"ONCE AGAIN, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE HIGH SCORE!"
BIT.TRIP BEAT is the first game in the BIT.TRIP Hexalogy. It, like its sequels and spin-offs, is a rhythm game, styled after the 1972 game, Pong. It was originally released on Nintendo's WiiWare service in 2009, before later releasing on mobile phones and PC.
At the time it was greatly influential, proving that independently developed video games had a place and a right to exist alongside the Triple A gaming industry. BEAT would be followed by five sequels for a complete Hexalogy, as well as two spin-off titles and its main character, CommanderVideo would accrue a litany of cameo appearances in other games, culminating in a Trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, a great honor for any Indie character.
The game's plot was introduced as being 'A clueless plotline depicting nothing but retro nonsense'. However, as more and more games released, this story began to evolve into something far more profound, yet still just as abstract as the original.
The title theme, Move to Intercept, and the credits theme, The Information Chase, are provided by guest composter Bit Shifter
OVERVIEW[]
GAMEPLAY[]
The player takes control of the Paddle, an orange rectangle that can only move up and down, The Paddle's elevation is controlled via a variety of means. In the original WiiWare version, it's controlled by holding the Wii Remote sideways and tilting it left and right.
Moving the Paddle and pausing the game are the only actions the player can take. As such, the game seems deceptively simple.
In actual gameplay, the player must move the Paddle, positioned on the far-left side of the screen, and hit incoming squares known as Beats. When a Beat strikes the Paddle, it will make a sound and typically rebound back in the direction it came from where, upon hitting the far-right side of the screen, it will vanish and make complimentary sound. If the player misses a Beat, it will vanish and let out a disruptive percussion noise instead. The ultimate goal is to hit as many of these Beats as possible without missing any. In doing so, the music will gradually improve, with the noises the Beats make playing complimentary to the background music.
Missing too many Beats, however, will eventually result in failure, and the player will have to restart the entire level from the beginning, as there are no checkpoints.
Beats[]
There are a variety of different types of Beats that the player will encounter, each one with different properties denoted by their color. Learning their behaviors can aid in the player's ability to deal with them effectively.
- Yellow Beats will merely bounce back the same way they came after one hit. A majority of Beats have the same rebound behavior as the Yellow Beats.
- Orange Beats will bounce away in a parabolic arc after hitting the paddle. Once they reach the apex of the arc, they will fall back and need to be hit again. They can require up to six rebounds before they finally stop bouncing. Orange Beats and Blue Beats are the only types of Beats that need to be hit multiple times.
- Pale Yellow Beats behave the same way as regular Yellow Beats. However, when they hit the Paddle, they will freeze in place for a few moments before rebounding. This is purely a cosmetic feature intended to throw off players who don't expect them.
- Neon Green Beats behave identically to Yellow Beats, however they rhythmically blink, making them more difficult to see. They are used during scenes which can be visually overwhelming, in order to get the most out of them.
- Pale Blue Beats do not have their own movement patterns, and instead, move depending on where the Paddle is. In some instances, they follow the Paddle, while in others, their movement is inverted. Their movement usually has a delay to it, though it's less significant when they appear in pairs.
- Navy Green Beats will freeze in place and move in jagged patterns, often requiring preemptive timing as they appear and wait while other Beats are being dealt with.
- Teal Beats will bounce along the MODE-Up and MODE-Down bars on the top and bottom of the play area. Their movement is intended to make the player panic, when in actuality their patterns are usually very simple.
- Pink Beats appear moving in circular patterns, sometimes in pairs which require strict positioning of the paddle to hit.
- Indigo Beats appear in sine wave formation. This movement, like most, is merely used as a distraction, as most of the time, the appear in groups and will all strike the same location.
- Dark Blue Beats are larger than other Beats. When hit, they will fly back a short distance before exploding into several more Beats that will need to be hit again.
- Red Beats will freeze the Paddle in place momentarily. They count as regular Beats and must be hit in order to obtain a Perfect score.
- Cyan Beats serve to break each stage into segments, providing a moment recuperation. They pulsate but are otherwise identical to Yellow Beats.
- Rainbow Beats are larger Beats that flash multiple colors. They appear in small groups and serve to cap off the end of a Stage. There are seven groups Rainbow Beats per Level, with the eighth stage being capped by a boss, and thus, no eighth group of Beats. Rainbow Beats do not rebound, and instead simply vanish upon hitting the Paddle.
Additionally, there are White Beats that give one of three power-ups that alter the Paddle in some way. Avoiding these can be done, but doing so will practically guarantee a lost Perfect run. The first two will either elongate or duplicate the paddle, giving you more room to work with, while the last one will activate Challenge Mode, which shrinks the Paddle and gives you a bonus afterwards. Should you avoid the first two, the following set of Beats will be impossible to hit without missing some. Avoiding the Challenge power-up will make the upcoming section easier, but you'll miss out on the bonus, which is required for a Perfect run.
Beats can also appear with trails and links. Trails serve no function other than looking pretty. Meanwhile, Links will cause all connected Beats to rebound after just one of them is hit. Links usually don't appear until just before the set of linked Beats reaches the Paddle, making them frustrating to predict. If one Linked Beat is missed, its link is severed, but the remaining Beats can stay linked and still be hit as a single unit.
MODES[]
The game features a reward-system in the form of its MODE system. Each MODE alters the visuals and music considerably, making the game more forgiving, the better the player performs. If you want to reach the end of each level, trying to maintain the highest MODE is in your best interests.
The highest mode of this game. The music gets an extra percussion, and special visual effects are added to the gameplay. Achieving a MODE-Up while in MEGA will grant a MULTI+ score multiplier. Achieving a MODE-Down will bring the player down to HYPER, regardless of whether they've achieved a MULTI+.
This is the MODE that the game starts in. In this mode the colors and visuals are very basic and plain, and the music is simple. In order to MODE-Up, the player must hit 80 Beats (40 on Easy and 120 on Hard). Getting a MODE-Up will bring the player to MEGA. While a MODE-Down will bring them to NETHER.
Mode down to here, and you lose all sense of music and color. The HUD is black-and-white, there is no information to show, and each reflect makes a dull beeping sound (pure silent in the Wii versions). There is no point payout while in NETHER, meaning the only purpose for Beats is to climb back up to HYPER.
CUTSCENES[]
CommanderVideo embarks on his first mission of his BIT.TRIP, "TO BECOME"
LEVELS[]
There are 3 levels in this game and each of them consists of 14 minute marathons, each level has 8 stages, complete a stage and the music will progress. (unless you missed a rainbow beat)
TRANSITION[]
The first level. Life begins with the game's opening cutscene, a figure races by the screen, then Commander Video appears. Beats swarm into him and he awakens with new life. TRANSITION is an easy level with slight difficulty spikes and has some nice sugar-sweet tunes.
DESCENT[]
It begins with Commander Video stepping forward and tripping over. DESCENT has serious and percussion-based music with one of the fastest tempos in the whole series. The background shows a planet and soon begins its DESCENT. The level features magma filled backgrounds, and a breakout game at the planet's CORE. Houses the one of the hardest CHALLENGE sections in the series. There are two challenges in this level.
GROWTH[]
Known as one of the hardest levels in the series, GROWTH begins as Commander Video is shown being brained by a mean green beat. The level begins fairly difficult with a background of green fibers. The tempo is slow, and the level is heavily percussion based. The level features tons of gimmicky obstacles, making the level challenging. The ability to focus beyond your paddle is vital to completing the level. At the end of the level a game of Pong rages in the audience of a bright-red Core.
BOSSES[]
at the end of each level, a boss is fought under untraditional ways.
TRANSITION[]
The BOSS of TRANSITION is a large box composed of 52 Orange and 69 Yellow Beats, for a total of 121 Beats.
To defeat the BOSS, the player must bounce as many of those Beats as possible, staying out of NETHER until the BOSS has exhausted all of its ammunition, disappearing in the process.
DESCENT[]
Based on Breakout, the player must reflect the same beat over and over again to break the blocks. Actually, hitting the beat does nothing but reflect it and you earn points when you hit a brick instead (and add to the combo if you have one going).
GROWTH[]
The gameplay composes of bouncing a Beat back against another paddle. You get points by getting the Beat past the enemy paddle. Defeating it requires the player to score 15 points before the boss does. If the boss scores 15 points, the player instantly gets a game over. Each time the player gets 5 points, the boss' paddle will split in order to prevent the player from scoring more points. It first splits into 2, then into 4 paddles. But the boss can only control one paddle at a time, leaving the others still.
Platform Differences[]
Over the years BIT.TRIP BEAT received a total of 6 ports to different systems (3 Solo and 3 via Compilations), some with unique features.
in short, the PlayStation/Switch ports are based on the PC port (other than the readdition of challenges on the switch port), while the iOS/Android, and Nintendo 3DS are based on the Wii original and offer more differences
TRIVA[]
- A bug originally existed only in the US WiiWare release where players could not save unless they achieved a high score[1]
- "Rest assured, as much as we like to make challenging games, we aren’t quite THAT brutal," -Alex Neuse
- An another bug involves multiplayer in GROWTH's boss, if the Pong ball touches player 2's paddle, it gains a ton of momentum, making the boss trivial to complete since the ai tends to miss.
SCOREBOARD[]
See the BIT.TRIP BEAT Scoreboard
GALLERY[]
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