Bit.Trip Rerunner (2023)
Induction Date: 09/25/2023
Bit.Trip Rerunner is an odd remaster. It's sort of a revamped version of Bit.Trip. Runner with completely recreated levels plus the music from the entirety of the Bit.Trip universe presented with their own playable stages in the new visual style and presentation. You would think that it would make sense for the developer to just improve the entirety of the series into this new collection since they all come in a variety of play mechanics but seemingly, the developer only want us to experience the musical journey in the vein of the Runner gameplay style: that is, an auto runner where the correct actions that are needed to be taken to complete a level are synchronized to the rhythm of the musical track.
The gameplay is pretty simple. You jump, collect items, slide, and everything else to the rhythm of the music. Every time you make a single mistake, you get sent back to the last checkpoint to try and get the sequence right again. And that's pretty much it. There is a scoring system, and you are given the ability to ad-lib dances or destroy certain obstacles to further increase your score, so there is a reason to keep replaying the game. The problem here is that within a zone, the music is basically the same with some clever variations per stage. The stages never last very long and that helps with the aural monotony. The main issue I have with the game is the disjointed flow of the gameplay. In a rhythm game, it is important to allow the players to feel the groove of the musical track and to reset the track after 1 single mistake - and during the tougher segments, doing so repeatedly over and over again - can be unpleasant since you are stuck in a loop on a small section of the music. Nobody likes to hear a broken record. Allowing us to finish with mistakes being translated into score penalties would have been much better. The music is always catchy however, and the game can be pretty fun and thrilling, especially when things are going your way. The real gameplay highlights are the boss battles because they are clever and exciting but sadly, there are not enough of those.
This game should have been a boss battle medley.
Rerunner includes a level designer where you can share your creation with the community using the in-game assets. It's quite easy to use but it's going to require a decent level of musicality to design a compelling stage. I have tried a number of the community creations, and I am sad to report that quality stages are hard to come by. The problem is that some people like to just troll or that they are very try-hard. Apparently, it is easy for people to forget that providing others with a good time is better than forcing them to try a segment for a hundred of times before the next lengthy conundrum for the entirety of the level. These monstrosities will make you wonder if it was the player or the designer who was lacking skills. Since the developer doesn't believe in providing a downvote option, there is no way to distinguish between the good and bad creations before you actually play them.
Stop going all crazy and design something with equal amount of fun and challenges.
If you have never experienced any Bit.Trip games in the past, this should be a more enticing title. For those who played enough of the previous entries, the game does offer new stages plus the level designer, if you are into the latter. The graphics are clean, and the game is packed with content plus extras - including a rather intriguing lore about the game series. Rerunner and the Bit.Trip series in general have always felt rhythm-lite: they are out there conceptually, but they always ended up a tad lacking in execution.
RATING: 3 out of 5
Steam key provided by developer.
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