Nintendo is showing off several WiiWare titles during the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo, and one of them is the continuation of the addictive and colorful retro-style Bit.Trip series called Bit.Trip Void. The game once again tests your quick reflexes, sense of rhythm, and tolerance for crazy visuals. The mechanics have also been changed, but we're happy to see that it's just as engaging as the previous games and can't wait to play more. Instead of shooting targets and shuffling paddles, you're now using the nunchuk's analog stick to collect and dodge pixels.

　　Who's Making This Game: Bit.Trip Void is made by Gaijin Games and published by Aksys Games.

　　What the Game Looks Like: The game looks very much like its predecessors in all its 8-bit glory. The amount of pixels flying across the screen will increase as you get further into the game and turn the entire screen into a colorful meteor shower. If the bright colors begin to fade, grab more black pixels or else you'll have to start again from the last checkpoint.

　　What There Is to Do: Bit.Trip Void is about expanding a small black circle--known as your void--by collecting the tiny black pixels for points that are flying across your screen. It sounds easy, but you also have to dodge the white pixels that are thrown in because if you touch those, your void will shrink back to the original size and you'll lose all the points that you've collected. At a certain point in the level, we obtained a repellant power-up, which helped move the offensive pixels out of our way to clear a path for us.

　　We only had a chance to play through the single-player level, but there will be a four-player cooperative mode as well.

　　How the Game Is Played: The black void is controlled with the analog stick, and the A button is used to store the points you've collected. You shrink to your original size after you hit A, though, so it's like starting from scratch. Because you expand as you run into the black pixels, it becomes increasingly difficult to dodge and maneuver your way across the screen. You can play it safe by pressing A often, but if you're looking for that high score, you're going to need to weave your way around and enlarge the void as much as possible.

　　What They Say: According to Alex Neuse, a designer at Gaijin Games, "Bit.Trip Void completes the first chapter in CommanderVideo’s journey with a synesthetic exploration of mind/beat interaction. But as one chapter ends, another begins. We hope that you find this game as beautiful as we do, and we can’t wait to make another one for you. Keep rockin'!"

　　What We Say: It's hard to put down Bit.Trip games in general, but with multiple checkpoints within a level, we were eager to jump right back in and keep on playing whenever we missed a beat. Even with the new control scheme, it still feels like the previous games in that you have to watch and listen for the pattern and predict where the pixels are going to go. You have the freedom to move anywhere, but now you're also given the decision to hit the A button if you want to cash out early. You can take a chance and dodge the menacing white pixels until you take up a good chunk of the screen.

　　No release has been announced yet, but we'll be sure to keep you updated with more information as soon as it becomes available.