I'm a big believer in the idea that reviews require careful examination and deep thought. Video games take so much work and care and time to create that it's only fair to put at least some of your own work and care and time into your criticism of them, and, in a critical setting, giving excessive praise without good reason is a silly thing to do. With this philosophy in mind, I have to admit that my firm, honest, and thought-out opinion on Rhythm Heaven is that it is, as its name suggests, just heavenly.
Rhythm Heaven, actually the second game in the franchise of the same name (its predecessor, Rhythm Tengoku, never officially made it to the United States), was released for the Nintendo DS in 2008. It's a collection of quirky rhythm-based minigames, comparable to WarioWare in terms of art style and simplistic controls. With a description like that, it may seem an odd candidate for the title of "masterpiece" with more serious or complex games vying for the gaming world's attention, but it's certainly one of the best "non-serious" games I've ever played.
The secret to Rhythm Heaven's near-perfection is how easy it is for players to jump in, and the rate at which the difficulty of the game increases once they do. The initial tutorial is very brief, teaching you only the very basics of the controls, and it does so in an efficient, straightforward way. The minigames have their own practice segments to brief players on what kinds of audio cues they'll be dealing with and little more beyond that. The controls are fairly easy to pick up on your own -- the entire game is controlled by the stylus in the form of tapping and flicking. That doesn't mean it's easy by any means, though! Rhythm Heaven is fun and addictive because of its progressive difficulty. After playing the first handful of games, which as a collective really act as more of a primer on the game's basics than the actual tutorial does but doesn't seem like it because it lacks the formal, pedantic tone you might expect, the minigames slowly shift from being short, easy treats to long, challenging events. Completing one mainline minigame unlocks the next mainline minigame, and doing well in these mainline minigames allows you to unlock side games (endless games, rhythm toys, guitar lessons, etc.) that get harder as you unlock them. Some of the games can be very difficult to get the hang of, but when you do, clearing them, or progressing farther into them in the case of the endless games, becomes fun and satisfying because of the difficulty, and because doing well makes the rhythm flow better than it would if the player were to constantly screw up. As the difficulty increases, so does the satisfaction a player feels when doing well.
While Rhythm Heaven's appeal lies in its clever and rewarding difficulty progression, it's certainly easy to get frustrated -- players must complete one minigame to unlock the next, so if a player gets stuck on a minigame, they may become too frustrated with being unable to progress to keep playing. Fortunately, there's a system built into the game to prevent it from it becoming frustrating enough to put down completely. If players visit the cafe area, they can talk to a barista who will offer to let them skip a minigame, but only if they've failed it three times, in the name of moving forward in the game. It lets players keep their momentum even if they get stuck on one minigame, and doesn't make the game too easy to be worth playing. It's a great system that eliminates a lot of potential player frustration.
There are still a few things that really can be frustrating in Rhythm Heaven, however. The rankings you earn after completing a minigame are based on how many notes you hit (or don't hit) properly, but each requires a different amount of correct notes for each ranking to be awarded. Some games you can miss what feels like a dozen notes and still get a superb ranking, while in others -- Moai Doo-Wop and Shoot-'Em-Up 2 come to mind -- you miss just one note and your performance is considered "just ok." Missing lots of notes in the easier minigames early-on and still ranking high seems reasonable, as players are presumed to be just starting out, but the ranking discrepancies doesn't seem to correspond with how far into Rhythm Heaven the particular minigame is. It can be overlooked, but it can also be very annoying.
Another issue worth noting is the addition of another button to the controls in the second-to-last minigame, Rockers 2. If it showed up sooner and in more than just one minigame, adding more layers to gameplay would've made sense, but because it happens so late and infrequently, the incorporation of the L or R button (depending on the player's handedness) into Rockers 2 really isn't fitting, necessary, or fun. Just like the ranking inconsistencies, though, it can be overlooked.
It would be almost impossible to properly review a rhythm game without addressing one of its core elements: music. Rhythm Heaven's music certainly fits wherever it appears, and is great for helping the player find the beat they need to succeed. It's bouncy, memorable, fun, and also not the greatest I've ever heard. Don't get me wrong, it's good music, but it certainly doesn't stack up to the more full, complex soundtracks of other games. All the same, it has a place in my heart, and it does what it needs to do.
Regardless of its imperfections, Rhythm Heaven is an absolute gem, and I encourage anyone with an interest in games, rhythmic or not, to play it. After all, rhythm games rarely get to the United States. While arcade staples like Dance Dance Revolution and party favorites like Rock Band and Guitar Hero have managed to find solid footholds in the Western market, localizing Japanese rhythm games is rarely worth the monetary risk. The fact that Rhythm Heaven made it over here further demonstrates my point that it's a good game. So even if you don't trust my word alone, why not pick up a game that was good enough to take that risk? I'm sure it'll be worth it to experience your own little slice of rhythm heaven.