Zip-a-de-doo-dah
Dozens of stages, new characters and a special musical guest
Gaijin Games is anything but lazy. Their acclaimed BIT.TRIP series is nary a year old with three entries under its WiiWare-shaped belt. Not ones to rest on their laurels, the Santa Cruz developers are hard at work on the next entry in their retro metaphysical saga: RUNNER.
On the latest episode of our chip/game music podcast NLFM, Gaijin's Alex Neuse not only brought along some of his favorite game music but also exclusive first details about Commander Video's next journey.
What we're trying to do with RUNNER is make a rhythm platform game. That genre, if you will, really only has one other entry as far as I know.
Zip-a-dee-ay
That entry being the original PlayStation's Vib-Ribbon, which reached Japan and Europe around the millennium but fell short of a North American release.
RUNNER is closest to BEAT in terms of player/music interaction, Neuse said, being that you traverse the environment to the beat of the music and interact with the music in a more passive manner than the on-beat precision of CORE or the looseness of VOID. And while you have always been in control of Commander Video, this marks the first time his corporeal body is directly in your hands.
Past TRIPs have sent players through a gauntlet of three stages each, but RUNNER has its sights set higher. Much higher, in fact, as Neuse revealed that the game would include 50+ stages of musical platforming loaded with fan art. But Gaijin isn't stopping there:
We're going to be adding a lot more to this game. There's going to be multiple characters – not playable characters, but we are going to introduce some new characters into the franchise.
Series star Commander Video will be making a playable appearance in Team Meat's highly anticipated WiiWare release Super Meat Boy, complete with floaty Princess Peach controls. So what are the odds of Meat Boy appearing in RUNNER?
It would be fair to expect, although we certainly haven't built him yet. And if for some reason we don't, you can expect him in the next game.
Each "episode," if you will, has included musical contributions from chip tuners such as Bit Shifter, Bubblyfish and Nullsleep. This time around, Neuse said, Brooklyn chip punk band Anamanaguchi will be lending two tracks of theirs to the commander's outing.
With development around 2/3 of the way done and lots of polish left to apply (the HUD in the screens is not final, we're told), Gaijin are currently eyeing a Spring release. Stay tuned to Nintendo Life for more on Commander Video's adventures, and in the meantime you can pore over the first in-game screenshots while listening to Neuse's musical influences on NLFM.
User Comments
1. WhoKnew
21 Jan 2010, 19:35 GMT
I think this might be my first Bit Trip purchase.
2. Ravage
21 Jan 2010, 19:41 GMT
Need...video! The screens look awesome.
3. BrickleBrack
21 Jan 2010, 19:43 GMT
OMG!
4. diego_pmc
21 Jan 2010, 19:43 GMT
Very interesting. Looks quite different from the other BIT.TRIP games.
5. i_am_error
21 Jan 2010, 20:11 GMT
Oooh yeah. My favorite game series is back for 2010!!!!
6. nintendogamerftw
21 Jan 2010, 20:18 GMT
ME WANT!
I can't wait for this game. This just jumped up to, almost, the top of my anticipated Wiiware games.
7. pixelman
21 Jan 2010, 20:25 GMT
Hmm. The graphics look almost messy, and the Commander Video sprites look odd. Still, I have high hopes for this one. I haven't bought a Bit.Trip game yet, and this'll likely be my first.
8. V8 Ninja
21 Jan 2010, 20:37 GMT
Hmm......I'm not sure if this will guarantee a purchase from me. I can't really get into the "looseness" of most of the games.
9. Ren
21 Jan 2010, 20:38 GMT
Wow, this looks really awesome. I'm there.
10. Corbie
21 Jan 2010, 20:40 GMT
I can't wait for it, myself.
11. JasonCirillo
21 Jan 2010, 20:44 GMT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvX_6xCY4eQ
12. thelawyer
21 Jan 2010, 20:50 GMT
I've never bought a bit. trip game before but I may buy this.
13. LEGEND MARIOID
21 Jan 2010, 20:53 GMT
Looks good. I'll wait for the revw, but this may be my second bit trip game
14. bro2dragons
21 Jan 2010, 21:24 GMT
this sounds amazing! gonna be day one for me! so excited! bit trip is one of my favorite franchises now, and i've only beaten one of the games (CORE is HARD and VOID just hasn't had enough time invested in it... yet)!!!
15. accc
21 Jan 2010, 21:28 GMT
Isn't the recent Wiiware release Tomena Sanner sort of like a rhythm platformer? At least that's what it seems like, based on what I've seen of it.
16. irken004
21 Jan 2010, 21:30 GMT
Day one buy for me.
17. TheLonelyGamer
21 Jan 2010, 21:39 GMT
Looks very interesting!
18. vakama94
21 Jan 2010, 21:50 GMT
wow 50+ stages in a Bit trip game its a lot!, well i hope the story is clearer than the other games since i want to understand what the games are trying to say, also i hope they get the core soundtrack finished before this game is released
19. zezhyrule
21 Jan 2010, 22:01 GMT
I'm getting it.
20. Vendetta
21 Jan 2010, 22:03 GMT
Am I the only one that sees it?
21. BrickleBrack
21 Jan 2010, 22:11 GMT
I don't see it!
22. HadesGigas
21 Jan 2010, 22:12 GMT
Other musical platformer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-EUPVhe3q4
23. CommanderVideo
21 Jan 2010, 22:24 GMT
@HadesGigas - That game doesn't count, because I didn't think of it.
NAH! I'm just kidding. That game looks awesome! Please tell me it's coming stateside. DO WANT!
24. Aronos
21 Jan 2010, 22:47 GMT
Well, seeing that I bought all the previous Bit.Trip games, and really liked them, plus I really love platformers too, this game is a must have for me.
25. theblackdragon
21 Jan 2010, 23:01 GMT
the graphics look a little funny at the moment, but there's plenty of polishing that can be done before spring. hooray, spring!
26. Odnetnin
21 Jan 2010, 23:02 GMT
I will probably get this and VOID soon, but the graphics seem to be all over the place, so I'd like to see video before making a final decision.
27. Adam
21 Jan 2010, 23:23 GMT
I am going to miss the abstract look, but this looks cool, too. Bit Tip can do no wrong.
28. Dony13
22 Jan 2010, 00:54 GMT
Instant buy for me, since all the bit trip games have been awesome
29. Mickeymac
22 Jan 2010, 00:59 GMT
Oi curtinly can't wait for et!
30. Chrono Cross
22 Jan 2010, 01:41 GMT
I think I just found my most anticipated Wiiware game.
31. Gavin Rozee
22 Jan 2010, 06:14 GMT
I'd buy VOID, if whoever is responsible for releasing it bothered to release it in the UK/Europe.
32. y2josh
22 Jan 2010, 08:21 GMT
Commander Video has some funny looking limbs on him.
33. JakobG
22 Jan 2010, 08:40 GMT
@pixelman: BIT.TRIP never used actual sprites.
The shades couldn't be achieved by old consoles, and the pixels have a different resolution.
Just look at the 3D-pixelface, the pixels use different scales.
34. nasachi
22 Jan 2010, 08:45 GMT
nice
i love Bit.Trip, probably the hardest games on any console this gen, nearly destroyed my wiimote ^^
35. Nintendo-Naut
22 Jan 2010, 15:58 GMT
Music AND platforming? M-must...B-buy.
36. pixelman
22 Jan 2010, 16:12 GMT
@JakobG: Commander Video definitely looks like a 2D sprite to me. The way they have him animated looks very odd, though hopefully it looks better in motion.
37. Swiket
22 Jan 2010, 19:10 GMT
@Nintendo-Naut: I am also intrigued by this strange new concept of "music" and "platforms" in the same game.
38. BrickleBrack
22 Jan 2010, 21:56 GMT
@pixelman I hear all the BIT.TRIP games are made in %100 3D. They talk about it in an Area 5 CO-OP video. Those screen shots also look like a full 3d world to me. Just my thoughts.
39. J D
22 Jan 2010, 23:56 GMT
from the sceen shot, it reminds me of Little Big Planet.
40. MuljoStpho
23 Jan 2010, 18:33 GMT
Beat was ****ing impossible, but cool. I really liked Core. It was tricky in parts and the 2nd level took forever to get through, but I think it was the most interesting out of the first three games. Void... Void's kind of weird. It seems pretty tough so far too, but I haven't been putting a lot of time into it.
Runner sounds neat so far and it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. And holy **** at 50 levels. I thought that had to be a typo when I first read it in the previous article about this.
41. Werble
23 Jan 2010, 22:43 GMT
I Bought core and played the demo of beat, but i didn't like either. this one looks like it will be much more fun. i hope it is much better then the other bit trips.
42. touffeboy
24 Jan 2010, 03:49 GMT
OH SHIT! look so good
43. joeshabadoo
25 Jan 2010, 17:25 GMT
wantwantwantwantwant
NEED
44. tambourine man
25 Jan 2010, 20:34 GMT
Am I the only one that likes the art style? Those 3d pixels are very stylish.
45. Vinsanity
26 Jan 2010, 02:21 GMT
Just have to say, he's wrong. Besides Vib Ribbon, there's another rythym platformer out there. "Maestro! Jump in Music". For DSiWare and iPhone, and it looks awesome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A88r_aC8wM&feature=player_embedded
46. motang
03 Feb 2010, 00:43 GMT
I am with @WhoKnew, I tired the other Bit.Trip games but I couldn't get into them, I really don't like rhythm games. But this one might be different.
47. Namo
27 Feb 2010, 12:10 GMT
They're getting Amanaguchi in on this? Now all they need to do is get Kulor in on it too! (http://8bitcollective.com/members/kulor/)
Then I can have a nerdgasm.