BIT.TRIP Beat is a very simple game to describe. It is a game of pong, where you, as the left side paddle, are bombarded with blocks to deflect. These blocks come at you at varying speeds, arcs, and even return after being deflected (a bit of a curveball).
Of course, there has to be ore to it than just pong, right? There is, but not very much.
The blocks you reflect play a different sound per note type, speed and where you happen to be when you hit them. This has the effect of playing a song when you play skilfully.
Yes, Pong has been turned into a music game.
As the levels get more difficult, the songs become much more intricate. Of course, you have a health bar and a bonus bar – filling up the bonus bar makes you go up a power level – also altering the sounds you make (seemingly, although I couldn't see the purpose of it really). Lose enough health, and you drop a level. Run out of health on the lowest level (which, incidentally, has a black and white screen, and sound consisting purely of 2-bit Pong beeps) and its game over.
Simple, right? Damn right!
Also note that I played the PC version, available on Steam.
What I liked
- Art Style
I'm a fan of retro games, so when a game comes along with an 8-bit style (of which there are surprisingly many) its easy to ignore, but I do enjoy the graphics in this game. Though with a premise like “Pong, but musical!” it's kind of difficult to justify making it anything but 8-bit! The graphics are functional – really, its just blocks flying around. It's harsh to expect anything more.
- Music Style
This is where things get a bit more interesting. The game maintains its retro feel mainly via the music consisting of chiptunes. While above I stated that it is a music game, the entirety of the music is also 8-bit. Although it does gain some synth properties once you reach the higher level, it keeps a retro feel to it.
What I hated
- Very few levels
There are only three levels in the game. Four if you count the bonus Portal themed level (which the developers certainly don't – you get an achievement for beating the game without playing the Portal level). This seems at odds with a game which seems to long for the days of old, with 8-bit everything! These older games were either infinite (due to the design simply allowing repeats of the same screen), or having a large amount of content.
- Levels are overly long
Each level can get quite long – every time you think you're done, another volley of blocks is sent your way! While this attempts to make up for the lack of numbers in the level, I find that for a game like this, its better to have more levels, and have them be shorter, rather than fewer levels but each one ridiculously long.
Even with the long levels, the amount of content still seems short. If you are good at pong, you can finish all the levels within an hour or so.
All in all, BIT.TRIP Beat is an entertaining diversion from other titles, but its short length pretty much strands it. While it allows for a lot of replayability (music games always feel replayable), its not something I find myself returning to often, mainly due to the dated gameplay. If you feel like playing something old school, you could do worse.
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