DS Review: Rhythm Heaven

Released: April 5th, 2009 (US)
Developer/Publisher: SPD Group No. 1/Nintendo
Genre: Rhythm/Music
Pros: Simple controls, variety of game types, quirky style, and great music
Cons: Frustrating at times, and questionable replay value

Verdict: Buy it if you’re up to the challenge

I must confess you to that I am horrible in music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band; all I can do is sing and even when I try to emulate the singer I always seem to fail. While I have never been able to do well in these games, I excel in rhythm games. I guess humming a tune and keeping up with button prompts work better on a controller or portable device than an actual instrument peripheral. Although it has been some time since a unique rhythm game has come to the states, Rhythm Heaven fills that niche with bizarreness to spare.

Rhythm Heaven (or Rhythm Tengoku Gold as they say in Japan) is developed by the same people who created the Warioware series and is the third game (the prequels being the original developed for the GBA and an arcade port) in the surprisingly popular Japanese games series. Rhythm Heaven presents a simplistic premise: you hold the system like a book and follow the prompts using the touch screen to complete a series of minigames. The controls for the game are super tight, which is necessary when the game only needs you to learn four basic moves (tap, flick, hold and slide), but it is how these moves translate into gameplay that is inventive.

Unlike Warioware – where the games are only based on a time limit – in Rhythm Heaven the games are not only accompanied by music but also incorporate music into the gameplay. Each of the minigames utilizes one or more of the four control schemes in order to perform an action. These actions are timed to each game’s beat, so all you have to do is listen carefully to allow yourself to correctly time your actions in order to beat the game. Each game lasts over one minute giving you ample opportunity to complete it. Thankfully, each of the minigames gives you a tutorial on how to play it before you are thrown into the challenge. After a game is done, you are graded on your performance: Okay and Just Okay allow you to pass to the next game, Superb nets you medals to unlock rhythm toys, bonus stages and even guitar lessons, and Try Again is self explanatory. Once a player has received a Superb ranking, he or she may try to perfect the game and doing so allows you to gain more extras. In addition, if a player fails a game three or more times, he or she may choose to skip it.

The individual minigames are combined into groups of four. Once a player has passed all four stages in a group he or she must complete a remix, which is essentially a mash up of all the games in that set in order to unlock the next group of games. The game types during the remixes change on the fly so you really have to concentrate in order to beat them. With 24 games broken into six sections there is quite a selection of minigames: from mundane tasks like shooting objects and copying a drum beat to plucking radishes and slapping food into a characters mouth, the game presents enough diversity in both gameplay and style. The quirky animation style from the Warioware games returns in full effect giving each game and all the extras a great amount of character.

Still, where the game really shines is in its music. Each of the tunes manages to capture the look and feel of the game. From industrial rock to J-Pop, the tunes are catchy, even if they are only present for a short period of time. What is truly impressive is how the songs combine so perfectly in each of the remixes; you never would guess hearing each of them separately that they could combine into a Megazord/Voltron like powerhouse (if that doesn’t fulfill my nostalgia quota for the month what will?) Sure some of the songs lose their “punch” due to the localization but most of the songs are purely instrumental or contain unaltered grunts and yips.

After beating the last of the six remixes, a second group of four more challenging remixes are unlocked. These, when combined with the endless games (which see how long you can last playing a certain minigame until you fail), the rhythm toys and guitar lessons (which, for someone who never learned how to play is quite fun, although I do not know how accurate they are) really extends the amount of gameplay Rhythm Heaven has to offer. In spite of this, the replay value of this game is only equal to the amount of fun you had playing it the first time through.

With all the positive praise I have for Rhythm Heaven, I cannot overlook one minor grievance: it is without a doubt a difficult experience. If you falter and cannot complete an action within the brief time window of the beat (which the game’s characters actually frown upon), you will find yourself passing up certain games as missing a beat really can make or break your ability to continue. Certain games are definitely harder than others, especially the ones asking you to do two actions in rapid succession.  Still, once you are able to get the hang of a beat, the game becomes much less frustrating.

Rhythm Heaven is another one of those unique games that reaches our shores every so often. Even with the impulse to buy an imported copy for the reason of maintaining the purity of the music, we here at The Portable Gamer stress that you pick up a non-Japanese copy. Our own Jaden Walker has bought both copies of the game and after comparing the two he definitely saw an improvement in the controls for the American copy.

For anyone who is looking for a challenge they can take with them anywhere, Rhythm Heaven is definitely worth a buy.

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