Rhythm Heaven (DS)

Rhythm Heaven
Nintendo / Tsunku

Reviewed by Anthony

In a way, I wish I could just have an audio review that plays every ridiculously catchy song in this game, give you the scores and call it a day. I say this, because in a certain sense, you really have to play or at least hear Rhythm Heaven to realize what an absurdly catchy game it is. Good luck getting the songs or the silly images accompanying them out of your head anytime soon. That said, some gameplay concerns would keep this game more aptly titled Rhythm Really Really Nice Place.

Rhythm Heaven is a North American DS recreation of a GBA original from Japan. It’s a collection of 40 rhythm based games and 10 remixes that utilize the touch screen to perform various rhythm based tasks. One screen is kept blank for tapping/flicking the screen while the other presents the game with visual cues and tells for indicating mistakes. It’s worthy of note that the game necessitates audio at all times for performing tasks, and requires some very serious concentration, so don’t even bother if you can’t play with sound, and be ready for a lot of restarts if you have anything to distract you. Even a cat walking by was enough to have me fail some of these games.

What’s good:
- As you might imagine, the music is spectacular. From the very first song with the ability to make a simple “Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So” song awesome, Rhythm Heaven impressed. Songs are catchy, cool, and very well varied throughout. Vocal cues are also quite clear, keeping the audio package absolutely solid.
- In the same vein, as a combination of the music, visuals and gameplay, these games can get incredibly addictive. With many games, even if I did well enough to pass, I found myself wanting to go back and earn a “Superb” ranking, just because it was fun to play. Once I played the first Remix, I already realized I was playing something very special, noting their ability to bring so much of the game together. Some games like the second Splashdown level are just fantastically made, ones like Shoot 'em Up are absurdly catchy, and it makes me want to show people... a big feat when I already wanted them to hear some the music.
- For all first-time games, they give you a full practice mode showing you the various audio cues and giving you a chance to try them all out. You can skip it easily on repeat tries as well. They’re pretty good about not introducing anything too unfair into the gameplay that isn’t covered in the practice. However, some may be frustrated that the practice will say you’re “ready” for the game, then shove you into a much faster version of what you just practiced.
- The WarioWare-esque visuals can be really charming in their simplicity.

What’s neutral:
- Just because a game’s on the DS doesn’t mean a game needs to be stylus-only. If this game was successful as GBA game, why did they make every single game in this version based on the touch screen? It was unnecessary, and leads a player into what will likely be a wearisome amount of repetition. If you don’t destroy your wrist and the screen doing “flick” motions on it at overly fast speeds, maybe you will on songs that literally have you tapping the screen in less-than-a-second intervals the entire time. In fact, the “flick” is especially overused, and many games would have benefited from having simpler inputs or just the “release” instead. Given that not all games are gems, this aspect will sometimes make the games feel more like a chore.
- Some of the games are just not fun. Games like Lockstep, Space Soccer, and Frog Hop that have you incessantly tapping the screen rhythmically for minutes at a time are just annoying. Ones that have you timing things are much more interesting than ones that keep you repeating a same “tick tock” rhythm relentlessly. Other games like Rhythm Rally might not be bad except that the “Flick” motion makes the game too impractical and cumbersome. If an average player can make it through to certain points of the game, he/she can easily be turned off by a dull game or two.
- Although they do include an absolutely vital option for skipping a difficult game, they really shot themselves in the foot by not making this option more clear. It’s only available after repeatedly failing a game; a little icon appears on a button for the “barista” that most players will rarely, if ever, visit. This gives you an option to skip the current game, but this isn’t readily apparent, and it’s not even noted in the instruction manual. Given the high difficulty, I imagine many copies of the game were forever shelved because a game couldn’t be beaten and you otherwise cannot progress.
- Though they added a post-game "Battle of the Bands" option, to even compete you're going to need to have gotten a Superb on 30 of the 50 levels, and then participated in a training mode for a guitar game that was among my less enjoyed games overall. Not a great deal, and most people won't come close to getting 60% levels Superb.

What’s bad:
- Despite being marketed as a fun, family friendly game with Beyonce happily playing along in commercials, the difficulty of this game is far too high for the average gamer. There’s a reason they only showed Beyonce playing the second game out of fifty - it’s because there’s no way she made it past Rhythm Rally. And if she did, there’s even less of a chance she ever got through Crop Stomp, Munchy Monk, or the hellspawn that is Remix 8. Through combinations of some bad control schemes, difficult rhythm patterns, and a surprisingly cruel judging system for even earning the worst “OK” rating necessary for continuing, this game can be utterly brutal in spite of its “fun” style.
- The absence of a quick “Retry” option is inexcusable for a game of this difficulty. Considering the game tells you to “win medals on all stages!”, which requires a Superb ranking, the fact that you can’t even quickly restart a multiple-minutes long stage when you know you’ve made a mistake is a joke. Having to quit, load the stages, reload your level and skip practice if applicable is a chore when a level is brutalizing you time and time again.
- Given the crazy difficulty throughout, it’s surprising to see that other than through a few audio/visual cues, you’ll never have a way of telling how well you’re doing on a stage until it’s over. Yep... just play, and a few minutes later, find out if you failed or got a Superb (sometimes a surprisingly thin line separates these). This becomes especially jarring given the final issue:
- The blurred lines between rankings of “Try Again”, “OK”, “Just OK”, “Superb” and “Perfect” are liable to be maddening for someone who actually makes an effort to attempt mastering this game. Why? Well, some games, you can make multiple mistakes and still manage Superb. Others, you might have over one hundred inputs, but a single miss means you lost your Superb. Wow. Further still, you can even miss Superb in later levels without even completely missing a single beat... just not being completely on time is enough to downgrade you. The balance is completely missing, as the rules seem to be all over the place, and the only time you’ll ever really know is if you get the game’s option to “Go for a Perfect!” on a stage you earned Superb on. Only then does it ever give you a cue for letting you know you’ve messed up. By then, you’ll realize how incredibly touchy this game is, and how flawless it expects you to be at times.

Okay, so that’s a lot of bad points for what I’m saying is a great game, huh? Well, that’s because they’re mostly interconnected. This is a game that really has to be experienced to see the full effect that these games and songs can have on your mind. But that said, the fact that this was marketed for the casual gamer means they made some seriously boneheaded decisions on the difficulty level and overall lack of direction they throw at the player. At best, you might get a “You did well, keep trying!” when you fail. Thanks game, I’d love to!

But when it’s not throwing unholy hellspawn games like Remix 8 and Crop Stomp at you, this can be a truly glorious game to play. You’ll be singing these songs in your head, you’ll want to show the game to others, and you might just have a blast tapping to the beat. Check your "every moment will be fun!" expectations at the door and there’s a fine game to be had here... unless you’re playing Crop Stomp. Crop Stomp is evil. Remix 8 worse; pure malevolence. But game good. Anthony hungry.