Bit.Trip Beat - Reception - Later Releases

Later Releases

The PC version has received fairly positive reception as well. Gamezebo described it as a combination of Pong and Guitar Hero, commenting that the combination of Pong-like gameplay and rhythmic gameplay usually "works beautifully". While describing its gameplay as "simple yet addictive" and its aesthetics as "primitive yet beautiful", they criticized the game length, high difficulty level, and a lack of multi-player. They also noted that the Wii version was superior. Indie Games' Tim W. featured the Windows and Mac OS X versions as part of the web site's Best Of Indie Games feature. Fellow Indie Games editor Michael Rose strongly suggested buying it, describing it as a "far more insane" version of Pong. However, he did criticize it for having few, long levels that could be difficult for people who have difficulty keeping focus. Mobile gaming developer Zach Cage called Bit.Trip Beat one of his favourite games released in the past 10 years. IGN's Charles Onyett called it "fluid and creative", though deriding its high level of difficulty. He praised the game for its aesthetics, calling the music "catchy" and the visuals "irresistible" to long-time gamers, though feeling that the graphics can get distracting at times. He also praised the developers for the inclusion of online leaderboards.

GamesRadar's Andrew Hayward praised the premise of the game as well as the iOS' touch controls. He also named it one of the 50 best iPad games of 2010. Gamezebo praised the iOS version for its aesthetics and gameplay and criticized it for its difficulty like they did with the Steam version; however, while it features the multi-player mode that they criticized the computer version for lacking, they criticized it for its "chaotic" nature and connection issues. IGN's Levi Buchanan found that while it was aesthetically pleasing and fun, it was too difficult. Adrenaline Vault's Michael Smith recommended that iOS device owners buy it, citing quality gameplay, graphics, and music, the latter two he says are good even if certain players do not like 8-bit. While he typically advises readers to "try before you buy" when buying a $5 iOS game, he cites Bit.Trip Beat as an exception.

Ars Technica's Ben Kuchera called the iOS version "near perfect". He described its "rhythm game meets Pong" style as working well on the platform. GamePro's Ryan Rigney featured it as one of their App Store Games of the Week of October 1, 2010. They called it a combination of music video game Audiosurf and Pong, praising Gaijin Games for mixing the old with the new. UGO Networks' Jason Cipriano called it addictive in their article on iOS games with achievements. Wired's John Mix Meyer listed it as one of the iPad's "10 Biggest, Baddest Games", commenting that while alone its elements were not strong enough to make a game, combined they are great. It was nominated for the Excellence in Audio award at the Independent Games Festival in 2010; it ultimately lost to Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Game Set Watch's Eric Caoili speculated that if Bit.Trip Beat is successful on the iOS platforms, that Namco Bandai may publish more of them.