Runner3

Runner3

"I'm Charles Martinet, and now it's time for Runner3!"

Runner3 is the third entry in the Runner subseries, following BIT.TRIP RUNNER and Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien. It was released on the Nintendo Switch and Steam on May 22, 2018. A Physical Edition was also released including a reversible cover, a 3-inch Soundtrack Sampler CD, a full-color instruction booklet and a CommanderVideo Light-Up Strap.

Description

Much like its predecessors, Runner3 is a Rhythm Platformer where CommanderVideo must jump, slide, and kick his way to the end of each stage. The game will be divided into six worlds: Three main worlds consisting of 9 levels and a boss each, Three Retro Challenge worlds consisting of 9 levels and a boss each.

Each of the three main worlds also contains three Impossible Challenge levels, which add up to make a seventh world's worth of levels. Additionally, the final battle with Timbletot takes place in its own world, which seems to take place on the edge between the 3D world and the BIT.TRIP.

The game introduces numerous new mechanics to the RUNNER formula. Among them are:

• Vehicle Segments
• Double Jumping
• Ground Pound
• Hero Quests
• Two New Collectibles: Gems and Puppets
• In-Game Shop (No Microtransactions)
• 3D Movement Mechanics

Storyline

Unlike Runner2, Runner3's story is completely non-sequitur in nature and makes no effort to tie into the other BIT.TRIP games. As such, it is wholly non-canon.

The storyline of Runner3 is told through a series of puppet shows narrated (and presumably acted out by) Charles Martinet. CommanderVideo and CommandgirlVideo, are taking a vacation in Nut Beech, Foodland. They are smacked by a "tunagram" asking them to go to a dark alley. They meet someone who calls himself "Cheesethroat" (later found out as Whetfart Cheesebörger) who informs the Commanders of the return of Timbletot. The Commanders travel across Foodland, then go to Spookyland, then go to Machineland. After the Commanders beat the Machineland boss, Timbletot flies off, and the Commanders give pursuit. They then bonk Timbletot in a final battle in the Bit.Trip. The Commanders go back to Nut Beech with their new friends and have a celebratory cookout. A new letter flies by the Commanders, and after reading it, they promptly run off for a new adventure. The letter's contents is unknown.

Characters

As is tradition since...literally the last game, there are a handful of new and returning original characters to unlock and play as.

• CommanderVideo
• CommandgirlVideo
• Unkle Dill
• Awnty Rewty
• Frank 'N Stein
• Sadbot
• The Defector

In addition to these original creations, like Runner2, Runner3 has some guest characters from other games. This time, there's no need to pay for DLC.

• Dave Lonuts - From the hit arcade-like game, Woah, Dave!
• Eddie Riggs - From Double Fine's epic Heavy Metal RTS, Brütal Legend.
• Shovel Knight - From the indie darling...er...Shovel Knight!
• The Narrator - Mr. Martinet himself!

Worlds and Levels

Foodland:

1-1 Milky Way

1-2 A Briny Solicitation

1-3 The Meaty Treaty

1-4 Pasta La Vista

1-5 For Cheddar Or Wurst

1-6 Run A Fowl

1-7 A Cheesy Breeze

1-8 Fishing For Condiments

1-9 Just Desserts

1-Boss The Sausage Santa (The Sausage Santa)

Special-1 95 Windows

Special-2 Cheese n Josh Minus

Special-3 L E V E L N A M E

1-Puppet Show The Muenster Within

Spookyland:

2-1 Hazelmans?

2-2 The Frothy Pit

2-3 The Gibbering Cliffs

2-4 Doll Hollow

2-5 Frauline Hamsterblats

2-6 The Wording Way

2-7 Bound By Law

2-8 Parallel Peril

2-9 Vestibule Of Justice

2-Boss Parliament Of Owls (The Fat Lords)

Special-4 British Knights

Special-5 1-900

Special-6 Electropia Dawn

2-Puppet Show The Oppression Of Glorns

Machineland:

3-1 Wreck The Halls

3-2 Subpar Contraption

3-3 Earth Lurched

3-4 Cart Issues

3-5 Girdle Springs Eternal

3-6 Maniacal Mechanical

3-7 Elevator Smellevator

3-8 Piston Soup

3-9 Heavy Metals

3-Boss Reverse Mermech (Reverse Mermech)

Special-7 Past Stink

Special-8 "Other"

Special-9 _Reference.zip

3-Puppet Show A Severed Friendship

The Final Battle:

Final Boss: The Bit.Trip (The Timbletot)

Retro Levels

The Great Outdoors:

4-1 Adventures In Natureland

4-2 Musky Toes

4-3 Logged Out

4-4 The Vertical Slice

4-5 Field Work

4-6 Timber Trouble

4-7 The Great Odors

4-8 Breath Of Fresh Hair

4-9 Triplet Peaks

4-Boss Leaf Scarickson

The Caves:

5-1 Tunnel Vision

5-2 Splendid Spelunking

5-3 Hello Darkness

5-4 Bit.Drip

5-5 Rock Bottom

5-6 Bounding Boulders

5-7 Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

5-8 Cave Caverts

5-9 Stalagfights

5-Boss The Widow Sisters

Jungle Ruins:

6-1 The 5 Gildan Pyramid

6-2 Legend of Tom Braider

6-3 Take the Wheel

6-4 Ruined Ruins

6-5 Ancient Elevators

6-6 We Got Fun and Games

6-7 A Decent Descent

6-8 Dragon Your Feet

6-9 The Ultimate Penultimate

6-Boss The Temple of Gloom

Hero Quests

Sir Stromming: 1-2 (Reward: Unkle Dill)

Da Noodle Man: 1-6 (Reward: Awnty Rewty)

Karen Von Brunch: 1-8 (Reward: Dave Lonuts)

Hazelmans: 2-1 (Reward: The Narrator)

Zimbo the Magnificent: 2-4 (Reward: Frank N' Stein)

Limericking Lamprey: 2-9 (Reward: Eddie Riggs)

Radbot: 3-3 (Reward: Sadbot)

Jr Melchkin: 3-5 (Reward: Defector)

Gladbot: 3-8 (Reward: Shovel Knight)

Character Medals

In Runner3, there are character medals for every character hidden in levels. They usually require blind jumps or switching to a unseen path.

Foodland:

1-2 (Auwty Rewty) Right after the first eggplant jet sequence, ground pound through the first milk stream and dodge the robots underneath to get the medal.

1-5 (CommanderVideo) Right after the second boombox, wait until you see clouds below you and then switch paths. After some hard platforming, you will get the medal.

1-6 (Unkle Dill) After the third boombox, take the gold path across the balloon bridges. At the end, jump over the trampoline and walk straight to find the medal and a trampoline back.

1-8 (Dave Lonuts) Shortly after the fourth boombox, drive the car into the far right going towards the wall to make the wall open up. After you jump across the spikes in the narrow passage, you will grab the medal.

Spookyland:

2-4 (CommanderGirlVideo) After the checkpoint, take the bottom path and then switch paths when you see the doll face. You will go into the doll which teleports you to a tricky platforming section where you will get the medal at the end.

2-6 (The Narrator) After the fourth boombox, wait until you see the question mark and then switch paths. You will get the medal after some platforming.

2-7(Frank N' Stein) Right after the checkpoint, switch paths at the intersection and blindly double jump off. If you land it, make one more precise double jump and the medal is yours.

2-8(Eddie Riggs) Immediately after jumping into the car, drive straight into the first hole and navigate the spikes below to find the medal.

Machineland:

3-2(Sadbot) When the path splits into two after the first boombox, choose the top path and then wait until you are above the middle track piece before you switch paths. Make a double jump and then avoid the fireballs to get the medal.

3-6(The Defector) The last medal is directly below the final boombox. (You can't grab the boombox and the medal, you must choose one or the other.)

3-9(Shovel Knight) After the fourth boombox, do some platforming and then do a long double jump over the second trampoline to make the wall retract. (If you touch the trampoline you'll collide with the wall, so jump over the second trampoline.) After platforming, jump on the trampoline at the end to grab the medal.

Reception

Runner3 received "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic getting a metascore of 78/100 on PC and 73/100 on Nintendo Switch.

Canonicity

Runner 3's position in the timeline has been the subject of a lot of speculation, but in the Choice Provisions Discord server, Alex Neuse confirmed that "Runner2 and Runner3 take place between RUNNER and FATE."

Trivia

• Shovel Knight, Eddie Riggs, Dave and Charles Martinet appear as guest characters in this game.
• Da Noodle Man is a reference to Dan Adelman, a former Nintendo honcho who led the Indie program at Nintendo of America. Da Noodle Man, when pronounced phonetically, sounds like Dan Adelman, and it is also his Twitter handle.
• 95 Windows is a reference to the Windows 95, the operating system software made by Microsoft. 1-900 is the beginning of a phone number in the United States that costs money to call.
• In the level 6-4, under the starting position there is a secret section with a cameo of Mr. Robotube. There is also a cameo of him under the starting point of level 6-2, along with a picture of CommanderVideo. When the player reaches this area, they will unlock an achievement. There is also a string of text with the two pictures that is as follows “73 6f 72 72 79 69 6d 64 65 61 64”. decoding this from hexadecimal yields "SORRY IM DEAD"
• The moon in Spookyland is the same as the moon in The Supernature from Runner2.
• Occasionally, when playing as Charles Martinet, a squid/alien will appear on his head. These occurrences are listed in the stats page as “Spooky Encounters”. Also, sometimes when saying the name of a world, he will add something to it (ie; “Foodland! Are ya hungry?”)
• Rarely, when stating the name of a level, Charles will switch around the first letters (ie; “The Frothy Pit” is said as “The Prothy Frit”). It’s rare, but it does happen. These are listed on the stats page as "Spoons".
• There is Morse code in the world select screen that when translated most likely say's "Where are you RetroCommanderVideo?"