Man, I just really wanted to talk about this game. It's really quite special.

Agreed! I'm almost done with the first world, and I can already say that it's wrestling with Antichamber for my favorite release of 2013. It's extremely well executed in so many little places:

• Level design still seems great, and the difficulty curve seems more appropriate.
• Allowing you to jump over checkpoints is a really smart decision.
• Giving you alternate exits and retro levels is a welcome Mario 3 type evolution.
• The art style is fresh and colorful, the music so far is a slam dunk.
• Turning the game into a score competition with Autolog style leaderboards seems both obvious and yet surprising.
• Using key vaults to force the player to revisit levels will probably frustrate some people, but I don't have a hard time accepting backtracking.

So far the only negative I can come up with is that the visual noise has increased a lot from the first game, so much that it can become very difficult to read what I'm expected to do at times. I had a bit of that problem with the first game when I started in a new world and the visual language shifted, but here it has become a problem in the first couple of optional stages. Hopefully my brain can start learning to pick out the meaningful shapes from the rest of the nonsense, because I'm going to be diving back in tonight!

Just bought it. It's incredible. Everything I could have hoped for.

It's strange, i feel it's a far improvement over the first game, a lot of smart design ideas, but at the same time i feel like i'm getting bored by it faster.

Dunno if it's because i've completed the first one so it knocks the luster off of playing something unique or if it's the backtracking incentives, which i fulfilled to completion in the first world but gave up on in the later worlds. Now if i have to backtrack to open a new exit it feels like an obnoxious obligation.

I didn't really feel the visual noise was too bad until entering the later worlds (i'm on the third world at the moment) where things got worse especially in a tight cluster of obstacles.

I think players who skipped the first will get the most out of it. For me, it's become the game i play while listening to podcasts, though to be fair, i did the same with the first game, i just didn't quit the first game an hour in like i do here.

I skipped the first (that Quick Look was enough to convince me my blood pressure probably couldn't take it) and am loving the sequel. I could use another save slot though, since I'd hoped to get my wife playing as well.

Hearing about alternate exits has blown my mind, by the way.

man- this is all great to hear. i loooved that first game. is the music still good? does it still react the same way (ie build momentum as you succeed)?

I prefer vastly the look of the first one, but I'm still very early in this one.

Also, checkpoints? What?! Get off my lawn!

Checkpoints are a real sucker, but other than that, it's really awesome.

It's more Bit.Trip Runner! That's all I could really ask from it. Adjustable difficulty is a plus. I'm also really thankful for the checkpoints. "Rather Hard" can be a jerk past the first world.

I really like it and I'm also getting all wrapped up in the scoring system. I also keep getting third or tied for second or first on every level which seems weird to me. Does anyone know how the leaderboard system works? I'm I just consistently the third best player playing the game or am I just seeing a subset of all the scores?

I liked the first Runner, but holy hell is it frustrating. Runner 2 seems better in a lot of ways and not nearly as hair-pulling.

I'm really enjoying it so far. I like a lot of what they've done with the look of the game, especially the cutscenes. The tighter controls and slightly less demanding timing make this game feel much fairer and easier than the first, but there are still plenty of challenging spots, so my neighbors aren't completely free from me shouting obscenities.

Also,

World 5, that is all.

I never had the chance to play the first game, so going into this with a fresh pair of eyes and I'm really impressed.

I'm a games journalist along with being a PR agent for indie developers, and the last game I worked on extensively was an endless runner. After 100 hours of that, coupled with reviews of Temple Run 2 and Vector, I seriously doubted that I would call in love with the latest from Gaijin.

How wrong I was. Everything about this game seems to be spot on, whether it's the multiple exits, the retro game areas and the new visuals. Call m the devil - I'm getting sick of pixel games so it's nice to see they were willing to throw in a new art style this time around.

If you're sitting on th fence, throw down your money. This game is worth every cent.

Hey I wanna buy this game on XBLM but I was wondering on what I would be missing out on since I only have a silver membership.Would I still be able to rank on the leaderboards or what?

I don't have Xbox Live Gold and the leaderboards work for me.

Yeah, I don't think any game has a leaderboard that's restricted by XBL Gold or Silver.

I love it, but I can't play any more until they patch it so that my Wii U doesn't freeze every single time I exit.

Love it, but unfortunately I can't play it for too long before it starts to hurt my eyes :(

Why didn't anyone tell me this game was so GOTYYY?????????????