Nintendo’s Weird Rhythm Heaven Is My Song of the Summer

I’ll make this easy: Just get Rhythm Heaven Groove. You’ll be happy. I think. 

Every handful of years, Nintendo makes a return to its weird franchises. WarioWare, a bizarre set of arcade minigames, has appeared in Switch form twice already. But Rhythm Heaven, a series that hasn’t ever been on Nintendo Switch at all, is now back. Its below-average-for-Nintendo $40 price makes it an even better value.

If you like games where you tap along to the beat of a song, that’s exactly what Rhythm Heaven Groove is all about. The joy comes from the novelty, the quirky, adorable animations and the infectious Japanese pop soundtrack. It’s perfect for quick play sessions, practically begs you to crank up the volume and is best played without wireless headphones. Keep the ping low.

Now, to be clear, I’ve always loved music rhythm games such as PaRappa the Rapper, Frequency, Elite Beat Agents and Patapon. And I love weird minigames. Rhythm Heaven is directly speaking to me.

But it’s also speaking right to the Nintendo Switch’s portable/dockable benefits. I like a game like this that I can play on the go and with friends, which you can do in a handful of multiplayer minigames or just by passing it around the room to try different challenges.

Rhythm Heaven as a series has emerged with new entries every handful of years, all based on song-length minigames. The latest one, Rhythm Heaven Megamix on Nintendo 3DS, was a compilation of previous Rhythm Heavens. But Rhythm Heaven never surfaced on the Switch, not even in any of the Nintendo’s Switch Online classic console compilations. This is your chance to get back in.

Not a lot has changed in structure, which in some ways is a bit of bummer. Song-length minigames with scripted rhythms all have different syncopated challenges and involve simple combos of button presses along with animation that often tries to sabotage your attention. There are dozens of song-length games, plus extra challenge modes, more multiplayer minigames and a few more strange surprise modes. It’s a good grab bag, and unlike the older Megamix, these are all new. 

A few examples: One has you popping umbrellas with adorable little blob creatures. Another features an assembly line of fingers popping balls. In another, a couple communicates in rhythm with an alien. Yet another has crabs tossing objects into a hole. The songs are all infectious, worming their way into my head. They’ve become the soundtrack to my early summer.

My kids grew up loving Rhythm Heaven on the Wii and are thrilled the series is back. I am, too, and I have to admit I’ve been trying not to rush through it, even with a review embargo. 

I do wish new ideas had been plumbed here, expanding the definition of the whole experience. One extra mode, called BeatSpell, does some of that. It’s a series of battles in RPG-style form using rhythm-trigger spell moves, but in an age of indie games that have pushed into rhythm zones (such as Crypt of the Necrodancer), I was expecting more innovation. Nintendo’s making safe moves with this one.

And yet I’m grateful. Heck, I’d love to see Elite Beat Agents come back someday, too. I’m taking this on vacation with me, finding it addictive, meditative and just my comfort speed. It’s playable on both the Switch and the Switch 2, something that’s becoming increasingly rare for first-party Nintendo games. And it’s just family-friendly enough — and ridiculous enough — to bring us together for a while, too.