Bit. Trip Presents...Runner 2

 
Developer: Gaijin Games
Steam Release: Feb 2013
Hours Played: 20.2
Similar To: Color Guardians / Mevo and the Grooveriders / Geometry Dash / Slip
Rating:  5/5 Parsnips




GAMEPLAY
This latest offering from Gaijin Games is virtually the same as the original Bit.Trip Runner except that everything from the graphics to the sound to the fun-factor is more glorious! Sure (as before) you jump, slide, leap and block in reaction to obstacles that stand in your way as you run along a horizontal path while collecting gold but this iteration adds extra punch and switches things up to 11. First off, you'll notice an overhaul with the graphical content. With pale pastel colours, and a kind of 1950s western European vibe, obstacles are alive and animated rather than wooden or static. The quirky backgrounds for each world are also magnificent eye-candy bringing character and depth to the game.



BALANCE & PACE
The real star, as with the original, is the vibrant soundtrack and beautiful sound effects. There are not many games that reward the player with a feel-good factor through music and Runner 2 does precisely that. Furthermore, even though each world generally features the same theme tune, a different version or style is brought in with each new world; check out the hint of reggae and the Caribbean vibe in the seaside world of the Emerald Brine! Finally, if you manage to complete a perfect level by collecting all gold bars, your avatar leaps into a cannon and you have to fire it at just the right time so as to hit the bullseye of a target. As with the first game, you'll want to learn and get better each time. Too difficult or easy? Check out the three, very well-balanced difficulty settings. 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
Unlike the usual games in the Bit.Trip series, this offering by Gaijin Games is in a splendid world of its own. Gone is the retro 8-bit style with clunky menus and minimal graphics and in comes a marvellous upgrade that gets the spirit of Bit.Trip Runner up to date. This is so much more than just a sequel. With a 1950s kitsch art-style and to a gloriously catchy theme tune, Runner 2 has a solid and robust main menu which you can arrow through smoothly. On pressing Start Game you are taken to a map screen covering the game's five worlds. Enter one of these and you are taken to its level-select screen where levels (20 in each) are represented by large circles. You are kept very well informed but, and this is a bit of a stumbling block, you maddeningly only get one profile which you cannot seem to reset! 
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM
You're first taken to a screen divided into five barely distinguishable areas with the first, Welkin Wonderland, unlocked. Clicking this takes you to its level-select screen - a dotted path leading to around 20 targets representing levels. Complete the Quite Easy difficulty for a yellow exclamation mark stamped on your target; Just Right for blue and Really Hard gets you a purple; hit the bullseye at the end and you get a nice red cross. As you progress, new worlds such as The Emerald Brine, The Supernature, Mounting Sadds and finally, The Bit Trip open up and unlock. You can collect 800 gold bars per world, unlock retro levels (hidden within the regular levels) and find keys during runs to unlock hidden vaults etc. For hardcore players, you get a score. There is a ridiculous amount to keep you busy... all documented via the stats page. 
   

CONCLUSION
In the limited space for these reviews, there are many aspects unmentioned. I've not written much about the secret areas where you can play an 8-bit style version of the game or the well-designed boss levels, or even the welcome addition of checkpoints (much missed by many in the first game). There is also a roster of alternative characters you can play if you get bored of Mr Default. My only criticism would be the developer's annoying inclusion of allowing just one profile with no reset button in sight! This means that if you introduce anyone else to the game they just may start unlocking and completing parts of the game you haven't explored. And, yes, that's exactly what they're going to want to do! Still, this one is an out and out A+ through and through.