You can’t get much more retro than the Bit.Trip series. They are inspired by old-school games, full of chiptune sounds and music, have pixelated graphics that focus on bits, and no forgiveness whatsoever in the difficulty. It’s no wonder that I loved the first one, and now welcome the latest, Bit.Trip CORE, onto WiiWare with open arms.

The concept is simple enough. You sit in the middle of the screen as this D-pad shaped object that takes aim and fires at bits as they come at you from all directions. You can shoot up, down, left and right by pressing the corresponding direction on the D-pad as well as the 2 button, and if things get a little too hectic you can fire off a bomb with the 1 button. The bits move directly in front of your team, or around you in circles, or diagonally, or back and forth quickly, sometimes with tons of them coming at once from all different angles. The game keeps you guessing, and putting the levels into muscle memory will go a long ways towards your successfully completing them.

If you can hit lots of these bits in a row, then the music and graphics will become enhanced. There are different levels that indicate this, like Hyper and Mega, and the corresponding word flashes on the screen as you approach it and eventually get there. Missing too many in a row sends you in the other direction, making the music and backgrounds basic until eventually you end up in a screen that looks as basic as Asteroids or Pong, with no music. Miss too many there, and it’s Game Over for you. You should get used to seeing that screen, because this game is difficult, but if you’re willing to play each of the three levels a few times, you will learn its secrets and master it, just like say, Punch-Out!!!, or various space shooters.

One thing to notice is that the HUD is much better organized in CORE than it was in BEAT. You have an easier time figuring out how far along in each level you are, and where you rank as far as Nether/Hyper/Mega/etc. go. This also helps you when you realize how close you were to finishing a level, and gives you that “One more time” feeling.

There are a few wrinkles in the gameplay that also make Bit.Trip CORE a good time, like the challenge beam, which forces you to turn your Wii Remote in a different direction since your D-pad has now been twisted in a different way. You end up holding the controller like it’s a joystick, pressing the 2 down at the bottom (or at the top, depending on what challenge you get) while pressing what used to be left for up, or what used to be up for right. You get bonus points depending on how successful you were during the challenge too, which is a good way to shoot up your leaderboard.

Which brings me to the only major complaint I have with Bit.Trip CORE, and that’s the lack of online leaderboards. It’s a shame the first two games don’t utilize that feature, but Gaijin Games has also told us that they are looking into it for future releases. Here’s hoping that we get them in time for the third entry, because there’s nothing I love more than thinking I’m great at a game and then seeing myself ranked far lower than I ever imagined. It’s great for motivation and replay value, even if it is a bit depressing at first.

Blast Factor: Bit.Trip CORE is every bit as good as its predecessor, and puts enough new spins on the retro design to warrant a purchase. Even if the basic universe is the same, the gameplay is different enough that it rightfully feels like a brand new game. If you like your games old-school and challenging, then Bit.Trip CORE is perfect for you, especially with the great, foot-tapping music and colorful visuals.

Bit.Trip CORE is available exclusvely on the Nintendo Wii’s WiiWare service, and costs 600 Nintendo Points

For those of you that have checked out either Bit.Trip BEAT or any of the Art Style games, this week’s Nintendo Download has to looking good. First, we have the second in a six-game series with Bit.Trip CORE on WiiWare (here’s our interview with the developers, if you missed it), along with Bust-A-Move Plus! and Heracles Chariot Racing. While the initial 135 stages in Bust-A-Move Plus! cost 600 points, there are another two packs that equal 270more‚  puzzles, awaiting your download as add-ons. That’s a whole lot of Bust-A-Move, for those so inclined.

There’s one title on the Virtual Console side, with California Games from the Commodore 64 library. The sports available are the kinds of things you would expect from an 80s game based on California, dude.

Last, on DsiWare, we’ve got another Art Style, with Art Style: Base 10. It sounds like some kind of Sudoku take-off with a different style of gameplay, so I’m willing to give it a shot. I’m used to Art Style games hurting my brain in a good way, so why not one more? If you would rather race, Gameloft, who supports the WiiWare service almost as much as Nintendo, has Asphalt 4: Elite Racing for you on the DSi.

Official press releases after the jump. Picking anything up this week? We’ll have reviews for Bit.Trip CORE and Art Style: Base 10 for you soon.

Now that the Fourth of July holiday weekend is behind us, I wanted to let you know that we will have plenty of coverage for you here this week at Blast. Sure, the start of the summer lull in game releases is upon us, but there are still plenty of games worth a look on the way, and we’ll have plenty of supplemental content for you as well.

For instance, we interviewed Gaijin Games, the creators of Bit.Trip CORE–which is releasing today at noon on WiiWare–on Friday (in case you missed it while stuffing yourself full of beer and burgers, here’s the link). Later today we will also be publishing an interview with Bplus, the developers of Bit Boy, which released in Europe on Friday, and should be coming to North America soon. We’ve also had a few pieces of equipment sent to us for review, so you should see our thoughts on Splitfish’s FragFX controller soon, as well as on TeknoCreations’ protective case/battery backup DSi case.

We’ll have reviews of some recent titles soon too, despite the infrequent releases. The Bigs 2 is coming out on multiple systems, and we’ll have a review for you arcade baseball lovers soon after it’s out. The newest Harry Potter also came out recently, and we’ll have reviews of that on multiple consoles. The first episode of the Tales of Monkey Island remake is out this week too, and we have been hard at working checking that out for you. Battlefield 1943 is releasing for XBLA and PSN this week.‚  The aforementioned Bit.Trip CORE will be reviewed, and we’ll also finish catching up on June’s very busy release schedule. Don’t forget that later this month, fresh off of the E3 insanity, we will be heading to San Diego Comic Con to get you even more hands-on previews and news from developers and publishers. It’s a good way to get a head start on your holiday purchasing plans, especially since it’s looking like yet another loaded winter for gamers.

Even though this does not immediately benefit those of us in North America, a European release for Bplus’ Bit Boy is a good sign, because it means we will probably see it sooner than later. Now we know that Bit.Trip CORE will be WiiWare game #100 on Monday, but there’s no reason that Bit Boy can’t make it’s way over the pond the week after that, or at least sometime relatively soon.

If you want to check out screens of Bit Boy, we posted a boatload of media last week, including a trailer from E3. This is starting to look like a great summer for WiiWare, one that should help us through the AAA-less months ahead. The aforementioned Bit.Trip CORE is out Monday, Furry Legend and NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits should release later this summer or during the later part of the year, and additional chapters for Final Fantasy IV: The After Years are also on the way. That’s a whole lot of game at low downloadable prices. Start saving up those Nintendo Points now, because we will have reviews for all of these titles after they release, and maybe even some conversations with the developers to help you get to know the games.

I have a confession to make: we never reviewed Bit.Trip BEAT when it released a few months ago, and it’s one of those things I keep kicking myself for. The game is one of my top 10 on the WiiWare service, if not better than that, and when I heard that there was going to be a series of these Bit.Trip games, I got just about as excited as when I heard the same thing about the Art Style games. The two series have a few things in common: they are minimalist in a way, but that doesn’t mean they skate around the things that help make a game complete. The music in the first was some excellent retro stuff that sounded even better if you were good at the game, and the visuals were ripped straight out of another era, but in a way that makes retro junkies like me smile. That’s on top of gameplay that was both‚  accessible to casual gamers and a challenge to your core crowd, all at at the same time.

That’s why I’m pleased to let you know that the second installment, Bit.Trip CORE, is going to be the 100th release on WiiWare on July 6. Start saving up those Nintendo Points, because if it’s anywhere near as fun as the first, you won’t regret your purchase. Check out some screens straight from the official site below, as well as a trailer for your viewing pleasure.