Bit.Trip



"I command destiny. Technology is fleeting. With rhythm comes responsibility. I command rhythm. By being, we are charged to command. The subordinate is superior. We are all commanders. We are all on a BIT.TRIP."

- CommanderVideo, Nintendo Power Issue 244

""It's a basic story. Life and death. It's the story of a human's life. You are nothing--or are you? And then you are, and then what do you do with your life? And then it ends. No one really knows before you're born and then you die. People have beliefs but nobody really knows.""

- Alex Neuse

Alright, let's put this as straight as possible: you are playing Atari 2600 games while high on acid. While listening to NES music. Nothing could be more awesome.

Bit.Trip is a series of rhythm games, originally for Wii Ware, developed by Gaijin Games. The specific games are:
 * Bit.Trip Beat, is like a game of single-player Pong where you must defend the left side of the screen from an onslaught of bouncing squares (called "beats") using only a tiny paddle. Once you start to get the hang of things, the beats start moving faster, circling around in unpredictable patterns, and using every part of the game experience to issue a challenge of both real and fake difficulty'', setting the tone for the series. Also available on Steam and IOS Games.
 * Bit.Trip Core, was released four months after the first. It changes the control scheme around a little bit, ditching the Pong paddle and replacing it with a red D-pad in the center of the screen that shoots lasers at the passing beats.
 * Bit.Trip Void, puts you in control of a black hole which can move around to suck up black beats and dodge white beats. It was released November 2009, making it the third Bit.Trip game to be announced and released within the course of a year, and the mid point of the six game series as a whole.
 * Bit.Trip Runner, breaks many established attributes of the series, and begins Gaijin's promise to turn down the Mind Screw factor and begin to reveal the truth behind the plot. Released in June 2010, it is a platformer among the lines of Vib Ribbon and Canabalt thrown in. The second game available on Steam. Has a sequel in development.
 * Bit.Trip Fate was released on October 25, 2010. It is a literal Rail Shooter, with the Five-Man Band from the last game serving as powerups. It represented a merging of the literal and figurative aspects of the series, and is notably darker in theme than the others.
 * The sixth and final game Bit.Trip Flux was released February 28, 2011. In essence, it is a horizontal reversal of the first game, but with elements taken from each of the other games in the series.

A pair of Compilation Rereleases titled Bit.Trip Saga and Bit.Trip Complete are available for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii respectively. The 3DS version features 3D, control changes to accomodate the lack of a Wiimote and of course, portability, while the Wii version features three difficulty levels, a soundtrack CD, online leaderboards, and other extras for fans who have followed the series the whole way through.

The initial hype for these games came from an online Viral Marketing campaign, encouraging users to try and decode hidden messages from a mysterious "CommanderVideo" entity. CommanderVideo is portrayed in the game's story cutscenes as a box/astronaut/television-like creature, and the story follows his adventures through space as he matures, assembles a Five-Man Band, and beats up a gear robot to... uh... well, nobody's really too sure. The series does have a plot, but it's entirely based on All There in the Manual (which Bit.Trip Complete includes as in-game liner notes). It's mostly symbolic instead of literal in terms of storytelling, and it was only once the series was completed that people could reflect on the series as a whole for its meaning. .

The games are critically acclaimed for their nostalgic retro quality, brutal but addictive difficulty, and kickass soundtracks that build themselves as the levels progress.

"NETHER. HYPER. MEGA! SUPER! ULTRA! EXTRA!! GIGA!!!"
 * 100% Completion:
 * It's a little known fact that hitting all the beats in a single song will get you acknowledgment at the score screen. Though, it's no surprise not many people have seen it.
 * Bit.Trip Complete has a hundred and twenty Challenges (twenty in each game) to play through. It also has plenty of unlockables... of which the Songs require you to get Perfects.
 * All There in the Manual: Confirming most of a certain WMG.
 * Alternate Reality Game: The PC version of Bit.Trip Beat is one of the Potato Sack: 13 indie games that form the bulk of the material of Valve's "PotatoFoolsDay" Portal 2 ARG.
 * Arch Enemy/Big Bad: Mingrawn Timbletot.
 * Arc Words: "I am only a man"
 * Art Shift: Bit.Trip Runner 2 has a more cartoony art style, although players will have the choice of selecting CommanderVideo's "retro" appearance.
 * Ascended Glitch: In Bit.Trip Beat, hitting the pong ball with the corners of Player 2's paddle will cause the ball to gain way too much momentum and go haywire, making the final boss trivial to beat. When the game was patched, Gaijin specifically didn't fix the bug because it was a "cool advanced technique".
 * Back for the Finale: Bit.Trip Flux has many gameplay elements from all five of the previous games:
 * From Bit.Trip Beat: the core gameplay.
 * From Bit.Trip Core: some of the power-ups.
 * From Bit.Trip Void: the inclusion of checkpoints and Beats that harm you if you try to repel them.
 * From Bit.Trip Runner: CommanderVideo's main theme from this returns in the third level.
 * From Bit.Trip Fate: messages that fly by in the background of each stage segment.
 * Bonus Stage: Collecting all pieces gold in a stage in Bit.Trip Runner will activate one at the end of said stage.
 * Book Ends:
 * The first and last games of the series, Bit.Trip Beat and Bit.Trip Flux respectively, have identical controls, but on opposite ends of the screen.
 * Every song in Bit.Trip Flux is based upon Transition, the first song in Bit.Trip Beat, in some way. The opening theme is based upon Growth, the third song in Bit.Trip Beat, as well as "Move to Intercept", the menu theme of that game (made by the same guy).
 * Boss Dissonance: It varies by game.
 * Bit.Trip Beat has easier bosses than levels.
 * Bit.Trip Void has harder bosses than levels.
 * Bit.Trip Runner has easier bosses than levels; the game even makes it more or less impossible to not get a perfect on them.
 * Bit.Trip Fate has harder bosses than levels.
 * Bit.Trip Flux has easier bosses than levels.
 * Bullet Hell: Bit.Trip Beat and Bit.Trip Core are rare inversions where you must hit all the dots instead of dodging them. In Bit.Trip Void and Bit.Trip Flux, you have to do both. The final boss in Bit.Trip Void is also a textbook example of classic Bullet Hell. Bit.Trip Fate is the straightest example, being an actual shoot 'em up, complete with tiny hitbox.
 * Call Back: In the background of Bit.Trip Flux are the level names and other statements from previous games in the series, representing.
 * Call Forward: Some of the names are those of later stages in Bit.Trip Flux, possibly to reinforce the non-linearity of time in the ethereal.
 * Character Development: CommanderVideo throughout the series.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: In Bit.Trip Runner, Junior Melchkin, Radbot and Meat Boy each appear in the background once (the former two appearing in the levels named after themselves, the latter in "Gall Blaster"). Eventually, they all show up in "The Source", assisting in CommanderVideo's Roof Hopping. CommandgirlVideo also shows up in this level, though it isn't until after the level that CommanderVideo takes notice...
 * Co-Op Multiplayer: With four players in Bit.Trip Beat and Bit.Trip Void, and two players in Bit.Trip Core, Bit.Trip Fate and Bit.Trip Flux. Bit.Trip Beat, Bit.Trip Core, Bit.Trip Void and Bit.Trip Flux are all individual-style, while Bit.Trip Fate is assistant-style. Averted in Bit.Trip Runner for storyline reasons and averted completely in Bit.Trip Saga, likely out of space concerns.
 * Color-Coded Multiplayer: Played straight in Bit.Trip Beat and Bit.Trip Core, but averted in Bit.Trip Void (the players are identified by the number next to their Void instead).
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: Conspicuously averted in Bit.Trip Flux, in which every beat is the same color, including the ones that bounce back and must be hit again an instant later.
 * Continuing Is Painful: If you die in Bit.Trip Void, you have the choice between accepting your current score for the high score list, or losing all your points to continue. Averted somewhat in Bit.Trip Runner. If you hit an obstacle in one of the stages, you just get instantly shunted back to the start of the stage to do it all over (although you do have to re-get all the points you got up to the point you 'died'). There is no limit as to how many times this can happen: just keep going until you get it. Note that this does not apply to Retro Challenges, which are just there to give you bonus points. Though at a certain point, going through a level over and over only to die on a point near the end gets painful.
 * Cosmetic Award: The "PERFECT!" acknowledgment on the scoreboard. This does extend to real life as getting the elusive title gives you name recognition on the official site.
 * Crapsack World: Triumph in Bit.Trip Runner, and all of Bit.Trip Fate.
 * Crossover: Meat Boy and Mr. Robotube.
 * Darker and Edgier: Bit.Trip Fate.
 * Difficulty Levels: The IOS Games, PC and Bit.Trip Complete versions have an Easy Mode and a Hard Mode, which influence how fast the meters going both ways fill.
 * Distaff Counterpart: CommanderVideo gets one in Bit.Trip Runner. She's even named "CommandgirlVideo".
 * Downer Ending:
 * Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Fate both.
 * Downloadable Content: The iOS version of Bit.Trip Beat currently has a level pack based on Bit.Trip Void.
 * Dropped a Bridge on Him: In the first cutscene of Bit.Trip Fate alone,.
 * Easter Egg:
 * There's actually a Game Over in Bit.Trip Runner, though it requires a completely Epic Fail on your part.
 * You can play random notes in all the games by pressing a button that isn't used for any purpose in that game.
 * Easy Mode Mockery: In Bit.Trip Runner, playing on Easy removes the gold and Retro Challenges, and makes it impossible to get a Perfect.
 * The End of the Beginning: Level 1-10 of Bit.Trip Runner.
 * Everything's Better with Rainbows: However, Bit.Trip's rainbow has a distinctly different color arrangement.
 * Everything's Better with Sparkles: As you Mode Up in Bit.Trip Runner, CommanderVideo will leave behind a trail of sparkles, which eventually becomes his distinctive rainbow trail.
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's like an acid trip. And, somewhere, bits are involved. Made even more hilarious in Bit.Trip Flux, which gets binary digits involved.
 * Fade to White: At the end of Bit.Trip Flux..
 * Final Exam Boss: Bit.Trip Core's final boss is essentially a test of how well you remembered specific patterns in all of the levels.
 * Five-Man Band: The Stinger in Bit.Trip Runner pretty much solidifies it.
 * Flash of Pain: The enemies in Bit.Trip Fate flash red when hit.
 * Foreshadowing:.
 * Get Back Here Boss: The final boss of RUNNER.
 * Goomba Stomp:.
 * Hard Mode Perks: In Bit.Trip Flux, playing on Hard increases the amount of Beats missed required to drop a level.
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Bit.Trip Fate.
 * Hitbox Dissonance: In Bit.Trip Fate, bullets pass through CommanderVideo unless they hit his Core.
 * Homage:
 * The boss of each song simulates an old Atari 2600 or Arcade game. Bit.Trip Beat had a sideways game of Breakout and an actual game of Pong against an AI, and Bit.Trip Core had strange versions of Missile Command and Asteroids.
 * Each stage in Bit.Trip Runner has a respective "retro stage" that resembles Pitfall.
 * The Homeward Journey: The premise of Bit.Trip Flux.
 * Idiosyncratic Combo Levels: The music in each game changes slightly depending on combo, in addition to the names of the extra modes, which trigger in sequence based on some level of combo. NETHER is the lowest, HYPER is normal, then MEGA, SUPER, ULTRA, EXTRA, GIGA and META, with SUPER onwards being added in each subsequent game.
 * Interface Screw:
 * The trippy background images and particle effects are enough to distract you from the field of play. This is completely intentional.
 * Don't forget the "Challenge" portions of Bit.Trip Beat, Bit.Trip Core, Bit.Trip Void and Bit.Trip Flux, where your paddle is shrunk down to half-size, your Control Stick is reversed, or you have to rotate the actual controller 90 degrees around the Control Pad to match what's onscreen.
 * Interquel: Gaijin Games have stated on Twitter that Bit.Trip Runner 2 will take place between Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Fate.
 * Large Ham: CommanderVideo himself. Just listen to his haiku readings.
 * Listen closely in Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Fate. CommanderVideo announces the mode he transitions to.
 * Large Ham: CommanderVideo himself. Just listen to his haiku readings.
 * Listen closely in Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Fate. CommanderVideo announces the mode he transitions to.

": "You are only human.""
 * Leitmotif:
 * An identical-sounding heartbeat-like bass track is present in many of the series' songs, including Transition, Control, Id and nearly everything in Bit.Trip Runner.
 * CommanderVideo has a theme song that plays in the first world of Bit.Trip Runner, . The distinctive first four notes play in varying orders in the first level of Bit.Trip Beat and.
 * Love At First Sight: CommanderVideo and CommandgirlVideo.
 * Lying Creator: In regards to Bit.Trip Runner, the developers have said, "We don't have a Mackle Fussybuck, but we do have: Jabol Smabbler, Junior Melchkin, Flyss Whizzle, Mingrawn Timbletot, Leftwise Gestersmek (and a Rightwise one to boot), Hairy Knorkwhisp, and our favorite... The Non Trotski. Basically, we're makin' this shit up." The thing is, they're all names of various stages in the game.
 * Mind Screw: The whole freaking thing. The first game's story is about CommanderVideo flying through space, exploring the inside of a planet, and then... uh... building a brain out of voxels. The second game is about CommanderVideo meeting other people, exploring a city with them, and then acquiring independence from them. The third game had CommanderVideo growing in size and harassing the populace until they combine themselves into an even bigger giant, at which point the Commander is intimidated down to size and decides to make amends with the others. What does it all mean? Your guess is as good as mine.
 * Fortunately, starting with Bit.Trip Runner, the series will stop messing with our minds and show us what's really going on.
 * While Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Fate made enough literal sense, Bit.Trip Flux returns to oblique symbolic metaphors, once again leaving everyone clueless.
 * Mind Screwdriver: The readme files for the soundtracks have some interesting hints: that Bit.Trip Beat is about CommanderVideo's "aural journey from the ethereal to the corporeal", that Bit.Trip Core is about his "aural soul quest as he transitions into the land of the tactile", that Bit.Trip Void is about his "aural soul quest as he learns what it means to interact with others", and that Bit.Trip Runner is about him "tak[ing] the world by storm." Indeed, if the story is considered to be a chronicle of a man's existence, a lot of things suddenly start to make sense.
 * Alex Neuse, the game's creator, has confirmed that Commander Video's story is about the development of human life.
 * Musical Gameplay:
 * Hitting the Beats (or doing successful actions in Bit.Trip Runner or downing enemies in Bit.Trip Fate) makes beeping noises that contributes to the music.
 * In Bit.Trip Beat and Bit.Trip Flux, stereo is utilized by playing one blip on your paddle's side when it hits, then another on the other side when it goes off-screen.
 * Musical Nod: "Transition" from Bit.Trip Beat briefly plays during the opening to Bit.Trip Runner's "Triumph" stage. A bit from the "Concept" cutscene from Bit.Trip Beat also plays in the cutscene after "Triumph".
 * Nintendo Hard:
 * There's a very good reason why they go through the trouble of including everyone who's ever gotten a "PERFECT!" on a stage on their website.
 * Of all of them, Bit.Trip Fate and Bit.Trip Core are quite a bit harder than the rest.
 * Hmm, would Atari Hard count?
 * Breather Game: Bit.Trip Void and Bit.Trip Flux are noticeably easier than other games. Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Beat are about the middle of the road.
 * One-Hit-Point Wonder:
 * Subverted in Bit.Trip Runner, where CommanderVideo can only take one hit, but is merely sent to the beginning of the stage.
 * Unless you miss the final spring in the last level, after which you get to watch the Commander twitch on the ground until the Game Over screen pops up.
 * Pixel Hunt:
 * Happens often with Beats due to the Interface Screw. And you only have about half a second to catch sight of that little thing anyways.
 * Possibly made worse in Bit.Trip Flux since every single beat is the same color: white (however, given that the background gets increasingly bright and colorful with each Mode, this can become a bit of a mercy). They do have a faint colored glow around each one, but good luck seeing which one's which.
 * Playing Tennis With the Boss: The final boss of Bit.Trip Beat, and the first boss of Bit.Trip Flux.
 * The final boss of Bit.Trip Flux.
 * Power of Love: The Commander and his team believe this fighting Mingrawn Timbletot..
 * Product Placement: NULLSLEEP's logo appears as part of Super-Ego's beat pattern in Bit.Trip Void, accompanied by the word NULLSLEEP passing by in the background.
 * Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
 * The end of Bit.Trip Void has CommanderVideo exclaiming, "I! Am! READY!"
 * Also, Mingrawn Timbletot caps off Bit.Trip Runner by darkly declaring, "You... are... not... a... man!".
 * Rail Shooter: Literally in Bit.Trip Fate: CommanderVideo is on a rail, and you control both him and a crosshair.
 * Ray Gun: Most prominently in Bit.Trip Fate, coming in many forms depending on what wingmate powerup you have and your Mode; (though not with sound effects or (except in a few cases) traditional "laser weapon" looks) the enemies use this as well. Gratuitously.
 * Recurring Boss: Mingrawn Timbletot in Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Fate..
 * Retraux
 * Rhythm Game: The games' genre is filed under "Retro Rhythm Action".
 * Robot Buddy: Radbot and Mr. Robotube both.
 * Roof Hopping: Present in Bit.Trip Runner. According to this review, this was going to be the entirety of "Triumph", but the guys at Gaijin discovered Canabalt and relocated most of the action to the streets of the Capital City, only hitting the roofs at the very last level.
 * Rule of Three: There are three songs in each game: Bit.Trip Beat had "Transition", "Descent" and "Growth"; Bit.Trip Core had "Discovery", "Exploration" and "Control"; Bit.Trip Void had "Id", "Ego" and "Super-Ego"; Bit.Trip Runner had "Impetus", "Tenacity" and "Triumph"; Bit.Trip Fate has "Patience", "Frustration" and "Anger"; and Bit.Trip Flux had "Epiphany", "Perception" and "Catharsis".
 * Running Gag: "I am only a man!" seems to be this. Seen in Triumph are posters with cats that read "I am only a cat."
 * "I AM ONLY A CAT!" is actually available as fan-made merchandise.
 * From the PotatoFoolsDay level " ":


 * Scare Chord: While you are playing the first two levels in Bit.Trip Fate, a startlingly loud sound is heard accompanied by either a bleak message like "NO FUTURE" or "NO MEANING", or the level's boss, and the song itself moves onto its next part. The same thing happens in the other four levels, only the sound isn't abruptly loud.
 * Schizophrenic Difficulty: Granted you play multiple times, some parts will become simple, while others will screw you up every damn time. For specific examples of levels, see the Breather Level and That One Level examples in the YMMV page.
 * Scoring Points: One of the taglines for Bit.Trip Beat was "Points matter again" (though, for rhythm games, didn't they always?).
 * Sequel Difficulty Spike: Thoroughly averted. They're all hard.
 * Sequel Escalation: Each game so far adds a new Mode to Mode Up into. Nether, Hyper, and Mega Modes were the first ones featured in Bit.Trip Beat, then Bit.Trip Core added Super Mode, followed by Ultra Mode in Bit.Trip Void, Extra Mode in Bit.Trip Runner, Giga Mode in Bit.Trip Fate, and finally Meta Mode in Bit.Trip Flux. Yet another instance of the games' Idiosyncratic Combo Levels.
 * Sequel Hook:
 * The first two games had these as Meaningful Background Events, as a Core and a Void both popped up towards the end of the final levels in Bit.Trip Beat and Bit.Trip Core, respectively. The third game had CommanderVideo running increasingly fast in The Stinger of Bit.Trip Void to tie into Bit.Trip Runner. As well as the subsequent "I..am...READY!!" following said running.
 * The floating bricks and the flapping birds/bats in the background near the end of Bit.Trip Void also hold significance to both Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Fate (they're similar to the flies around the garbage seen in Triumph for Bit.Trip Runner).
 * The fourth game had the Five-Man Band shown in The Stinger confronting an angry Mingrawn Timbletot, who flies away screaming "YOU ARE NOT A MAN!".
 * And the fifth game has CommanderVideo becoming a spirit and rising up offscreen, ready to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence and begin The Homeward Journey. No dialogue here, unlike the others.
 * The sixth game has . Seeing as the game's story goes in a circle, this could count as a Sequel Hook of sorts.
 * Shout-Out: The Arecibo message makes an appearance in the first level in Bit.Trip Beat (but with CommanderVideo replacing the human figure). It also makes a brief appearance in the final level of Bit.Trip Flux.
 * The game is chock-full of video game references.
 * Bit.Trip Beat's second and third bosses are games of Breakout and Pong respectively.
 * Bit.Trip Core's second and third bosses are based on Missile Command and Asteroids respectively.
 * Bit.Trip Void's first and second bosses are based on Spy Hunter and Pac-Man respectively.
 * Bit.Trip Runner has the level names Crater Raider and Sewer Snark.
 * CommanderVideo's form in the cutscenes of Bit.Trip Flux resembles the freeform pointer of the Magnavox Odyssey.
 * Silent Credits: Bit.Trip Flux.
 * Some Dexterity Required: While the controls are simple enough, the things the game makes you do with them can only be described as combos from hell. Add to that the fact that Bit.Trip Beat and Bit.Trip Flux use non-optional motion controls: the muscle memory has to be all in your wrists.
 * Special Guest: Each game has a chiptune artist that provides the menu and credits songs. Both Bit.Trip Beat and Bit.Trip Flux have Bit Shifter (he only made the menu music for the latter, however, as it has Silent Credits instead), Bit.Trip Core has Bubblyfish, Bit.Trip Void has Nullsleep, Bit.Trip Runner has Anamanaguchi, and Bit.Trip Fate has Minusbaby. And it appears that music by electric group Zonotope will be in Bit.Trip Runner 2.
 * Spin-Off: BIT.TONIK, a collaboration between Gaijin Games and Robotube Games, made in a single day during Blip Fest 2009 in what was called the "BATTLE OF THE BRANDS". The gameplay is essentially a crossover of Bit.Trip Beat and Bloktonik. The Obvious Beta version available is what they managed to get done in a single day. Bit.Trip Runner 2: The Future Legend of Rhythm Alien is one for Bit.Trip Runner, and is being designed in a radically different style.
 * Springs Springs Everywhere: In Bit.Trip Runner.
 * Sprite Polygon Mix: The playing field is simple 2D, the backgrounds are all 3D environments (except for Bit.Trip Void, but its cutscenes still feature them) Averted in Bit.Trip Runner's Retro Stages, which are solely 2D.
 * : CommaderVideo's Finishing Move on the Mingrawn Timbletot in Bit.Trip Fate.
 * Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: CommandgirlVideo.
 * Theme Naming: Every game name except Bit.Trip Runner and Bit.Trip Complete is only four characters long. In addition, most of them are pretty descriptive of gameplay: Bit.Trip Runner is about... running, Bit.Trip Void has you controlling a movable black hole, and so on.
 * Tonight Someone Dies: Bit.Trip Fate seems to have this going on... even the WiiWare icon for the game has Black Blood dripping from it. And for even more credence, Bit.Trip Runner's stinger had the Big Bad wishing death upon CommanderVideo..
 * Unexpected Gameplay Change: Bit.Trip Beat has you playing a game of Breakout for one boss and an authentic game of Pong for another, at which points the rhythm aspect of the game would be completely set aside. Though if you listen closely, the bouncing of the ball from the walls and paddles does kinda follow the rhythm.
 * Variable Mix:
 * The music gets a techno beat if you're in "Mega" mode (and above). If you go down to "Nether" mode, the music is turned off completely.
 * In games after Bit.Trip Beat, "Nether" has a metronome to help you out.
 * In Bit.Trip Flux, the music doesn't change, but instead the instrument used when Beats hit the paddle and leave the screen change... all the way up to a violin in Meta mode.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: The website takes this trope and runs with it. The whole way.
 * : At the end of Bit.Trip Flux, you are presented with . It is, by far, the best parody of the trope.
 * In Bit.Trip Flux, the music doesn't change, but instead the instrument used when Beats hit the paddle and leave the screen change... all the way up to a violin in Meta mode.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: The website takes this trope and runs with it. The whole way.
 * : At the end of Bit.Trip Flux, you are presented with . It is, by far, the best parody of the trope.