means by calling it a "rhythm platformer." The layout of the stage, from enemies to terrain, is all designed in accord with the chiptune soundtrack, and Commander Video, the franchise hero, jumps, slides, and collects gold at super-high speed -- all to the beat of 8-bit-inspired music. We wanted to point to one specific moment in the video (posted after the break), but, as trailers tend to be, this one's full of moments. So, see if you can spot Super Meat Boy! Check out that Pitfall level! Watch out for the ... giant miner? ... Who shoots fireballs at you from a lantern? While you're on a treadmill?
Bit. Trip: Runner is a 'rhythm platformer'
Speaking to Nintendo Life in a podcast, Gaijin Games's Alex Neuse spilled plenty of details about the fourth Bit.Trip game for WiiWare, Bit. Trip Runner. Neuse calls the game a "rhythm platformer," a genre populated, in his estimation, only by Vib-Ribbon. Which means that players will move Commander Video through side-scrolling environments to the beat of new chiptune songs, two of which are provided by chiptune superstars Anamanaguchi. The game's 50 levels will make use of user-submitted fanart, for which the developer is still soliciting entries. The universe of Bit. Trip will also expand a bit: "We're going to be adding a lot more to this game," Neuse said. "There's going to be multiple characters – not playable characters, but we are going to introduce some new characters into the franchise." Runner is around 2/3 complete, and is expected to release on WiiWare sometime this spring.
Gaijin Games offers first screen of Bit.Trip Runner
A single screen from the next Bit.Trip game from Gaijin Games has been revealed, and judging from the look of it, Bit.Trip Runner is going to be significantly less abstract than the previous entries in the retro-themed musical WiiWare game series. In fact, it looks like a side-scrolling platformer, which would make sense, given the name. But, of course, Gaijin made a Pong-esque game with 15-minute long chiptune-based levels, so we shouldn't assume the obvious when it comes to the adventures of Commander Video. This could be controlled with the Your Shape camera, for all we know. [Via Destructoid, GSW]
Nintendo reveals three new Bit.Trip games headed to WiiWare
Proving that the Bit.Trip is far from reaching its destination, Nintendo has listed two additional games in the pixel-celebrating series for WiiWare. (We already got a hint at another this morning, bringing the total number of Trips we'll be going on to three.) The Big N has the already announced Bit.Trip: Void down for Q3 2009 release, noting that "three additional titles" in the franchise will arrive sometime in Q4 2009 and into Q1 2010. We already know from our chat with Gaijin Games that one of the trio is based on an old-school Atari title -- the other two are anyone's guess. We're betting on the sixth game being Bit.Trip: Trip, in which players must guide a lone pixel home through all of the previous Bit.Trip games.
