The songs are performed by Japanese recording artists, both for the Japanese version of the game as well as the English version, and the only way to successfully hear the songs played in full is to play along with them, tapping and flicking when necessary. The songs in Rhythm Heaven are originals, from highly successful Japanese songwriter Tsunku, as well as Nintendo’s Masami Yone. Now, what is Rhythm Heaven? A rhythm game, yes, but a very distinct one, as it doesn’t borrow from pop music at all in the way that Guitar Hero, Rock Band, or even Nintendo’s Elite Beat Agents ( ranked number 71) do. Your own mileage may vary, but rest assured I appreciate and enjoy your favorite Rhythm Heaven title, too, whatever it is. a setup you can get all moment of zen with on a handheld with headphones. Rhythm Heaven Fever is real good, as I said, but there’s a little bit of a focus disconnect there for me, when we’re talking about a rhythm game that plays from your television’s speakers or soundbar or whatever vs. It helps, too, that this game, where timing your taps to the rhythm of the music is what it’s all about, is on the Nintendo DS, a handheld system that allows for you to use headphones.
And that action is so much more satisfying to perform than a different kind of button press is, like on the Wii’s Rhythm Heaven Fever, where you press the A and B buttons simultaneously sometimes. A button press is just a button press, but with the stylus, you can vary the gameplay that much more by incorporating both tapping to the rhythm at the appropriate times and what Rhythm Heaven calls “the flick.” Flicking the stylus across the screen is integral to not just mastering the individual stages, but to completing them in the first place. Now, the Rhythm games that focus on button presses are still real good, but there is something so much more satisfying about the use of the stylus when keeping rhythm.
#All rhythm heaven games series
The 2009 release is a true Nintendo DS classic, and an easy choice to represent the series as a whole in these rankings. Whereas Tengoku used button presses, Rhythm Heaven - the game, not the series - is entirely stylus-based. It’s the second! The first Rhythm game was a Japan-only release titled Rhythm Tengoku, for the Game Boy Advance. None of them stands out as much as the titular Rhythm Heaven, though, which, you might think is the first game in the series given it is also the name of said series, but no. There are multiple games in the Rhythm Heaven series, and they’re all at least good. You can keep up with the rankings so far through this link.
I’m ranking the top-101 Nintendo developed/published games of all-time, and you can read about the thought process behind game eligibility and list construction here.