dotstream review

When I first heard about Nintendo's bit generations series being released in Japan, I was excited enough to blog about it. Well, I went even further and took the step of importing (at a little-to-high-a price) the very cool looking dotstream. Think linear tron light bike racing. It's like a race version of REZ. Sound interesting? It is.

The premise is as simple as can be. You play as a colored line, and move up and down to avoid the other lines and obstacles between you and the finish line. There are a few rare powerups, and you can boost a few times, but that's it. Basically you slow down whenever you deviate from a straight line, so keeping the turning to a minimum is key to winning.

Since the manual is entirely in Japanese, part of the game has been figuring out the specifics. Luckily the game itself is entirely in English (except the opening warning screen) making it one of the most import friendly games I've ever bought. There is really nothing on the language end to stop you from getting this game. It's fun to play, and one of types of games that when people see you play it, they'll start asking questions about it.

The game has 3 modes: campaign, spot race, and formation. Campaign is your GP mode, compete in a series of 5 races for points. Racer with the most points at the end wins. Spot race lets you take on one course you've opened up. Formation is kind of like endurance mode, picking up colored blocks as you race adds on time. All in all there are 5 different GP's, so there are a total od 25 courses. With the lack of any kind of multiplayer aspect, the games logevity is limited. But it's also as hard as hell, so you won't be tearing through the game quickly.

The games visuals are intentionally simplistic, but don't let that fool you, the gameplay is suprisingly deeper than it seems. No two lines can travel in the same "lane", so cutting in front of another line will push them into another lane. You can use this to your advantage to push your opponents off course or into obstacles. It also gets a little hairy when you're not out in front and you're trying to squeeze between some tight walls and work around the lines laid down by your opponents.

Earlier I said that you slow down whenever you're not going in a straight line. The way you speed up is by slipstreaming next to one of the other lines. So it pays for the group to stay together. If you're off doing your own thing at the bottom of the track while all the other lines are up top, you're going to fall behind. It also makes for a very cool effect when all the lines are in sync moving back and forth around obstacles. The graphics look simplistic but it's hypnotics to watch sometimes. A very cool effect.

I would say that it is worth importing, if you're into supporting games that aren't afraid of taking chances. It's a very different type of game. I don't think there's any chance of this coming out in the states, the graphics are too simplistic first of all, but more importantly Nintendo is focusing on the DS here, the gameboy is all but forgotten.

The packaging also kicks ass.

8 out of 10

Comments (5)

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written by jimmycanuck, August 27, 2006

Very cool! I've been wanting to import a bit generations game, but I wasn't sure which one. Maybe I'll give this one a try.

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written by danzuke (NetPhantom), August 27, 2006

After findout how cool this one was, I went ahead and bought Orbital and Sound Voyager... I'll be posting pictures and impressions when I get them in.

But as an import game, this one is cool enough to buy

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written by jimmycanuck, August 28, 2006

I just stumbled across this great video from Nintendo that showcases clips of all the bit generations games;

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/bit_g/movie/index.html

It desperately makes me want to try Dialhex, Coloris, and Boundish. Me thinks I'll be adding those to my big late-september play-asia order.

Thanks for getting me re-interested in this!

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written by Video Game Blog & Video Ga, August 31, 2006

[...] Netphantom posted a hands on review of Bit Generations, which he dubbed like a “race version of Rez”, which is one of my all time favorite PS2 games and preferred sex toy of japanese gamer girls. I can’t tell you how excited I can finally run out to the rolling hills of Downtown Miami with my DS and chew mushrooms while I play this. Here’s how it works: “The premise is as simple as can be. You play as a colored line, and move up and down to avoid the other lines and obstacles between you and the finish line. There are a few rare powerups, and you can boost a few times, but that’s it. Basically you slow down whenever you deviate from a straight line, so keeping the turning to a minimum is key to winning.” The concept is simple, but the gameplay is deeper than it appears on the surface. Good for them - it looks like an interesting set of games. I bet someone at Atari is punching the walls for failing to instill this kind of coolness into their retro warchest. Its gotta be said - it takes huge balls to release an experimental set of games like this. Despite that, LOOK AT NINTENDO’S TINY WHITE COCK!. These guys are gonna be disappointed. [...]

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written by bits bytes pixels & sprite, December 11, 2006

[...] The game isn’t instantly accessible like dotstream, mostly because of not understanding how to control the game at first. And it doesn’t look nearly as cool while you’re playing it. Having instructions in English really would’ve helped out here. But after some trial and error I have the basic ideas under control. Luckily for those of us that don’t speak Japanese there are only 2 buttons used, and no d-pad. [...]

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