Rhythm Heaven for the DS is actually the sequel to a collection of music-based mini games from the studio behind the WarioWare titles that came out on the Game Boy Advance in 2007. Sadly, the collection titled Rhythm Tengoku was never released in North America. This is the first official exposure the game has had in that market.
Similar to WarioWare, Rhythm Heaven has players do a series of seemingly random tasks throughout various mini games. Completing the tasks in this game however means learning and keeping to a set melody. It sounds like any other music game on paper, but Rhythm Heaven involves quite a bit of intuition and carries style setting it apart from the rest.
A more intuitive Rhythm Game
Interacting with Rhythm Heaven really involves nothing more than tapping and flicking any point on the touch screen. Player’s don’t follow any on-screen arrows or visible notes, but simply listen to and complete the music.
The effect is similar to being a single player in a group performance with only the audio cues and the action around you to follow. Because of this, actually playing Rhythm Heaven requires an instinct about music. The game relies on something that’s found in almost no other game but is inherently known by anyone who listens to music. This is used to transform tasks like playing table tennis and shooting aliens that before felt familiar only to gamers.
Throughout its 30-or-so songs (and more which are unlocked), Rhythm Heaven can still prove to be at least as difficult as most other music games despite being as intuitive as it is. This is never felt too hard however because of the game’s welcoming and accessible structure.
A hard but forgiving Rhythm Game
Like a lot of what Nintendo is doing now, Rhythm Heaven casts itself as a somewhat easygoing game, but also manages to be cool about it in both its gameplay and presentation.
When it comes to something as personal to people as music, players will probably have differing preferences and end up liking some songs as opposed to others. The more enjoyable songs end up being the addictive exercises that keep people coming back to Rhythm Heaven. The ones outside of a player’s personal preference can end up feeling like brick walls.
Rhythm Heaven knows this, and does a very good job making sure players know what to do without holding their hands. There are tutorials for each level, the game knows how to analyze performance, and even gives encouragement where due. Levels can also be skipped if players still fail after too many attempts. This feeling is completed by Rhythm Hevaen’s colorful design and wacky characters.
Bottom Line
In a more and more saturated market of music games, Rhythm Heaven offers some of the most unique fun out there in its intuitiveness and variety.
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