Have Game, Will Play: Bit Boy!! Arcade

Bit Boy!! Arcade is the sequel to 2009’s Bit Boy!! which was released on Nintendo’s WiiWare service. It maintains the same 3D isometric view where players control a small red cube named Kubi. Once again Kubi must rescue his pixel friends and collect pixel tickets in yet another time traveling adventure.

Not to be reductive, but for anyone who has played a Pac-Man game the most basic gameplay mechanic in Bit Boy!! Arcade will be easy to understand. While there are a variety of enemies in the levels, the shadow men are by far the most prominently featured. They often follow a pattern. Avoiding them can be difficult at times but the key is to remember that they always make right turns. If players are patient they can avoid coming in contact with them. If one is not careful all of your lives will be lost and 2 play coins are the cost for each continue.

The levels, including boss phases, all require that the ~7 pixel friends are found and rescued. Once this happens Kubi is basically invincible and can defeat any enemy simply by touching them. Your score grows based on how many things you accomplish in each level/phase. Gathering your friends,
collecting the pixel tickets and defeating all the enemies within the score-incentivized time limit can give you the highest possible score. Should you run out of time, which I often did, the only loss is points. The 3 worlds in the game vary greatly, offer power-ups and many ways of mixing the levels up so they feel fresh despite the basic and consistent gameplay mechanic – collecting pixel friends to warp out of the level.

This was my introduction into the world of Kubi/BitBoy!! and I really enjoyed what I played. There is a fully fleshed out backstory and plenty of dialogue between Kubi and Bernd, Bplus’ developer. I found some of the construction(campaign) mode’s layout to be a bit confusing initially but once
I really listened to the developer’s in-game floating head avatar, it all became clear. Bit Boy!! Arcade does not reinvent the wheel but it makes a lot more interesting.

Recommendation: Worth a buy
Full Disclosure: This game was provided to GameEnthus by the developer.
Genre: platformer, maze
Developer: Bplus
Publisher: Bplus
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS eshop
Price: $7.99

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