Bit.Trip RUNNER

The Short


Pros
- Difficult "runner" style game similar to games such as Canabalt 
- Multiple levels will test your dexterity as the game quickly gets hard
- Has a fantastic visual style and awesome music
- Timing moves/jumps to musical beats was a clever addition
- Bonus levels inspired by the original Pitfall made me smile

Cons
- Relatively simple concept
- Can get really difficult really fast
- No mid-level checkpoints make the longer ones frustrating
- Getting all the items is a near-impossible task
- Why isn't this game on iOS?

I'm trippin' bits here. 

The Long

"Runner" games have quickly become extremely popular, especially on mobile devices. The general gist of these game is simple (and started by the indie flash game Canabalt): your character automatically runs to the right, and you get control over jumping and maybe a few other abilities as they charge forward. It's a simple, addicting concept, usually used on game to shoot for maximum distance travelled in attempts to dominate leaderboards. 

Bit.Trip RUNNER, the next in the Bit.Trip series of games, capitalizes on this budding genre by taking their trademark style and applying it to a runner style game. The result is a fun, simple, and extremely taxing experience.

Like a rainbow in the dark.

As stated, these games are simple, and Bit.Trip RUNNER is no exception. As Commander Video, you can jump, press down to slide, press back to kick, block, and...that's about it, actually. It's a simple collection of controls, but these all combine to create a surprisingly difficult platforming experience. As stated before, he auto-runs to the right, so it is your goal to make it to the end while collecting as much cash gold money (since he needs to pay off his student loans, or something) and bonus multipliers (which is how you get the rainbow to follow you) before the end. Once you beat a level you are scored, and if you got all the gold you get to do a bonus game that looks a lot like Pitfall on the Atari. I like it. 

Again with the gold. He really needs the cash. 

It starts simple and gets very taxing very fact. Even before the end of the first world you'll probably be throwing your keyboard (or controller, if you are on the Wii or 3DS) in frustration as you get so close to the end and then fail. While the initial levels are simple and relatively short, the later ones go on for a very long time, and with no checkpoints if you fail it's all the way back to the start. The lack of checkpoints is actually sort of a bummer; while I agree they shouldn't be on be default, it would have hurt to include it to help ease frustrations (I have world 1-11's first half committed to muscle memory by now I played it so many times).

That's essentially the gameplay in a nutshell. Simple, but extremely taxing dexterously. You'll need to get some lightning fast reflexes in order to beat all the levels, and even more if you want to collect all the treasures. 

The game has a really cool, retro look about it. 

The game looks and sounds retro, without resorting to the "Look, we made it in 16-bit graphics!" thing that seems to be all the rage in indie games these days. While Commander Video is pixelated, the background are blocky and colorful and look like a hybrid between old and new (kind of like 3D Dot Game Heroes). It looks really good, especially on a high resolution PC version, and makes your inevitable failures a little more tolerable when you get to run by stuff that at least looks cool. 

The music is also excellent. Every level starts off with just a simple beat, with every successful jump adding a chime to the song (jumps/slides/pickups are all on rhythm, so if you are musically inclined this game might be a little easier for you). Every time you picke up a multiplier the song gets additional instruments, and your jumps offer a bit more than chimes. Max out the multiplier and you get the full song, done in a similar style as the backdrops: retroesque, but still modern. The soundtrack is excellent, and mixing the beat with the gameplay was a great bonus. 

Karate kick action!

If you dig super hard games like Super Meat Boy, you should give Bit.Trip RUNNER a spin. Aside from the unfortunate lack of checkpoints and the general simplicity of the game, it plays extremely well, looks and sounds great, and provides you with a challenge. For $10 on Steam you can't go wrong, and the game is also available in a collection on the 3DS and on WiiWare. 

Four out of five stars. 

"Run, Forrest, run!"

VVVVVV

The Short


Pros
- Simple in concept platformer involving switching the direction of gravity
- Puzzles/platforming range from very simple to extremely difficult
- Metroid-esque map system and non-linear gameplay
- Presented in a charming, 8-bit style
- Music is incredible

Cons
- Only about two to three hours long
- Part of the game where you "escort" a crew member is extremely frustrating
- Getting all the collectibles can be a near-impossible task
- Movement is a bit slippery; it takes some getting used to

Get ready to VVVVVV. Whatever that means. 

The Long

Something I love about indie games is the fact that they don't have to be massive. Where games like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow pad their gameplay in attempts to add "value," indie games can focus on a single mechanic and then make a short but well crafted game around it (like Braid, or from a professional standpoint Portal). VVVVVV is the perfect example of this. Using a simple mechanic paired with difficult, NES style gameplay, it delivers a short but sweet experience. And at $5 on Steam (or $7 on the 3DS e-shop) it shouldn't be missed.

Each area has a unique mechanic, not unlike Braid

VVVVVV's gameplay is extremely simple. The only control you have is to "flip" your character, reversing gravity and sending them flying up or down until they hit a stable ledge. You can't stop them from flipping until they are on a solid platform (so no flipping in mid-air), but you can direct their falling/flying direction. From that basic concept comes one of the hardest platformers you'll ever experience. The game starts easy and quickly gets difficult, every area employing a unique strategy that mixes up what you are doing. And just when you think you are about done with it, the game ends.

This is not an easy game. 

Puzzles and rooms are clever, with checkpoints being given extremely liberally to prevent frustration. I'm reminded a lot of Super Meat Boy in that regard: it isn't trying to punish you for failing, rather it wants you to pick yourself back up and try over and over. I was stuck in some rooms for upwards of 5-10 minutes until finally beating them, and there's one trinket I'm certain I'll never get.

Controls can take a bit getting used to. Your character moves a bit like he's on ice, sliding a little more than he should with his momentum. It can be difficult at first, but after a few rooms you'll get the hang of it. Considering every room was designed around this control scheme, it never feels unfair, but it is different from other platformers so you'll need to keep that in mind. 

This game is surprisingly big. 

You explore the world via a Metroid style grid/map system, with each area their own "dungeon." While the exploration is nice, it only really serves as a means to the next area. You can also tackle any area in any order, with the game sometimes forcing you into a hidden level after beating a world (or on the last world). Since you never get any power-ups or upgrades, the entire game is beatable from the start, so it really boils do to either which one you find first or which one you pick to do first.

Despite the tight controls and excellent level design, there are a few down points. One "bonus" area requires you to escort another character. When you are on the floor he'll run blindly towards your position, and on the ceiling he'll stop. Unfortunately, having to gauge the momentum of your teammate can be tricky, and if either of you die it's back to the checkpoint. This is probably the single most frustrating part in the entire game, and the one I do not look forward to when replaying (while I love the rest of the game). 

The game is also very short, which might turn a few people off, but it's also only $5 and feels the right length for not adding any new mechanics. It also has tons of bonus levels to attempt (most of which are harder than the main game), so content-wise you are still getting a decent chunk for your cash.

This game has some great music. Bonus that it's also on Rock Band!

Graphics look good, employing a retro-esque 8-bit style. It's simple but all fits together nicely, with rooms being different colors to show progression. The music is a real stand-out, with almost every track being a mix of retro-sounds with a modern beat to it. They sound fantastic, and some areas I wanted to stay in longer just because the music was so excellent. 

This room isn't as bad as it looks. 

For $5 on Steam, you really can't go wrong. I've heard the 3DS e-shop version (at $7) is actually a little better because the game plays better on a controller than a keyboard, but I can't attest to it as I don't have a 3DS. As it stands, if you have any affinity for difficult-yet-fair platformers or just like old-school NES platformers, VVVVVV is a must buy. There's a demo for it on Steam but...come on. It's $5. This game is really something excellent.

Five out of five stars. 

Plus, you know. The soundtrack is so good. 

Rayman Origins

The Short


Pros
- Fantastic art design
- Absolutely beautiful graphics and animations
- Precise platforming control
- 2-4 player co-op that is actually not frustrating
- Amazing soundtrack
- 60+ levels including secret and bonus levels
- High replayability
- Good difficulty curve; appeals to both beginners and the hardcore
- Lots of characters, skins, and bonuses to unlock
- Lots of variety in the levels

Cons
- The final level is freaking impossible
- Only three unique character models for a four player game
- Only the first player gets achievements
- Nobody bought it so it'll probably not get a sequel

Rayman: Origins is a really good looking game

The Long

I'll get this off my chest right now: I love this game. Rayman: Origins is one of the weirdest, silliest, and most straight up bizarre games I've played in recent memory. It's a straight-playing 2D platformer (like New Super Mario Bros or Super Meat Boy) that somehow manages to trump most everything else on the market and deliver a perfectly crafted single and multiplayer experience.

So let's get to the details, hmm?

First off, as you can see from the screenshots in this review, the game looks fantastic. It's published by Ubisoft under their new "UbiArt" engine, which means it is chock full of hand drawn animation, backgrounds, and characters. Just because something is hand drawn doesn't mean it's good, but Rayman managed to look fantastic. You can see the amount of detail they put into this game because of their dedication to keeping the whole thing looking consistant. For example, most platforming games have spikes of some sort in them. Often they are a bland affair, with just little pokey things coming out of them. Not in Rayman! In Rayman, if you are on the air level (which has a distinct "bird + musical instrument" theme for some reason), all the spikes are actually spiky birds. In the food world (which covers both fire and ice variety), you have to watch out for angry forks and pots of bubbling soup. In the underwater/dock levels, swordfish and sea urchins are poking out at you. It's a small thing, but seeing such dedication put into the design really makes the title stand out (and you can see in the picture above that even the charcoal slabs have eyes with varying expressions).

This level of dedication goes on to the music, as well. I remember in one scene where I was collecting Lums (the game's collectable and the equivalent of coins in a Mario game), and as I collected several in a row I realized that each "ping" they were playing when I grabbed them was forming a song that perfectly was in synch with the background music. The music is heavy whimsical, with lots of mouthharp, kazoo, banjo, and silly voices. When you are in the first grass levels, the music has a sort of southern feel to it. When you then get to gourmet world, in the fire/oven levels you hear an italian chef tenor singing along with the weird cha-cha music. It's hilarious and fantastic. 

The return of the trololo guy

But all this outside stuff aside, what about the game? Is it really that great? Should you bother? It was originally slated as an episodic XBLA release, but after seeing how many episodic games failed on the platform Ubisoft decided to release the full game as a disc product. This pissed off a bunch of gamers for some reason (because gamers are cheap) who felt like (without having played it) that it was overpriced at $60. It further didn't help the point that Ubisoft, determined to screw this game over, released it the week after Skyrim and Modern Warfare 3 and on the same day as the next installment in their powerhouse series, Assassin's Creed. Needless to say, nobody bought this game, which is too bad, because it is certainly worth $60 for the amount of content you get. 

The game has four major worlds and two minor ones. The first run through the major worlds gives you about 12-15 levels on each. After you beat them, however, it unlocks another 12-15 levels on these four worlds, where you use the powers you've been accumulating throughout the game (power to hover, run up walls from a sprint, dive, and shrink/grow) back in familiar settings. After you beat all of these you unlock the final area, which is balls hard and incredibly satisfying when you beat it.

But that isn't all. As you beat levels you collect these little purple things that I can't remember the name of, and these unlock alternate costumes and (more importantly) the incredibly difficult Treasure Chest levels. These basically consist if you (and your friends) running down a fast-moving chest as the world around you gets harder and harder, the screen at your back ready to catch you if you make just one mistake. With four players its frantic, fast-paced, and totally insane. These are some of the best and most challenging levels in the game, though none of them compare to The Land of the Livid Dead, a one level world unlocked after getting all the treasure chests. I have beaten every level in this game except this one, and I have no idea if it is even possible (and I beat Super Meat Boy!).

Oh, and after you beat each level you unlock a "Time Trial" version, which challenges you to go through as fast as possible for even more rewards. Which is also really fun (and total mayhem) with four people.

The game also has side-scrolling shooter levels, ala R-Type or Gradius

So you are getting boatloads of levels, a beautiful art style, and a game that controls near-perfectly and scales from "easy" to "impossible" in terms of difficulty. And I haven't even talked about my favorite part: the four-player co-op.

This game essentially lifts the co-op from New Super Mario Bros on the Wii and improves on it immensely. For anyone who hasn't played that, know that it's basically four-player 2D Mario, with lives, coins, and the ability to shove your friends off cliffs. In my experience playing NSMB, adding more players only adds to the game's stress, because every character in that game takes up physical space. So if you had a small platform, it was very easy to accidentally knock somebody off, or jump on them, or steal their lives. I honestly didn't think it was very fun and much rather preferred to play alone.

Rayman fixes all of this. You have four players, but you can run on top of or next to each other without shoving. The only real way to interact with the other players is to physically attack them, which can be used to mess them up, but at least in that case you know they are doing so intentionally (smack your friend off a cliff if he stole your Lums!). You can also work together to lift each other up or punch each other up in the air, making the harder to get collectables a lot easier.

But what Rayman really does right is the fact that there are no lives. None at all. New Super Mario Bros sort of tries this by giving people limited lives but infinite continues, but then the lives are more like another annoyance to keep up with rather than incentive to not die. Rayman encourages you to die in attempts to get tricky coins, find secrets, and generally enjoy exploring their beautiful world. When you die you turn into a bubble (much like New Super Mario Bros) and your friends have to either jump on you or smack you to revive you. That's it. No headaches, no real frustrations. And, with generous checkpoints, even if you all die at the same time you won't have to go too far back. It's the Super Meat Boy approach to platforming: rather than put in arbitrary game lives to limit you, instead focus on short, difficult bursts and instant restarts. That encourages the whole "One more try!" thing without having to choose to "Continue?" every half-dozen deaths.

Grab your friends and start slappin'

That being said, it is worth noting that playing this game by yourself is substantially more difficult than playing with friends. It still manages to work because of it's generous checkpoints and excellent level design, but you can tell they intended the game to be played co-op. Four players is total chaos, which makes getting through the levels easier (more people to revive you) but collecting all the secrets harder (you always have that one guy who keeps running forward and leaving stuff behind in his attempt to beat you to the end reward). We found that two players is the sweet spot if you want to both collect all the Lums (each level has a goal of 150 and 300 collected, where each nets you more points for unlocking stuff) while still staying alive.

Not to diss four-players, though. We played through the entire game the first time four-player (and with different batches of players) and it was a laugh riot. Playing with friends makes the more difficult levels more manageable, both for revives and general group support. My only complaint with four player is the fact there are only three unique character models: Rayman, the big blue guy, and the Teenies (the dudes with blue noses). Sure you can get different costumes, but why didn't they just make a fourth guy so it was easy to tell them apart? It's like how New Super Mario Bros had two toads instead of...oh I don't know, Wario? Daisy? Peach? Donkey Kong? Anybody except another Toad? As if it wasn't confusing enough.

You really should go buy this game

If I haven't somehow sold you on this game, then I probably won't ever. The fact of the matter is this is one of the best co-op games I've ever played, and it is certainly one of the best platformers. The idea of multiplayer Super Meat Boy is awesome, but since that doesn't exist we'll take Rayman instead. The game is beautiful and silly, the music is fantastic, the level design is top-of-the-line, and the multiplayer is just another layer of hilarity and fun stacked on an already complete package. This is one of the best platformers ever, and I'd go so far as to say it trumps any 2D Mario game I've played since the Super Nintendo. 

This game is very much worth the $60 asking price, but the fact it was a commercial flop made the price drop super fast. I'm fairly certain the standard price for it now is $30 on Amazon (might be less for the Wii version), which is a complete and total steal to say the very least. If you get it for $30 on Amazon you get free shipping, so now you have no excuse and should go buy it right now. 

If I were to give it a star rating, it would absolutely be 5 out of 5. 

And as an added bonus, here is a video of somebody doing the final impossible level from the game, complete with its awesome music. I can't even get past the first section.

Edit: BEAT IT, with four players too. This game is so good.