Bit Boy!! Arcade

Game Info

Bit Boy!! started it’s life out as a WiiWare title.  I have never had a chance to play the Wii version’s trip through video game history but have read that it was plagued with some issues, but Bplus has literally revived Bit Boy!! in an new 3DS title called Bit Boy!! Arcade.

Bit Boy!! Arcade’s story starts out with the real life game designer from the game reviving the main character Kubi (Who suspiciously sounds like a demon.) From here the game picks up and you are greeted by maze puzzles in which you guide Kubi down to collect Pixelfiles.  The overworld map has some cool ideas in it where you can go to new levels after achieving a certain amount of points.  There definitely isn’t a lack of content here either, with over 200 different Phases to play through, 1,491 Pixel Friends to rescue and  4,200 PixelFlies to revive.  There are also 50 achievements to be earned and some pretty cool boss fights.

The gameplay is super simple and reminds me of a new age pac-man.  You can either use the d-pad or the letter buttons to move Kubi.  He moves by turning over on his side like you would expect a cube to do.  The enemies you will have to avoid have a set pattern and after you watch them for a little while you will get down when to move and when not to.  Some frustrating moments are when you are moving down a path toward yourself and you cant see the enemy coming down the same path and you run smack into him.  Another weird design choice is that you can roll off the side of the paths sometimes but there isn’t an rhyme or reason to where or why you can do it in some areas.

Graphically, the game looks great for an indie title and 3DS game.  You can tell that the developer put some love into the graphics and sound.  Some of the later levels look immaculate, as the levels evolve over the course of the game.   The music has a nice techy feel and the game has over 2 hours of voice acting which is impressive as hell for a 3DS game, even if it does sound a little weird for the characters.

The Recommendation

Not playing the original game for the WiiWare I can only judge this game by what I have in front of me.  The game looks good graphically, the sound is pretty sweet with the voice acting and it has a boat load of content to be collected and unlocked.  The gameplay elements even though simplistic can get frustrating due to the camera angle and weird choice of not have a purpose to the side dodge option.  The gameplay flaws don’t hold back the game too much though and I even felt like there were glimpses of a new-aged arcade kind of brilliance packed away in this game if you give it some time and play  through enough of it.  I would recommend this title to arcade or classic game fans who are will to stick to a game to get the learning curve down.  It is rewarding and worth the time.