Rhythm Heaven (DS) Review
Posted by Trace Aber on 04.11.2009
Can WarioWare and music combine to create heaven? Find out in Trace Aber's review for the new Nintendo title!
Title: Rhythm Heaven Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Genre: Rhythm/Music ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Rhythm Heaven is a rhythm video game released on the Nintendo DS that looks to capitalize on the ever-growing music-based video game market. Despite this being the first game to be released in the US and Europe, Rhythm Heaven is actually a sequel to the Japan-only title Rhythm Tengoku, which was released in August, 2006. Seeing as how it was released for the Game Boy Advanced only (and in an interesting bit of trivia, it was the last game developed by Nintendo for the GBA), it was understandably limited as far as player interaction. In fact, the majority of the game was spent pressing A or B, but the basic formula was laid down – rely on the rhythm of the background music, not the visuals. Almost three years later, Rhythm Tengoku Gold, or what we know as Rhythm Heaven, was released. Would stylus control and better graphical/audio quality be enough to truly make Rhythm Heaven stand out among a sea of music games? Well, to make a long story short, the answer is an emphatic YES!
Gameplay
One thing I should note that because this is the first game in the series to be released in the United States and Europe, this game is going to feel entirely original and new to most gamers. That being said, even if you have played the original there’s no denying that there is plenty of weird and quirky aspects of this game that there is no way in the world it wouldn’t feel original. In fact, just by reading the manual you’ll be hard pressed not to want to play this game immediately just because even the manual makes this game look like a blast.
When you load up the game, you’ll be asked to create a save file, but the only reason I bring this up is because instead of naming the file what you want, you have to choose from a set of filenames. These range from ‘me’ to ‘sis’ to ‘Prez’. But, even before that, to actually start playing the game you have to practice one of the four basic controls in the game, the flick. That’s right – there’s a mini-game to play even at the start screen.
Rhythm Heaven is essentially Wario Ware with a heavy focus on music. That means a plethora of mini-games that despite having very similar tasks and principles, all feel entirely unique and different. As you play through the 50 mini-games offered, you will play ping-pong, build “stuff,” stomp on vegetables, be a backup singer, and even help a couple of animals mate. Yeah, it’s just as strange as it sounds, but it’s also some of the most fun you can have.
The controls of the game are extremely easy to understand but near impossible to master. I’m not saying this to be cliché in any sense of the term, either – that’s just how the game plays. You can tap, flick, hold, and slide with the stylus – and that’s it. Flicking is stressed heavily in the game as you are even given a tutorial on how to flick properly. To be completely honest, however, practicing your flicks isn’t a bad idea as you need to learn how to do it precisely and quickly.
The game ranks your ability using “flow,” which is a numerical rating that tells you how well you are doing. Mine rarely breaks 70, for those keeping score. The game is divided up into ten sets of stages with five stages per set, and every fifth stage is a “remix” stage. In a remix stage you play scenes from the previous four games and they all create an entirely different song and the pace is much faster. These are perhaps the most fun you’ll have with the game, however, as you are constantly on edge waiting for the next scene. After finishing one of the games, you will be ranked and oftentimes it will be preceded by a funny little one-liner (which usually consist of insults to the failing player). There are a total of four ranks which are superb, OK, Just OK, and Try Again. Anything above try again means the player moves on to the next level, which after playing this game you’ll be happy to see “Just Ok.”
If you manage to get superb, which requires you to get either a perfect or miss only one to two beats, you will obtain a gold medal for your rhythmic abilities. With these gold medals you can purchase endless mini-games and rhythm toys, which create a nice diversion. The mini-games you unlock are fun but you’ll find yourself craving just a little more after each play. The rhythm toys are exactly what they sound like – things that make noise. These toys range from business cards to the telephone, and while it’s kind of a neat feature it largely seems pointless.
As you play, occasionally you will get an opportunity to unlock a mini-game’s song by perfecting said mini-game. These are extremely difficult to do as the game is extremely difficult. I only say it’s difficult because for a decent portion of the games you almost have to be exactly spot-on with your timing as there is little room for error. And for a lot of the games there is no real cue as to when you should do what you are required to do, and sometimes this becomes frustratingly impossible. The game does recommend that you pay more attention to the sound than the visuals, which to a degree is true but sometimes it seems like there is absolutely no way of beating a game.
Graphics
It’s hard to rate the overall graphics of the game as you experience so many different styles and quality of graphics throughout. Sometimes all you see if an outline of a shape, while other times there are detailed 2-D drawings, and then other times where you are looking at blocky, 3D stick figures. The main thing here is that every game, no matter what style is used, looks good for that style. When quickly going through each game you fully being to realize how much style this game actually has.
Everything moves together extremely well and the graphics are always crisp. There will be some games that you might not like the graphical style of, but it’s not as though you’ll be spending a terrible amount of time looking at them anyways. In fact, you don’t even really have to look at the game so if you don’t like the style of a specific game, who cares? You’ll probably play better anyways! In all seriousness though, they have done a great job with the wide variety of graphical styles and managed to make all of them not only stand out, but work together to create a visual experience like none-other.
Sound
Sound can make or break a game like this, but luckily the sound makes the game in this instance. The majority of the songs you play throughout the game are catchy, quirky, and it seems like a fair number of them will get stuck in your head, not to mention anyone else who may be around you while you play. The sound in this game determines everything you do in this game, and it’s up to you to create the music by properly timing your flick, slide, tap, or hold.
Most of the songs in the game are without vocals, but there are a few that do have vocals and the quality of the music is surprisingly crisp and clear. These are the songs most likely to get stuck in your head, which honestly can be quite embarrassing. For the last few days I’ve been randomly singing, “Hey now, here is my song, for you, yeah that’s right!” Ok, so John Lennon and Paul McCartney didn’t help writing the songs, but they get the job done and fit within the game’s context.
Lasting Appeal
If order for you to collect every medal, perfect every song, and unlock every endless game and rhythm toy, you will be playing this game for a long time. If you plan to simply unlock every game and call it quits, you’ll get only a fraction of the gameplay time and you might considered yourself disappointed. Still, one of the great things about this style is game that it’s hard to put it down and keep it down. The only times I found myself voluntarily quitting was when I became too frustrated, but I was quickly playing the game later that day. You’ll have a lot of fun playing with the unlockables, even the rhythm toys allow you to create some interesting music if you have the creativity in you.
The 411
Going into this game I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I am more than pleasantly surprised. A musical Wario Ware turned out to be a great idea and the game has enough quirks and unique aspects about it that most gamers will look up at the clock and realize they’ve been playing the game far longer than they expected. If you have any interest whatsoever in music-based video games, Rhythm Heaven is a must-own that won’t disappoint.
Graphics
9.0
Each mini-game presents a unique graphic-style and they all look great
Gameplay
10.0
Easy controls, addictive gameplay, and a huge variety of mini-games makes this one of the games to look out for
Sound
9.0
Wide-range of music that all comes off crisp and clear, though sometimes you will notice similarities between a few songs
Lasting Appeal
8.5
Unlocking all of the mini-games is not a hard task, but if you are going for all of the medals and unlockables, be prepared to invest some time to this game
Fun Factor
9.0
I have not had this much fun on my DS in a while and I can't recommend this game enough. Anyone who enjoyed WarioWare or enjoys music games should purchase this one ASAP
