Bit.Trip Presents Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien, produced by Gaijin Games is, as its wacky wobbly title suggests, a rhythm game.
To be more specific, it’s a rhythm platforming game, where your character on-screen endlessly moves forward and you have to jump, slide, block, and kick your way past obstacles. The platforming and actions therein are directly correlated to the music that plays during the level, where every individual jump and kick plays a note that harmonizes with the melody.
The mechanics of the game are simple, but the beauty of it is in how the player interacts with those mechanics. Since you’re constantly moving forward at a steady clip, you have to not think, only react, and the game is smartly designed so that you move at just the right speed that there’s constant pressure but you can react accordingly to the obstacles ahead without being overwhelmed.
Admittedly, there is a trial-and-error-and-memorization element that pops out its ugly face the farther you get into the game, but it’s not enough to eclipse the trance-like feeling of allowing your reactions to take over your body, where you’re no longer aware that you’re pressing buttons, and the only sensation you’re feeling is the euphoria of the music and your character’s accompanying melodic movement.
A Chronicle of Anything 