Tap the tempo, slide the tempo, flick the tempo then hold the tempo…
Graphics: 5 (not the best feature however this is not the main goal for this game)
Sounds: 10 (cheesy yet catchy tunes to boot)
Value: 9 (plenty of songs and unlocks galore however certain criteria needs to be met)
Tilt: 9 (challenging yet I do play the piano)
Actual score: 7.8
What's a better way to play a rhythm game than on your DS? Well ok the Wii and maybe any consoles will do however smashing your stylus on the screen whilst foot tapping to the rhythm is what Rhythm Heaven is all about. So you get a small introduction to the tunes you are about to play then tap away, again and again until you manage to pass that song. Then off to another song until you have unlocked all the tunes and features this game has to offer. Sounds easy…well you definitely need some kind of rhythm otherwise it's going to be a short and ugly ride.
Fear not to those you has a lack of rhythm as the difficulty level slowly increases with each set having four tunes to play then you're off to complete the remix. What this means it mixes all of the previous four into one jumble mess however (and thankfully so) these remixes have a catchy tune also. To complete the game you'll need to unlock all ten remixes with a slight 'intermission' after remix five.
Completing a song will reward you a nice medal however you really want to aim for the 'superb' and 'perfect' rating. To achieve superb you need to make only a few mistakes (roughly two to three) and to achieve perfect…well you guessed no errors what-so-ever. This will be a test of will as there are some songs that are remarkably easy and some painfully hard. I guess it all boils down to your own rhythm as I have a weakness for the fast beats yet the slower ones and those 'off beats' are my speciality. Also what I have noticed is that there are some songs that you can tap / flick / slide etc just slightly off and still get the superb / perfect score. Again it's all about practice and timing.
Passing medals unlocks 'rhythm toys' for which you can muck around using a 'phone', 'slot monster' (one arm bandit), 'beat machine' and so forth. Yet if you managed to achieve the superb rankings, you get the opportunity to play 'endless' games. For example two superb will get you 'coin flick' for which you 'flick' the coin and catch it three seconds later; seven will give you 'Shoot-'Em-Up' (blast enemies in the sky with accompanied tune to boot) and so forth. My favourite requires twenty seven 'superb' called 'Rhythmove Dungeon': you're controlling a circle thing, who tries to get from one side of the room to the other to the beat of a drum set. It's hard to explain in words yet get those achievements and you'll see what I mean!
By all means this is not the end of the list as there are many, many more unlocks yet my main gripe about these unlocks does require passing the songs in flying colours. This means that some of the cooler unlocks you may never get due to the close-to-impossible completion of some of the songs. For me remix eight and as mentioned before those 'fast' tempos are my weakness so I didn't get the chance to see them all so I visited Youtube on the net to get my fix.
So to knock off these songs requires four simple controls armed using the stylus (obviously). They are tapping, sliding (move the stylus up and down on the touch screen), flicking (done by holding the stylus to the touch screen and quickly sliding while releasing – like drawing a 'tick mark') and holding. Yet these four simple commands can cause frustrations beyond repair as the vast majority will be using at least three to four at the same time.
Graphically the game is quite basic with simple colours and 'stick figure' characters however the game is designed for the ears. That said the musical scores are cheesy yet catchy for you to foot-tap away. In fact there are some songs that you can literally look away from the screen and still complete it. Actually it's advisable you get into the habit of this as the graphics can easily throw you off-beat. I looked away on many occasions and wondering 'man I wished I saw what happened in all of that chaos'. Well I did and yep got hammered big time. However and as mentioned before, you can pass some of the exercises whilst being a little 'off beat' in some occasions.
So Rhythm Heaven (also known as Rhythm Tengoku Gold in Japan) is all about getting into the rhythm. So yes you'll need some kind of groove therefore this game will not suit for everyone. In addition unlocking the cooler features requires you to get a close to or a perfect score so for me this can limit the 'fun' factor. Granted you can 'talk to the Barista' in the 'café' and with a cost of a couple of 'flow points' (points for which determines your overall rhythm success – maximum 140 - mine at the time of writing is 124) enables you to pass that song yet still doesn't allow to unlock the cooler features as you need those perfect scores. Nevertheless those cheesy yet catchy tunes and the excellent stylus response certainly will provide you a quick fix regardless.