I’m not very fond of rhythm games, so when I was assigned to review Bit.Trip Core my response was a sarcastic "Oh, wonderful." Then I sat down to play it, and that sarcasm quickly turned to an appreciative "Hey, this is alright." This game is essentially a rhythm game that uses a very simple design in its controls and presentation, but the result is surprisingly enjoyable. This is good, because unusually enough even navigating Bit.Trip Core’s menus requires you to play the game.
With your Wiimote held NES-style, you control a stationary plus-shaped ’gun’ on the center of the screen. It can’t move, but it can aim in various directions, and you have to point at various targets as they go by. If you shoot them, the musical beats continue. Miss too many, and the music takes on a creepy tone as you’re dropped into Nether Mode; a black and white version of the game’s normally vibrant display, with distant music notes weakly playing through your Wiimote speaker. If you continue to miss blocks from there, it’s game over.
The formula of "aim at targets, shoot targets in sync with the music’s rhythm" is simple enough, though the developers used this idea in various ways. What starts as a very simple clockwise pattern of targets will later have several of them swirling around the screen at once, zig-zagging and requiring you to shoot them at unusual times and angles. All the while, soft rumbles from your controller follow the music’s beat, adding up to an intuitive game that really draws you in. The visuals definitely help with this too, as they’re an interesting mix of Atari-esque blocks of pixels and sharp text for most of the targets, alongside very colorful and modern backgrounds. It’s strange, but looks nice on the screen.
A few other twists have been included as well, such as co-op play (a second player can begin firing at targets too) and a once-per-stage bomb that clears all the current targets from the screen so you won’t miss them. Combined with good music and rhythm plus very distinct graphics, Bit.Trip Core is very well presented; the sort of thing others will want to play and can almost immediately be competent with since it only takes a minute or two to learn the controls.
The only serious complaints I can level at Bit.Trip Core is that it is fairly short and the game play is very simple at its heart, but considering most of your time spent with it will be very enjoyable I can overlook these things. At 600 Wii Points/$6 USD, this is a solid addition to the WiiWare catalog and worth checking out even if you’re not normally a fan of the genre; it won me over in just a few minutes.
Replay It’s short, but the intuitive controls will probably draw you back in for a few extra sessions.
7.5
Graphics A very interesting hybrid of Atari 2600-era blocks of pixels along with more modern visuals for the backgrounds turns out to be a good look for this game.
8.5
Sound As one would expect of a rhythm game, the music flows very well with the on-screen action so long as you’re playing correctly.
8.0
Gameplay The simple mechanic of firing at targets as they go by to produce music is easy to learn, but there is enough variety in how they move that it stays interesting for a while.
6.0
Multiplayer A second player can join in to blast targets and keep the music going, so this can be a decent albeit simple co-op game.
8.0
Overall Short but very fun, Bit.Trip Core easily earns its six dollar price tag.
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