'Rhythm Heaven Groove' Brings The Series Back Without Missing A Beat

Image courtesy of Nintendo of America

Eighty medals in and an almost complete gallery of Perfects, I still find myself thinking about Rhythm Heaven Groove. It has been roughly eleven years since Megamix, the longest gap in the series' history, and I can say without hesitation the wait was worth it.

Rhythm Heaven Groove is the fifth instalment in Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven series (known as Rhythm Paradise here in Europe). The game is a collection of rhythm-based mini-games that test a player's timing set to some of the catchiest songs in gaming. Instead of following Megamix's heavier focus on story progression, Groove returns to the classic menu structure seen in earlier entries. The simplicity works in the game's favour, because Nintendo trusts that the rhythm games themselves are more than enough to keep players engaged. This trust extends into the gameplay: Rhythm Heaven has never needed to present players with a flashy new hook with each entry, and the majority of its games still rely on one or two button inputs. Fans of the series are not coming back to discover a new system for the games; they are returning to discover what new scenarios Tsunku and the development team have imagined up this time.

And there is no shortage of them. Rhythm Heaven Groove is massive, and the addition of multiplayer only makes it larger. The multiplayer side offers fewer games overall than the solo campaign, but still has good longevity. I really enjoyed how the multiplayer builds on the single-player gameplay loop – instead of taking turns playing the same rhythm game to the end, these mini-games add their own incentives, working collaboratively in some and competitively in others. Pet N Parcel was the one that drew me in the most, tasking players with delivering parcels while fighting off enemies to the beat. Between that, there were several points where I thought the solo game was approaching its end, only for it to introduce something new. The classic art style has also been updated with smoother animations and more expressive character movement, bringing new life to the game (though it does sometimes feel a little uncanny – I'm looking at you Fly-Fivers).

Image courtesy of Nintendo of America

Underneath the new visuals, what has always made Rhythm Heaven work for me is that it teaches players rhythm without it being presented as a lesson. There are many rhythm games that assume a knowledge of timing from their players, but Rhythm Heaven develops that slowly through the gameplay. Through repetition and careful design, players will begin to recognise syncopation, off-beats, rests and call-and-response patterns without necessarily knowing musical terms for any of it. I have always found with previous instalments that even after not playing them for a while, I can pick up any mini-game, go straight into it with no practice and still walk away with a medal.

This approach reflects Tsunku's philosophy for the series, built on the belief that everyone possesses an innate sense of rhythm that simply needs the opportunity to develop. As he wrote in an Iwata Asks piece: "Once the rhythm enters your body, you're able to breeze through stages that you weren't able to clear until then, again and again. And that is the proof that you've trained your rhythm."

I felt this directly coming primarily from Megamix, where I had trained myself to read the timing down to the pixel on the touch screen for Skill Stars. But I noticed that Groove asks something different of the player. More than any other entry I have played, the game introduces more visual distractions and relies less on visual cues than its predecessors as a result. It wants the players to actually feel the beat rather than watch for it. This shift is probably why the timing feels slightly more forgiving too, which makes the game easier to pick up for newcomers.

The emphasis on audio over visuals also makes the game more accessible. By default, Rhythm Heaven Groove runs with a Read-Aloud mode enabled, where Li'l Miss Reeds (the game's text-to-speech narrator) reads out everything on screen and describes what a player is looking at. This setting can also be changed to add descriptions that narrate what characters, locations and information is on-screen as the game starts. Despite relying on them less, the visual cues are still there so players with reduced hearing can still play to a high level and simplified button inputs keep the game more approachable for players with limited dexterity.

Image courtesy of Nintendo of America

Where the game does test you is in its challenge modes. I have always been the type to chase perfects even when it does nothing for my heart rate, and Rhythm Heaven Groove gives players plenty to work with. New challenge modes, including Night Mode, offer more replay value than in previous entries. These additions are relatively simple, but together they create a remarkable amount of extra content and add difficulty that veteran players love to seek.

The same care put into creating all the new mini-games carries over into the music. Alongside the series' trademark collection of catchy melodies are more fully vocalised songs than I expected. If I am asking for anything from the game, it would be more themed remixes. Previous entries used remixes to bring together the mini-games under a single creative concept, but with Rhythm Heaven Groove containing so much content elsewhere, there are fewer remixes that are themed. It is a relatively minor criticism, but it is one of the few areas where I believe the game falls just short of surpassing the series at its very best.

Maybe that is why Rhythm Heaven Groove has remained on my mind long after the multiple credits rolled. Tsunku and the development team understand why people fell in love with Rhythm Heaven in the first place and have created another outstanding title in the series. The joy of these games has always come from laughing at the increasingly ridiculous scenarios of the mini-games and telling yourself that there is time for just one more Perfect before another hour passes by. After eleven years away, Groove proves the series is back and it hasn't missed a beat.

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Written and edited by Joanne Baranga, Gaming Editor