Rhythm Tengoku

[Roto13]

Has anyone tried this GBA game? It's Japan-only at the moment. It's a rhythm game by the creators of Wario Ware. I've tried it, and it seems pretty fun.

I haven't played it enough to go into a lot of detail, so I'll wait for JKTrix to pop in and give some more details.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

It looks all right. Not even approaching Ouendan-caliber goodness, but a decent diversion.

[Roto13]

Very few games are as good as Ouendan. ;)

[JKTrix]

Being a musician, I'm a huge fan of music games, especially where what you do actually affects the music. DDR is cool, but the music isn't modified by what you're doing. 2 of my favourite music games are on the DS, those are Ouendan and Daigasso! Band Brothers (with the GBA expansion).

One thing Rhythm Heaven has going for it is variety, which shouldn't be surprising since it's by the 'WarioWare' folks. If you watch that video you should get a good idea of some of the different types of games in there. It shows 5 of them, and there are at least 20 more different types of games which are then remixed later in the game. This week's edition of the 1UP show had a segment just on the game with 2 of their editors discussing it. It shows more of the games, and they describe it really well. Video Clip of the Rhythm Heaven segment here.

What the first video that 'Kishi' linked to painfully neglects to show is the awesome Remix 'Boss' stage that is at the end of each set of 5 mini-games. The Remix takes a totally new song, often with vocals, and makes you play through the song while mixing in the gameplay elements of the 5 stages you just played. The mini-games are interesting enough by themselves, but when you're playing several mini-games throughought the course of one full length song, it's an incredible experience.

When I first started playing, most of them were easy to figure out and play, but there were a few that took a lot of trial and error. I had the most difficulty with the Marching type games, where the guy is giviing you orders in Japanese. Such is the barrier for importing games, but eventually I got the hang of it, and the problem disappeared. Early in the game, the mini-games that would require some sort of explanation will allow you to practice it until you get it.

One example is a Fireworks mini-game, where there are 3 different types of fireworks accompanied by their own visual and audio cues. You have to press 'A' at the right time to make them detonate, but each has their own timing from when they're launched until when you can make them detonate. This game allows you to practice with recognizing the voices and timings for each particular pyrotechnic before launching you into the actual scoring part of the mini-game. With other games that are straightforward, the game wastes no time and instead just starts straight up (example: the Baseball game in the first video).

It also has some 'Extras', which I haven't yet unlocked completely. If you've played any WarioWare you'll have an idea of what kind of things are in there: musical instruments, unique mini-games and extended versions of mini-games in the main game can be unlocked and played here. One of the coolest ones is a sort of 'Do What I Do' drum session of various levels. Each button on the GBA is assigned to a part of the drum set, and you have a little guy who does a beat that you have to copy a certain amount of times to progress. It starts off with simple beats just using one or two different buttons, but gets a lot more complex as the levels increase.

The game definitely feels like an extension of WarioWare, so if you loved WarioWare chances are you'll like this game. It's more challenging in some places since it's rhythm based, and the games aren't 4 second bursts like WarioWare, but it has just as much variety and fun as those. Some of the things may even get stuck in your head, from songs to rhythms to the audio cues in some games. In fact, I like one particular thing so much, I've gone and branded my precious DS lite with a sticker of it (the retail game comes with some stickers of the characters in the game).

I NEVER put stickers on anything.
In all, I love this game and I'm glad I purchased it. It doesn't take long to unlock all of the main mini-games if you play it obsessively (which you will), but some more of the longevity comes from the unlockables. You get more and more unlockables if you get a medal-worthy high score. I would put this on the same level of 'fun' as Ouendan, simply because of the variety and how well it is executed. Now, the WarioWare team has a new and noteworthy franchise to expand upon. Ideas of a DS and Wii version make my brain melt with joy.

You can wait and see if it ever gets released in the US, or you can go ahead and import it.

[Roto13]

This game is freaky addicting. Yeah, those remix stages are a blast. That rap stage makes me want to cry, though. Blargh. >_<