Runner3 Reviews
Overall, Runner3 represents a welcome return for Commander Video, especially in his best form. Runner 2 was one of the best rhythm games on the Wii U and, although there is much stiffer competition on the Switch, Choice Provisions have done it again. Providing a fun, personality-filled musical running experience, Runner3 is a no brainer for rhythm game fans. Its a pity there are only 3 worlds, and the extreme difficulty will not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. Even if I wanted to throw my controller out of the window a couple of times.
Truth be told, I loved Runner3. For $29.99, it’s offering a lot of value (though it’s 15% off for the next 4 days if you pre-order). Much as I enjoyed Runner2, this game provided a lot more incentive to keep on playing, and easily 10 hours of content just for beating the game, with plenty more required to 100% everything. The additional difficulty, though somewhat off-putting, also provides a great reason to keep on trying (especially the brutal Challenge stages). Best of all, there’s a ton of stuff to unlock, from new characters to diabolically well-hidden VHS tapes to snazzy new costumes. Runner3 is a celebration of platforming, and easily the best game I’ve played from Choice Provisions so far. If you want a fun challenge, look no further.
Despite creating two other Runners, Choice Provisions has shown that they're not out of ideas quite yet. Bring on Runner4.
Runner 3 is a fun, challenging experience with a weird, charming aesthetic brought down by out-of-date graphics.
The true heart of Runner3 once again comes down to how well its gameplay suits rhythm game and platforming fans with a knack for perfecting their craft. Getting a Perfect or a Perfect+ on a level involves learning the patterns for its various obstacles — and this is particularly true for the game's three different knight variants — but players truly driven toward perfect runs will have to use their ears to get a feel for when to execute different maneuvers. Every jump to a gold pile or slide beneath a box feels deliberately synced with the music, and finding the groove introduces sometimes-subtle, sometimes-obvious musical cues that help keep the player on track.
This isn't my preferred genre of game, but I had plenty of fun playing Runner3 and am confident it will provide a sufficient challenge to fans of the BIT.TRIP franchise and genre.
Runner3 is an old idea with a fresh coat of paint, but that idea still brings a lot of fun to the table.
The only people I'd wholeheartedly recommend this game to are the ones who thought Runner2 was too easy. This one's for you. It sure as hell isn't for those who want a gentler stroll or don't have experience with the series.
Runner3 is a wonderfully weird game.
Ultimately, if the difficulty doesn't bother you, there's a lot of fun to be had with Runner3.
While still an enjoyable game to play, Runner3 has serious balancing issues. I little bit of polish here and there would have seen frustrations turn into a lot of fun.
Runner3 is overall an uneven experience. For every great feature or moment, there’s always something weighing it down not far off. Its soundtrack is fantastic but sadly the visuals disappoint. The game is tough but sometimes unfairly so. The worlds are overflowing with craziness but there are only three to explore in all.
Taking it all in, scoring the game for a general audience is a challenge. On the one hand it has a ton of very cool content, with a terrific funky design, creative levels, exciting new elements, surprising unlocks, and a soundtrack that sticks with you. On the other it's not hard to see where mainstream audiences are likely to get too frustrated with the game to bother to see a lot of it. Score-chasers and speedrunners will no doubt revel in the challenge, but the thing is that regardless of whether the game was made more mainstream-balanced those elements would still be strong. With a patch to tone things down I could easily see the game jumping up a point as it became more inviting, just right now it's much more of an acquired taste and that's a shame.
Even though it's the third game in the series, Runner3 is full of a surprising amount of variety and challenges to master.
Runner3 is an entrancing and demanding title but the repetitive structures force players to repeat the same stages.
Runner3 is wonderfully creative and funny, relying on a style of play that belies the challenge at its heart. A few moments of unbalanced control or obstacle design can frustrate, but this will pass when Commander Video finally nails a sequence of movements and makes you feel like a fast-fingered expert.
Although its absurdist comedy would certainly allow for it, the game never actually throws a kitchen sink at players.
Few games can tout that their frustration, difficulty and somewhat teasing attitude is what makes them so enjoyable, but Choice Provisions prove once again that the only thing more palpable than failure is the inevitable triumph.
Runner 3 is the most ambitious in the series yet--and also the toughest.