If there’s one thing Nintendo is known for it’s Mario. Endless Mario spin-offs of uniformly high quality make each new game something to look forward to, but that’s still a whole lot of Mario. Fortunately there’s more to Nintendo than the cast of Mario, such as the Zelda games. And there’s also Donkey Kong, which is half Mario and half its own thing, Mario Kart and Smash Bros., both of which are big enough to practically eclipse the regular Mario games and their sports spin-offs, and of course Metroid, Star Fox, the long-abandoned but fondly remembered F-Zero, Fire Emblem, etc. For all the high-profile gaming Nintendo puts out there’s still a quirky side to the company that, while it hasn’t been quite so prolific as it was in the Gamecube/DS days, sometimes manages to sneak out a few games now and then. One of the longest running series from Nintendo’s weirder side is Rhythm Heaven, and its new game was announced today for the Switch.
Definitive Proof That Everything Is Better When Set To A Beat
Rhythm Heaven Groove is the first new game in the series since Rhythm Heaven Fever on the Wii way back in 2011. While there was a Rhythm Heaven Megamix for 3DS it was mostly a compilation game with a few new stages, so series fans have been waiting a very long time to dive into new content. Nice as it would be to say the wait is almost over, the trailer that released today ends with (spoiler!) a cheerfully twinkly sound effect trying to sprinkle a little sugar on the long, sad gap between now and Rhythm Heaven: Groove’s 2026 release window. But it’s coming, and that’s the important bit.
Rhythm Heaven Mega Mix Coming to 3DS Later This Year
Rhythm Heaven is a music game that could best be described as Wario Ware to the beat, except the levels are far bigger. Each stage is an activity set to music, with the sound effects of the player’s actions slotting neatly into place as part of the song when performed with the right timing. Toss a bolt through two washers, high-five monkeys on a watch, march with birds, play badminton from a single-seater plane, interview a wrestler, get some batting practice, defend your lord from ninjas, and on and on and on through a couple hundred different scenes through the series' history. Beat every scene in a set of levels and the “boss fight” is a remix of everything you’ve learned so far, switching from one scene to another as the game weaves each individual tune into a bizarrely coherent whole.
With a setup like that it should be pretty clear that Rhythm Heaven is the result of a focused crew, which is great for consistency but a problem when the real world knocks the producer out of commission for a few years. Making games and music is nice and all but when throat cancer showed up (standard F**k cancer! goes here) Tsunku had more important things to worry about, which is why it’s been so long since the last Rhythm Heaven entry. With that stretch of life-altering unpleasantness out of the way there’s finally time for Rhythm Heaven again, and while the wait may not be optimal it’s great to know the series isn’t over.
