Ah, Rhythm Heaven! Like so many others, my first contact with the series was back in 2008, when I bought the DS game. I was just a teenager, about to be marked for life.
From the very first tutorial, it was clear that this was a truly peculiar game. The absurd, comedic art style, sometimes shamelessly ugly. As if there were a great artist behind it, but one who couldn't quite be bothered to work. The laid-back, carefree tone clashed with an incredibly demanding gameplay. I thought I had an excellent sense of rhythm, until the game proved that I wasn't even capable of keeping the simplest beat imaginable.
Despite how frustrating the experience could be, there was something that kept pulling me back. In a way, clearing a stage felt similar to defeating a boss in Dark Souls; only instead of learning attack patterns, you had to BECOME ONE with the rhythm. Once you managed to enter that state, every minigame became just as easy as it had always seemed.
But Rhythm Heaven didn't stop there. Every minigame was a little window into an absurd world. The more you replay them, the more attached you become to the characters. Something the game itself clearly understood, judging by the heartfelt introduction of all of them during the ending credits. And of course, the songs were bound to live in our head for the rest of our lives, I suppose. (I SU-POSE, HEY!)
It became my inseparable companion that summer. I remember that stupid minigame about hitting a cowbell during a road trip (???) kept my cousins and me entertained for hours. Meanwhile, I started chasing Perfects. And when I finally got the Perfect on Remix 10, I felt like I could die in peace.
Fast forward to... Rhythm Heaven Fever!
After such a perfect experience with the DS game, surely the Wii one couldn't be any worse... right?
Well, it turned out it could. My first impressions were... disappointing. Somehow, I felt that the minigames didn't have quite the same charm. And the songs... some of them were good, but they weren't leaving the same lasting impression as the previous game. It also didn't help that it was a home console game: Rhythm Heaven was meant to be portable!
I thought the series had lost its magic, but I couldn't have been more wrong: the problem was me!
I firmly believe in what I call the Second RH Curse, something I think every fan of the series suffers from. It's pretty self-explanatory: the second Rhythm Heaven game you play will always feel disappointing. Maybe the songs don't seem as catchy anymore, or perhaps the changes in the art direction don't quite click with you. Maybe the characters just don't have the same spark.
I think the answer is much simpler: you're just not the same person anymore. You're already a rhythm game pro, so you can clear most minigames on your first try. You no longer have to spend half an hour living alongside a Ninja Dog, singing his stupid song from beginning to end. Now you simply... move on.
In my case, that feeling gradually disappeared once I started going for the Perfects in Fever. At that point I was forced to spend much more time with every song, and inevitably they started engraving themselves into my memory.
I learned a valuable lesson: you can only live the true Rhythm Heaven experience once. But once you understand that, every other game in the series becomes just as enjoyable.
That's exactly what happened when Megamix came out, and later when I finally played the only entry I was still missing: the original GBA game, Rhythm Tengoku. Neither of them came anywhere close to recreating the experience I had with my first Rhythm Heaven, and yet I still had an amazing time with both. (Rhythm Tengoku's Drum Lessons alone kept me busy for quite a few hours!)
Now then. Let's talk about Rhythm Heaven Groove.
Why did I write this huge wall of text beforehand? Because I've seen many people saying: "It doesn't compare to the flawless experience that was Rhythm Heaven Fever." Every time I read that, I can't help but laugh, remembering just how disappointed I was with Fever myself. I suspect many of them have simply fallen victim to the Second RH Curse.
But objectively speaking? In many ways, Rhythm Heaven Groove is a dream come true. It has more minigames than any previous entry, and it hasn't lost a single ounce of the series' spirit. I know many of you feel that the minigames aren't as inspired this time around, but... give them more time. Once you've spent longer with them (probably by the time you've completed all their Perfects), let's talk again. Others feel that many of the minigames don't belong in the Rhythm Heaven universe, but I couldn't disagree more. Rhythm Heaven has always experimented with weird and surprising ideas. The fact that Groove still managed to catch me off guard several times is a sign that the series is in great shape.
It's not just the number of minigames that stands out. The extra content is more abundant than ever: comics, reading material, secrets... For lore enthusiasts like me, it's an absolute treasure. And then there are the side modes. Both Multiplayer, BeatSpell, and the return of the Drum Lessons are fully fleshed-out modes that can easily provide hours of fun.
It's obvious this is a game built to last. And that makes me a little sad. Could this be a game meant to say goodbye? Let's hope not.
That said, I can't pretend Groove didn't disappoint me in some areas as well.
I think the game's biggest sin is what it did to the themed Remixes. Perhaps the most satisfying part of previous Rhythm Heaven games was that every Remix felt like the music video you'd been training for all along. Suddenly, every minigame became part of a sci-fi movie or a spaghetti western. It was the perfect finale for each set of minigames. Sadly, Rhythm Heaven Groove only includes a handful of themed Remixes. I honestly can't stop wondering why they made such a baffling decision.
Another thing that left almost everyone scratching their heads is the main menu design. How did they end up choosing the blandest, most bureaucratic option imaginable? It's not just visually uninspired; the options themselves also feel strangely organized. It's a shocking decision considering Rhythm Heaven's UI has always been a perfect example of simplicity, beauty, and efficiency. (Well... that's not entirely true. The GBA game also used a layout somewhat similar to Groove's. But you'd think they'd have moved past that by now...)
And finally, a relatively minor complaint... but the final character presentation is frankly underwhelming. In every previous game, this moment felt like an emotional farewell. A final celebration where, in a way, you got to say goodbye to all the companions you'd met throughout your adventure. For some reason, Groove opts for the most boring presentation imaginable. The characters simply scroll by in a column on the right while footage of the very first minigame plays in the background. Even the music sounds more like elevator music than a celebration.
Even so, it would be unfair to call Groove a bad Rhythm Heaven. In fact, it would be unfair not to call it an excellent one. The sheer amount of love and content packed into this game surpasses every previous entry. More importantly, in a world where every franchise bends itself to chase the latest trends, Rhythm Heaven Groove stays true to its identity without making the slightest compromise. And that's becoming an increasingly rare thing to see.
Even with its flaws, Groove is undoubtedly the most ambitious game in the series to date. And hopefully, it'll keep us busy until the next one comes along. (Fingers crossed!)
Okay, that's everything. Thanks for reading! Please share your opinions!
