The second release in a planned six-part series, the first for me, Bit.Trip Core (Core) continues Gaijin Games and Aksys Games’ surreal yesteryear-inspired shooter line with gusto. For the newcomer, starting off Core is pretty disorienting. With no tutorial or introduction, you aim and fire at the desired menu item – Discovery, the first of three levels, scores, and credits – and find yourself staring at a weird set of figures that mumble something and fade out into a screen with a red crosshair with similarly colored bars to the left and right, as well as above and below. Then yellow squares start flying around in crazy patterns while purple squares rotate and blink and lights flash in the background while geometric shapes fade in and out and ahh!

Actually, if you’ve ever played Rez, then you’ll find much of Core to be pretty familiar. Your goal is to aim a laser in one of the four directions, using the directional pad, and then fire to destroy any of the objects that travel between the crosshair and the corresponding target on the edge of the screen. Each successful hit plays a beep or boop of the background chiptune music, adding to the overall piece and making the connecting shots easier – much like Rez. Once an object crosses the firing path and continues on, then you begin to lose the song and your vitality; eventually, the screen turns black and white, the sound switches to the remote’s speaker (with wincing results), and you get a handful of chances to get back on track before you lose. Should you need it, you get one screen-clearing bomb per level that can give you some breathing room. If you’re able to fight your way past the light trails, blinking and swiveling dots, and dizzying background images, then you get to fight an end-level boss. The design ends up being an interesting mix of contemporary and retro sensibilities.

Explaining Core doesn’t do justice to the experience. Reading that you have to destroy squares using a crosshair doesn’t sound all that enthralling, but the patterns of the dots, the different effects used in the back and foreground to throw you off, and the integrated soundtrack is all very hypnotic and addictive. Whenever someone passed by, they wanted to play it – and then they continued to play it again, and again, and again. As people spent time with it, though, there were a handful of common complaints: the difficulty, and the lack of a practice mode. As a package, Core is barebones: you get three levels and a local leader board. Well, there is limited multiplayer as well. A second, local player can join in with another remote to assist with the targeting of the crosshair. You would think the help would make the game easier, but, as game’s official site states, it doesn’t. A clever way to add some replay value, or a cruel ruse to get friends to fight? But if there was ever a game that could have used a quick tutorial, despite its actual simplicity, this is it; it somehow makes pixels look intimidating.

The difficulty ramps up exponentially within the first level, and without a way to practice, it can get pretty frustrating. On the other hand, practice makes perfect, and three levels isn’t a lot for such a pattern-heavy design. I found the biggest problem not to be the lack of levels but the absence of an online leader board. The levels and patterns are great, so replaying isn’t an issue at the moment, but the inability of matching scores with anyone who isn’t on the same system limits the game’s long-term appeal. The absence is especially odd considering this is a downloadable-only WiiWare title. Then again, the game is only 600 Wii points ($6).

Overall: 8.5/10

What is undeniable is Bit.Trip Core’s charm, for the newcomer in particular. Despite the frustration, the grating sounds from the remote, and the lack of any and all amenities, Core was still played until thumbs were sore. Gamers of all stripes were sucked in by the psychedelic effects, catchy tunes, and taunting pixels, sucking it up and ignoring the inevitable lonely challenge of playing king of the hill all by themselves for “Just one more time.”

(This review is based on a copy provided by the publisher.)