Also available on 3DS, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, OSX, and Windows Bit.Trip Flux is the last part of the original six game Bit.Trip series, and it turns the series into a bit of psuedo-Pong sandwich. The first game in the series, Beat, played like a rhythm-Pong with the paddle on the left side of the screen; the last game, Flux, plays like a more refined rhythm-Pong with the paddle on the right side of the screen. While it can seem a bit minimalistic when compared to added visual detail of Runner and Fate, it's a fitting end to the WiiWare series. Visually, Flux is very similar to Beat. Aurally, Flux is very similar to Beat. Mechanically, Flux is very similar to Beat. The biggest differences between the two other than general refinements are the side of the screen the paddle is on and the way the game is segmented. Whereas Beat was just three extremely long levels with a couple of "checkpoints" that didn't actually serve as checkpoints, Flux is broken up into three similarly long levels, but Flux's levels are broken into eight segments (the last of which is the boss). The biggest improvement in Flux is that the checkpoints between sections actually do serve as checkpoints allowing the player to restart from the last checkpoint rather than the beginning of the level. Granted, your progress through the level is lost if you quit, but it's still a very nice change over Flux. Bit.Trip Flux is a fitting end to the Bit.Trip series even if a bit anticlimactic depending on your feelings about Beat. It feels like the developers said "What if we had made Beat knowing everything that we know now after five games?" It's basically Beat but better, but that's not quite doing Flux justice. Flux does add a lot to the Beat's foundation, and the game's conclusion does have a good feeling of finality to the Bit.Trip series (except for the Runner sequels). I was a little disappointed, personally, that Flux was the series conclusion after having so thoroughly enjoying Runner and Fate, but that's not to say that Flux is a bad game. It's still a great time and wholly Bit.Trip; it's just not what I would have done for the end of the series. My Rating - A |
I'm a teacher.And I like to play video games. I like to collect video games. I like to talk about video games, and I like to write about video games. During the day, I teach high school history; during the night, I spend my spare time gaming. Then I write about it. Archives
April 2024
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