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Let's be frank -- I love rhythm-based games. I'm a sucker for "Guitar Hero," "Rock Band" and the like, so when my friend got "Rhythm Heaven" on the Nintendo DS, I immediately wanted to try this game.
"Rhythm Heaven" is a collection of more than 50 minigames all playable with the stylus, so no button-presses needed.
Though many DS games based solely on minigames happen to be complete bombs (cough, "Red Bull BC One"), I was drawn to "Rhythm Heaven" and realized one important aspect of the game: It is friggin' awesome.
The simplicity of the game can actually be complex enough to challenge you. Whether you're playing pingpong or synchronized swimming, "Rhythm Heaven" has this sense of creativity and style that makes the minigames fresh and exciting, even though most of the time you're just tapping and flicking.
In addition to the minigames, there are endless games. These are simple games that, well, never end, and you keep playing them until you mess up. Games like flipping a coin and catching it on time, and hitting a cowbell in tune will provide decent fun when you feel like playing the game just to play.
If you feel like having mindless fun, there are rhythm toys ranging from a slot machine that gives you coins for hitting the beat to a telephone that you use to create tunes with the tones (you know you've done it before).
If a minigame is becoming too hard and you can't seem to pass it, "Rhythm Heaven" has a feature that if you fail a song three times, you're allowed to skip it and continue on with the game.
One thing that can be frustrating is the grading system. The grades range from "Superb" to "Just OK" to "OK," and then there is "Try Again." The grading system for the minigames is inconsistent; sometimes you miss three on one game and rank "Superb" but miss two on another game and score "Just OK."
It's not the biggest problem, but it can make you do some minigames over.
You can also achieve "Perfects," which see to come randomly throughout the game. "Perfects" are awarded only when the song has been "Superb"-ed. When you're going for a "Perfect," you must finish the song without missing a single beat.
The problem with the "Perfects" is that if you fail three times in a row, you can never try it again. It's annoying enough that you're never given a second chance, but perfecting it on the first try and receiving a "Perfect" would have been nicer instead of expecting it to show up.
"Rhythm Heaven's" main parts will net you around six to eight hours of play, with each song generally lasting around a minute to a minute and a half. Add the endless games, the rhythm toys and other minigames, and this game can easily take 10 hours to fully go through and enjoy every game.
All in all, I found "Rhythm Heaven" a fantastically made game jam-packed with games to keep you busy for days to come. It gives newcomers to the rhythm genre a nice foot in the door and gives the perfectionist in all of us a real challenge to become the ultimate Rhythm Master.
This game is a definite buy for DS owners and should be known as one of the best minigame collections in the past couple of years.
Diesel's Report Card
+ Fun and incredibly addicting
+ Oodles of minigames
+ Quirky and cute style
+ Simplistic yet rewarding game-play mechanics
+ Hours upon hours of game-play
- Somewhat wonky grading system
- No control for gathering "Perfects"
FINAL SCORE: A-
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