Review: Bitlogic – A Cyberpunk Arcade Adventure (Nintendo Switch)

Bitlogic – A Cyberpunk Arcade Adventure has proven a bit tricky to review. It’s a game I want to absolutely love, doing so much right. Yet, I all but found myself quitting at one point. Read on to see why this was, and why I ultimately came back around in a big way to this release!

A modern take designed around old hardware, Bitlogic was originally an MSX revival release from 2016. This Switch edition nicely offers both an enhanced version of the game and the original, designed to appear 30 years old. I quite enjoy both, but the latter doesn’t have any autosaving – that’s not so much “a nostalgic enjoyment feeling” as it is a grudging reminder of what’s been gratefully left behind.

You basically play a game within a game, controlling your avatar Bit. As an avatar, Bit looks quite dapper in his brown trench coat, but I would’ve liked to converse with him a little more. In this virtual cyberpunk world, you need to collect numerous chips and take out enemies to progress. A key fact is Bit’s inability to jump (which he jokes about) making the platforming tricky (and satisfying) in an old-school way.

To elaborate, this basically necessitates some backtracking. For the first hour or so I really didn’t mind this at all. Even with respawning enemies and near mandatory hits, I was enjoying the game’s visual style and matching music enough that treading through the same areas wasn’t a bother in the least. Checkpoints were spaced just about perfectly, too.

Yet, I soon found myself growing tired. I exhausted multiple routes but, even with dozens of chips, still lacked all I needed to move forward. This is where I debated quitting. In the slightest of spoilers, I’ll save you some frustration by saying that you need to (curiously) collect every free life – I only had four out of the five. My backtracking drew attention to the fairly modest map (smaller than it needs to be) and the realization that I would’ve enjoyed this game even more as a kid when I had the time to aimlessly wander about.

Thankfully, much of my backtracking will be eliminated on subsequent playthroughs, which will, in turn, make Bitlogic much shorter. While I’m still not in a hurry to beat this game again anytime soon, the 20-plus achievements and multiple endings do provide some real replay incentive. You’ll even unlock an “Extras” menu, but I’m not going to spoil what’s included.

A shorter title, Bitlogic – A Cyberpunk Arcade Adventure will nonetheless likely appeal mainly to older gamers. It successfully mixes genres in a great setting with a good soundtrack. It effectively draws you in with unlimited ammunition, no time limit, and well-spaced checkpoints, to balance the atypical lack of jumping. Having two game styles – the MSX original is included – is also a cool plus. I think it hits its nostalgic target without overshooting into too-dated territory.