Heart-warmingly retro with enough spunk and new-age wit to keep gamers busy for a few minutes or a few hours, Aksys games’ “Bit.Trip Flux†is a great example of what a high quality download title should be.
The sixth game in the series, “Flux†is just as cool and quirky as its predecessors, which all have gotten some kind of critical acclaim from one place or another, mainly due to the addictive gameplay that combines simplicity with great tunes. While it essentially garners most of its inspiration from the first game in the series, “Beat,†it’s simple and accessible gameplay makes it the type of title that can be enjoyed by anyone, but mastered by only a select few.
In the end, while you may get more satisfaction out of “Flux†than your parents or even your grandparents, it’s the type of game they’ll get a kick out of too, simply because it possesses venerable gameplay that is never broken or sluggish. Add in killer difficulty and you have one of the best games available for download on the Wii.
This really shouldn’t come as a surprise though; this is what happens when you build a game that does what it’s supposed to do. It may not have bells and whistles, but when it’s all said and done, there’s an inner beauty and a foundation here that most big name games never have. Combining elements that made games such as “Frequency†and “Pong†cult classics, “Flux†gets it done and then some.
Easy enough to play, all you need to do in “Flux†is hold the wii-mote horizontally and tilt it either up or down to move the pong-esque paddle to hit the incoming blocks. The ability to do this will only guarantee you about five minutes of gameplay however. After that, the action speeds up and game becomes more about having your senses align with one another than simply moving your hands.
Incorporating electronic tunes, the sounds in the game are equally as important as matching up the paddle to the blocks. Essentially, the more you play “Flux,†the less you actually focus on the titling, as you become so into the flow of the music that your hands are essentially bouncing by themselves. Kind of like “The Magic Eye†[you know those pictures that used to be in the Sunday paper that you had to stare at in order to see a hidden picture] for the hands and ears, Flux is a complete blast to play.
Incredibly simple, but simultaneously vivid, Flux is a gem of old-school goodness.
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