In March 2009, Aksys Games released a game on the WiiWare called BIT.TRIP BEAT. As soon as the game hit the Wii, it was made an instant success with it’s easy to understand gameplay mechanics. The game has now made the jump to the iPhone & iPad. Does the mobile version of the game do the original any justice? With Namco publishing BIT.TRIP BEAT on both iDevices, you can be sure that it will.
BIT.TRIP BEAT for both the iPhone & iPad comes with 3 levels to play: Transition, Descent, and Growth. Each level has its own music and difficulty so I suggest new players play Transition first to get an idea of what BIT.TRIP BEAT is all about. If new players jump into Descent or Growth, then you can be sure the experience might not be a pleasant one at first as the game can get pretty brutal with how the blocks move. Players who play through BIT.TRIP BEAT’s initial offering of 3 stages will be happy to know the game offers 3 additional stages that can be purchased in-app. If you thought Growth was hard, then you’ll definitely find one of the new downloadable levels nightmarish.
At its core, BIT.TRIP BEAT is just a pong game. If you’ve ever played pong, and I’m sure just about 100% of you out there have, then you can play BIT.TRIP BEAT. The thing that makes BIT.TRIP BEAT so unique is that the game fuses the gameplay mechanics of Pong with the addictiveness of a music rhythm game. Not only that, but the game does a fantastic job of slowly increasing the complexity of the waves of incoming blocks to a point where you don’t even realize how crazy thing get until you’re knee deep in blocks coming from all angles.
At first glance, BIT.TRIP BEAT looks outdated with its Atart-ish graphics and music. But after playing it for a couple of hours, I couldn’t imagine this game looking or sounding any different as I felt that’s what made the game so charming. All of the graphics, music, and sound effects feel like they’re paying homage to old-school games. The only times the graphics, sound, and music get tweaked is when you enter “Mega”, which is activated one you return enough blocks. When Mega is activated, the music will sound livelier, the graphics more colorful, and the sound effects will sound enhanced too. On the other side of the spectrum, if you miss enough blocks, you’ll enter “Nether.” In Nether, the graphics will turn to a simple black & white and the music & sound effects will sound like bleeps and bloops. In order to save yourself from losing while in Nether, you’ll need to return a certain number of blocks in order to return to a normal state.
In the WiiWare version of BIT.TRIP BEAT, you use the Wii-mote to control your paddle. The iPhone & iPad version allows you to play one of two ways: Touch or Tilt. Each control should be self explanatory. You slide your finger up and down on the touchscreen to move your paddle in Touch, while Tilt allows players to move the paddle with the iPhone & iPad’s accelerometer. I found playing the iPhone version with Tilt controls helped in being able to play the game better as my thumb trends to block where the blocks are entering from. The iPad version is perfect to play with Touch controls as the additional screen size helps with a players reaction time to the army of incoming blocks.
The iPhone version of BIT.TRIP BEAT offers full Game Center compatibility, which means achievements, leaderboards for all levels, and online multiplayer for two players. The iPad on the other hand, doesn’t get any of the Game Center love as Game Center has yet to hit the iPad. All iPad owners can do is play local multiplayer games via Bluetooth. If iPad owners want to brag about their high score, they can always take a screenshot of their score and post it online, but in the land of Game Center, you’re dead to us.
FINAL THOUGHT: BIT.TRIP BEAT took such a simple concept and made it into an addictive music rhythm game. Everything from its graphics, sounds, and even its menus are very simple to understand, so beginners should feel comfortable with this game. Hardcore gamers can be sure the game will pose a challenge in later levels, especially the downloadable ones. Both versions of BIT.TRIP BEAT offer their pros and cons, but I feel the iPhone version has a better offering due to its support for Game Center as well as it’s support for the iPhone 4’s Retina Display.
BIT.TRIP BEAT ($1.99) – [iTunes Link]
BIT.TRIP BEAT HD ($3.99) – [iTunes Link]