Its simple yet addictive gameplay will keep you groovin' for hours.
So what you'll be surprised to learn is that this one is actually incredibly well-done, fun, and the video game equivalent of crack. Once you pick it up, you'll have a hard time putting it down, which is an amazing feat for a game that only consists of three actions to control it. You'll spend the entire game either tapping the touch screen, flicking the stylus, and occasionally pressing the right shoulder button, which in and of itself doesn't make for very dynamic gameplay. But the sheer variety of the games themselves, which use these controls in a very intuitive fashion, always keep the gameplay fresh and interesting throughout the 50+ rhythm games available.
You'll find one or two games where the controls get a little problematic, but for the most part things are spot on. This saves a lot of frustration, especially seeing as the upper level games require a lot of fast actions. This becomes especially important during the "Remixes," which occur every fifth level, where they take several rhythm games and combine them into one mini-game. Because you're constantly having to switch gears from game to game very quickly, the solidity is an absolute godsend, because it would move from fun to frustrating if those controls were anything less than they actually are.
As you can imagine, the music and audio cues are extremely important in a title such as this, and thankfully Nintendo delivered. The styles include everything from techno to rock, and they were careful to avoid anything confusing such as heavy jazz with a lot of confusion off-beats. What's also important is they give you important audio cues during the game so that you know what to do next, as opposed to forcing you to guess what's just around the corner. So whether it's a bird commander calling out instructions, or simply imitating a rhythm that was just presented to you, you'll always stand a fighting chance.
If the game has one downside, it's in the graphics. It's apparent that the same team that did Warioware also developed this title, as the art style is identical to what you see in those games. And while it accomplishes its task (in giving the game a very light-hearted feel), it also makes things feel a little cheap in spots. Fortunately, the graphics in a game like this are truly secondary to everything else, so you won't find that it's much of a distraction.
You'll be able to play through all of the campaign's mini-games in about four to six hours, maybe less, but the game is loaded with replay value. The further along you go, the more you get the hang of it, so going back and replaying earlier games is an absolute blast. And when you do well enough with any particular game, you earn medals that allow you to open up even more rhythm games that will suck you in even further including guitar lessons and what are called "Endless Games." The latter are a series of games, many score based, that you keep playing until you die or you simply grow tired of it, whichever comes first. Either way, it's worth the effort to unlock this extra content, and it just gives you one more excuse to not put the game down.
All of this praise comes with one only word of caution: You must have rhythm to play this game. If you don't, avoid this title like the plague as it will frustrate you to no end. But if you're a DS owner and looking for a fun title that will suck you in and hold you there for hours, you need look no further. This one is definitely worth the purchase.