Runner3

Genre: Auto-Runner

Players: 1

.

Review:

Runner3 is the third game in the Bit.Trip Runner series of Auto-Runner games, where players control Commander Video as he runs, jumps, and kicks his way through various stages, with obstacles and pickups arranged to coincide with the stage’s music, although I wouldn’t go quite so far as to call this a Music-Rhythm game.

Visually, this game looks fantastic, not so much on a technical level, but mainly because the game’s visuals are so bizarre and imaginative. In the game’s early levels you’ll be running on giant slices of bread and crossing a bowl of cereal by stepping on fruit loops among a world of massive food a la Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, while later you’ll find yourself in a world covered in books, and another world being torn apart by a giant machine.

For a game that emphasizes gameplay set to music, the music here is… okay. There’s nothing super-memorable, but it’s catchy enough to work, even if you can’t really “play to the beat” as much as you would think with this sort of premise. Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention the excellent tongue-in-cheek narration by Charles Martinet (the voice of Mario, though here he sounds more like Alex Trebek).

As for the gameplay, this is honestly mostly pretty typical Auto-Runner stuff, although the game does try to add variety by tossing in flying sections that give you a bit more control, as well as mine cart sections that… well, they at least change the visual aesthetic.

Of course, as with most games of this genre, the difficulty is turned up high, though it’s not consistent – some levels will be a breeze to get through until you reach a particularly difficult section. Rising stair steps seem particularly tricky unless to turn on the feature to assist with them. Oh yes, this game does offer players modifiers to make the gameplay easier or more difficult in various ways, in exchange for an adjustment to the point bonuses you receive. However, less skilled players will still find this to be a difficult ordeal on even the easiest settings.

In the end, Runner3 is a decent Auto-Runner with an excellent presentation, but it doesn’t really deliver on the promise of a game that makes use of music in its mechanics, and the difficulty spikes throughout the game are enough to ward off most players, especially after you’ve had to repeat the same section countless times. It’s still well worth looking into if you’re a fan of the genre or enjoy Platformers with a great level of challenge, but most are better off trying something a bit more evenly balanced.

tl;dr – Runner3 is an Auto-Runner that is the third game in the Bit.Trip Runner series. This game features some wildly imaginative visuals, along with fairly standard gameplay for the genre, complete with a high difficulty level that spikes at irregular intervals. If you’re looking for a challenging Platformer, this game may be just what you’re looking for, but most will probably find this too frustrating for their tastes.

Grade: B-

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}