3.5/5 ★ – Speady9's review of BIT.TRIP BEAT.

Bit.Trip Beat is my first experience with the series. Rhythm games are always mixed for me personally; some fantastic, some mediocre. The more I digested this one, the more I leaned towards the former. Beat is more of an arcade game with musical immersion. The influence of old-school arcade games, specifically Pong, is extremely apparent from the start. While I do wish it was just a bit longer, I can understand it being short from an "arcade" standpoint. This game only has 3 stages, but it doesn't hold back on difficulty. I found the game's health system to be quite intriguing, essentially adapting the music and effects to your hits and misses. Even the boss fights, while again I wish there were a bit more, are even more fun arcade tributes I won't spoil for newcomers. Motion/mouse controls were definitely a good call on this one. This is a fun game, if you're looking for a musical scratch. The strange, convoluted design of its world only makes me more curious to dive into the rabbit hole of other Bit.Trip games.