The most common praise for it was what multiple reviewers describe as addictive gameplay, stylish visuals, and a great soundtrack.

If players fill it up again, it will bring them into a new style, where the music, graphics, and sound effects are changed, with the score per each successful deflection doubled.

This version adds an easy mode and the ability to post high score data to either Facebook or Twitter.

DESCENT is a roller coaster ride down into the lava-filled depths of the world, ending with the camera diving down into the lava to finish the stage.

The gameplay flows in perfect timing to the beat of the music- the player (and Commander Video) both rely on the music and help create it.

About halfway through the level, after developing a pair of eyes, it begins to fly around and look at all sorts of Earthly objects: houses, trees, owls, pyramids, trains, and more.

[2][5] Their publishing agreement with Aksys was formed due to Neuse's personal relationship with its president, Akibo Shieh, with whom the two of them had wanted to work on a game together before.

However, due to the short time spent creating them, he finds them to feel rushed, even though they add to the game.

[7] A bug, interpreted to be intentional, prevented the game from saving unless players achieve a high score.

[14] Aksys also published it for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X through the Steam service on November 2, 2010, in North America.

[15][16] Because they had no money for marketing, they launched a viral marketing campaign, which consisted of the above-mentioned teaser video, screenshots, and a CommanderVideo web site, all of which were well-received; however, according to Neuse, the hype for the game died down too far before the game's release, which he feels hurt its sales potential.

[17] Artist Mike Terpstra created two posters for the game, depicting Commander Video standing above a city.

[10] Bit.Trip Beat has been featured as part of a series of videos made by Nintendo called "Developer's Voice", which shares "in-game footage and insight who worked on the title".

[35] Since its release for WiiWare, Bit.Trip Beat has received generally positive reception, holding aggregate scores of 80/100 and 80.15% on Metacritic and GameRankings, respectively.

[36][37] GameSpot's Lark Anderson praised it for its addictiveness, music, and visuals; however, he criticized the number of levels, lack of online leaderboards, and for a confusing premise.

He also praised the aesthetic quality of the game, describing the music as "extremely well-composed and complex" and the graphics for successfully achieving an old school style with its visuals.

[42] It was well received by Official Nintendo Magazine's Simon Bramble, who described it as a "fresh take on Pong" and praising its value and aesthetics.

[44] In MTV Multiplayer's review of one of its sequels Bit.Trip Flux, editor Jason Cipriano noted that while good, it was too difficult.

However, he did feel that Gaijin was "struggling" to come up with ways to increase the difficulty by the third phase, citing a unique type of beat that obscured the screen to an extent with their "flair".

[47] IGN's Lucas M. Thomas named it the eighth best WiiWare game, noting the fact that Pong creator Ralph Baer had played Bit.Trip Beat as evidence of its quality.

[48] IGN also featured it as a part of their "WiiWare Showcase" series, describing it as a "quick trip to a catchy musical game.

They also noted that, sans the visual and audio enhancements, it succeeds as a post-retro game as being an idea that could have been accomplished on the Atari 2600, but with the rhythmic premise, would make it impossible back in the day.

While describing its gameplay as "simple yet addictive" and its aesthetics as "primitive yet beautiful", they criticized the game length, high difficulty level, and a lack of multi-player.

[54] Fellow Indie Games editor Michael Rose strongly suggested buying it, describing it as a "far more insane" version of Pong.

He praised the game for its aesthetics, calling the music "catchy" and the visuals "irresistible" to long-time gamers, though feeling that the graphics can get distracting at times.

[61] Adrenaline Vault's Michael Smith recommended that iOS device owners buy it, citing quality gameplay, graphics, and music, the latter two he says are good even if certain players do not like 8-bit.

[64] UGO Networks' Jason Cipriano called it addictive in their article on iOS games with achievements.

[66] It was nominated for the Excellence in Audio award at the Independent Games Festival in 2010; it ultimately lost to Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

[67] Game Set Watch's Eric Caoili speculated that if Bit.Trip Beat is successful on the iOS platforms, that Namco Bandai may publish more of them.

[70] The fifth game in the series is titled Bit.Trip Fate, a side-scrolling on-rails shooter that again puts players in direct control of Commander Video.