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{{quote|"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 [[Not Making This Up Disclaimer|as straight as possible]]: you are playing [[Atari Twenty Six Hundred|Atari26002600]] games [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made Onon Drugs?|while high on acid]]. While listening to [[NES]] music. Nothing could be [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|more awesome]].
 
''BIT.TRIP'' is a series of [[Rhythm Game|rhythm games]], originally for [[Wii Ware]], developed by Gaijin Games. The specific games are:
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=== This Series Provides Examples Of: ===
* [[All There in the Manual]]: ''Confirming'' most of a certain WMG.
* [[Alternate Reality Game]]: The PC version of ''BEAT'' is one of the Potato Sack: 13 indie games that form the bulk of the material of [[Valve]]'s "[http://valvearg.com/wiki/Valve_ARG_Wiki PotatoFoolsDay]" ''[[Portal 2 (Video Game)|Portal 2]]'' ARG.
* [[Arch Enemy]]/[[Big Bad]]: Mingrawn Timbletot.
* [[Arc Words]]: "I am only a man"
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* [[Ascended Glitch]]: In ''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".
* {{spoiler|[[A Winner Is You]]}}: At the end of ''FLUX'', you are presented with {{spoiler|a GAME OVER screen}}. It is, by far, the best parody of the trope.
* [[Back for Thethe Finale]]: ''FLUX'' has many gameplay elements from all five of the previous games:
** From ''BEAT'': The core gameplay.
** From ''CORE'': Some of the power-ups.
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** [[Call Forward]]: Some of the names are those of later stages in ''FLUX'', possibly to reinforce the non-linearity of time in the ethereal.
* [[Character Development]]: CommanderVideo throughout the series.
* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: In ''RUNNER'', Junior Melchkin, Radbot, and [[Meat Boy (Video Game)|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...
* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: Conspicuously averted in ''FLUX'', in which every beat is the same color, including the ones that bounce back and must be hit again an instant later.
* [[Color-Coded Multiplayer]]: Played straight in ''BEAT'' and ''CORE'', but averted in ''VOID'' (the players are identified by the number next to their Void instead).
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* [[Cosmetic Award]]: The "PERFECT!" acknowledgment on the scoreboard. This does extend to real life as getting the elusive title gives you [http://commandervideo.com/perfects.html name recognition on the official site].
* [[Crapsack World]]: Triumph in ''RUNNER'', and all of ''FATE''.
* [[Crossover]]: [[Meat Boy (Video Game)|Meat Boy]] and [[Robotube Games|Mr. Robotube]].
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: ''FATE''.
* [[Difficulty Levels]]: The [[IOS Games]], PC and ''COMPLETE'' versions have an Easy Mode and a Hard Mode, which influence how fast the meters going both ways fill.
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* [[Downer Ending]]: ''RUNNER'' and ''FATE'' both.
** {{spoiler|''FLUX'' somewhat as well; the final scene of the series has the Commander forgetting even himself, but then again there's that bit of [[Recurring Riff|"Transition"]] that pops up.}}
* [[Dropped a Bridge Onon Him]]: In the first cutscene of ''FATE'' alone, {{spoiler|Radbot apparently stops working altogether, and his head splits apart, revealing Mr. Robotube}}.
* [[Easter Egg]]: There's actually a [[Game Over]] in ''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 ''RUNNER'', playing on Easy removes the gold and Retro Challenges, and makes it impossible to get a Perfect.
* [[Everything's Better Withwith Rainbows]]: However, ''BIT.TRIP'''s rainbow has a distinctly different color arrangement.
* [[Everything's Better Withwith Sparkles]]: As you Mode Up in ''RUNNER'', CommanderVideo will leave behind a trail of sparkles, which eventually becomes his distinctive rainbow trail.
* [[The End of the Beginning]]: Level 1-10 of ''RUNNER''.
* [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin]]: It's like an acid trip. And, somewhere, bits are involved. Made even more hilarious in ''FLUX'', which gets ''binary digits'' involved.
* [[Fade to White]]: At the end of ''FLUX''. {{spoiler|You keep playing but ultimately have to stop because you can't see (the beats and panel are both white in this game). And then you hear [[Reincarnation|Transition start.]]}}
* [[Final Exam Boss]]: ''CORE'''s final boss is essentially a test of how well you remembered specific patterns in all of the levels.
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* [[Hitbox Dissonance]]: In ''FATE'', bullets pass through CommanderVideo unless they hit his Core.
* [[Homage]]:
** The boss of each song simulates an old [[Atari Twenty Six Hundred|Atari26002600]] or Arcade game. ''BEAT'' had a sideways game of ''[[Breakout]]'' and an ''actual game of [[Pong]] against an AI'', and ''CORE'' had strange versions of ''[[Missile Command]]'' and ''[[Asteroids]]''.
** Each stage in ''RUNNER'' has a respective [[Bonus Stage|"retro stage"]] that resembles [[Pitfall]].
* [[The Homeward Journey]]: The premise of ''FLUX''.
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* [[Lying Creator]]: In regards to ''RUNNER'', the developers [http://www.destructoid.com/bit-trip-4-is-called-bit-trip-runner-has-non-trotski-158673.phtml have said], "We don't have a Mackle Fussybuck, but we do have: Jabol Smabbler, Junior Melchkin, Flyss Whizzle, [[Early-Bird Cameo|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.
* [[Milestone Celebration]]: [http://www.bittripgame.com/ The launch of the series website] a year after the first game was released.
* [[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 [[Attack of the Fifty50 Foot Whatever|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 [[Defeat Means Friendship|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 ''RUNNER'' and ''FATE'' made enough literal sense, ''FLUX'' returns to oblique symbolic metaphors, once again leaving everyone clueless.
* [[Mind Screwdriver]]: The readme files for the soundtracks have some interesting hints: that ''BEAT'' is about CommanderVideo's "aural journey from the ethereal to the corporeal", that ''CORE'' is about his "aural soul quest as he transitions into the land of the tactile", that ''VOID'' is about his "aural soul quest as he learns what it means to interact with others", and that ''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, [[Bit .Trip (Video Game)/WMG|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 ''RUNNER'' or downing enemies in ''FATE'') makes beeping noises that contributes to the music.
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** "I AM ONLY A CAT!" is actually available as fan-made merchandise.
** From the PotatoFoolsDay level "<test>":
{{quote| {{spoiler|[[Portal (Video Gameseries)|GLaDos]]}}: "You are only human."}}
* [[Scare Chord]]: While you are playing the first two levels in ''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.
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** The floating bricks and the flapping birds/bats in the background near the end of ''VOID'' also hold significance to both ''RUNNER'' and ''FATE''. (They're similar to the flies around the garbage seen in Triumph for ''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 Aa Higher Plane of Existence]] and begin [[The Homeward Journey]]. No dialogue here, unlike the others.
** The sixth game has {{spoiler|a sequence called "Home" played after completing Catharsis, where you are able to, interspersedly, hit the same sequence of Beats from the very beginning of Transition from ''BEAT'', in the same order}}. Seeing as the game's story goes in a circle, this could count as a [[Sequel Hook]] of sorts.
* {{spoiler|[[Sheathe Your Sword]]: In an incredibly meta example, ''FLUX'' literally makes the player do this at the end.}}
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* [[Silent Credits]]: ''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 ''BEAT'' and ''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 ''BEAT'' and ''FLUX'' have [http://bit.shifter.net/ Bit Shifter] (he only made the menu music for the latter, however, as it has [[Silent Credits]] instead), ''CORE'' has [http://www.bubblyfish.com Bubblyfish], ''VOID'' has [http://www.nullsleep.com Nullsleep], ''RUNNER'' has [[Anamanaguchi (Music)|Anamanaguchi]], and ''FATE'' has [http://www.minusbaby.com/ Minusbaby].
** And it appears that music by [http://zonotope.bandcamp.com/ electric group Zonotope] will be in ''RUNNER 2''.
* [[Spin-Off]]: ''[http://robotubegames.com/bittonik-blip-fest-09-gaijinrobotube-battle-brands BIT.TONIK]'', a collaboration between Gaijin Games and Robotube Games, made in a single day during Blip Fest 2009 in what was called the "[http://www.gaijingames.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blipfestflyer.jpg 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.
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** Averted in ''RUNNER'''s Retro Stages, which are solely 2D.
* {{spoiler|[[Suicide Attack]]}}: CommaderVideo's [[Finishing Move]] on the Mingrawn Timbletot in ''FATE''.
** {{spoiler|[[Taking You Withwith Me]]}}
** {{spoiler|[[The Hero Dies]]: Commandergirl Video cries for you}}
* [[Tertiary Sexual Characteristics]]: CommandgirlVideo.
* [[Theme Naming]]: Every game name except ''RUNNER'' and ''COMPLETE'' is only 4 characters long. In addition, most of them are pretty descriptive of gameplay: ''RUNNER'' is about... [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|running]], ''VOID'' has you controlling a movable black hole, and so on.
* [[Tonight Someone Dies]]: ''FATE'' seems to have this going on -- even [http://www.bittripgame.com/images/box-FATE.png the WiiWare icon for the game] has [[Black Blood]] dripping from it. And for even more credence, ''RUNNER'''s [[The Stinger|stinger]] had the [[Big Bad]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI21HtsIzic wishing death upon CommanderVideo].
** {{spoiler|And the Commander does die at the end of the game in a [[Suicide Attack]]}}.
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{{quote| ''There is a lot of content in the first viral campaign that won't make sense until sometime well into the future. Everything in [http://www.vimeo.com/2576444 that video] has meaning in CommanderVideo's world.''}}
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: [http://www.bittripgame.com/bittrip-beat.html The website] [http://www.bittripgame.com/bittrip-core.html takes this] [http://www.bittripgame.com/bittrip-void.html trope and] [http://www.bittripgame.com/bittrip-runner.html runs] [http://www.bittripgame.com/bittrip-fate.html with it.] [http://www.bittripgame.com/bittrip-flux.html The whole way.]
* [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made Onon Drugs?]]: You can't get any closer to this if you ''tried'', folks. The "trip" in the game title [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|is not lying to you]].
** The only level that ''was'' was [http://wiiware.nintendolife.com/news/2011/03/features_the_history_of_bittrip_part_1 the last level of the first game], which was made on dentist's drugs.
** No WONDER it was so har--[[Nintendo Hard|wait...]]
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