A Full Version Classic game for Windows, by Gaijin Games
BIT.TRIP Presents Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien is a full version Windows game, that is part of the category ‘Games’ and the subcategory ‘Arcade’, and created by Gaijin Games.
Compared to other games in its class that were made around the same time, BIT.TRIP Presents Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien has some pretty nice features.
Synchronized jumps
Runner 2 is a platform where the only thing that matters is jumping in sync. To do this, the character cannot move freely. All you have to do is jump, hit or dodge at the right moment, before or after (which is not that easy).
All levels have a left-to-right automatic scroll that moves at a constant speed. What does change are the obstacles that you find, and that combine with each other to make things difficult. If at first you just have to jump to avoid falling into the void, little by little the game introduces more difficulty with enemies that you have to dodge, walls that you must hit, shots that you must repel, bigger jumps, smaller ones, springs to bounce, fireballs…
You must dodge aach obstacle in a different way, so as the game introduces more difficulty and mixing these obstacles you will need a stronger “eye-finger” synchronization.
Runner 2 has five thematic worlds, with 19 levels to complete (including bonuses). In total 95 different phases to overcome. As you collect the gold levels you will get more score that give you access to new characters and dresses.
Very tight control
The good thing about Runner 2 is the control: it is precise and responds instantly. Not only that, but there is a wide variety of movements (much more than it seems at the beginning), and mastering them all requires patience and technique.
Runner 2 is an extremely simple and easy to control game, but it does not have an easy difficulty for it. Once the first 10 or 12 levels have been overcome, the game begins to mix the different movements of the character, sometimes at dizzying speeds, and becomes a synchronized combination of buttons (or keys) that you can only survive by instinct .
The end result of this simple but demanding control is an addictive gameplay. When you stop thinking, you respond quickly and you manage to overcome a level with a “Perfect”, then you reach a mood of euphoria. Believe me, Runner 2 can be very difficult but it rewards with pride.
A change towards 3D
If in the first Bit.Trip simple 2D graphics were used, in what was a tribute to the retro video game, now Runner 2 gets rid of all courtesy and moves to the 3D polygon.
The change has not hurt at all. The reason for success is that the game maintains that classic style of play but with that artistic freedom that the polygon brings. Runner 2 is colorful and endearing, the characters are varied and well animated, and the graphics engine behaves well with a smooth frame rate per second, even on modest computers.
Te music, once more, is still the best. Each level starts with a very simple musical base that, as you pick up objects and move forward, grows and expands. Besides the rest of sounds and sounds are also integrated with music. So the whole game is designed to create rhythmic melodies while playing what, personally, I found very addictive.
Simple but very addictive
Bit.Trip Runner was a great video game, this second installment is even better using a formula that is simplistic but addictive. The control, the graphics, the challenges, the music! Everything is designed to hook you up and keep playing. And it is already known: sometimes the simplest is what works best, and Runner 2 is the best proof of that.
