I have a confession to make... despite the fact I hold this game in a extremely high regard and I even already praised it when I reviewed Fever, I actually never reached its end, and you know, after finally beating it after so long... I understand why.
Rhythm Heaven/Paradise doesn't pull any punches, I don't know if I would call it the hardest game in the series, but it's for sure the most consistently challenging out of all of them, especially when going for the Superbs. In occasions it feels like the game it's saying to your face ''Oh, do you want a reward? Maybe a pat on the back? Then you gotta earn it, bucko'' and proceeds to tell that you did ''Just OK'' despite only making ONE (1) mistake in the whole rhythm minigame, and that's not something that happens one or two times, it's an extremely common occurrence... and I love it for it!
I love that it's so demanding that in some cases it asks for perfection, I love that it requires to put the DS in such a seemingly weird position and can only be controlled with the touch screen, I love that it was marketed as a game that everyone can enjoy and learn from despite its absurdity and difficulty, I just love that it doesn't feel ashamed to be what it is, and on the contrary, it constantly enjoys simply existing. And you may be thinking: ''...well, that's nice I guess, but you've said really similar things about both Tengoku and Fever, so what makes Heaven/Paradise so special?’’ and the answer to that is quite simple… FROGS SINGING IN SPANISH.
Take everything I said about Fever making you feel incredibly happy while you are playing it, multiply it by at least a hundred, and you get the exact way I feel when I’m experiencing Blue Birds; while I’d say that both games are on par quality wise, all of the rhythm minigames in both experiences being incredibly creative and fun, Heaven/Paradise has a certain charm that I find extremely difficult to describe despite how easy is to pint out; every game has its unique visual flare, the music has that unique feeling that only the DS sound font can give off while also being unlike anything else on the system and producing some absolute BANGERS, and in spite of Megamix proving that a lot of this minigames can be controlled with a button control system just fine and even improving upon them, I’d still say that is this ‘’Touch book’’ system of controlling the game and holding the handheld what makes it that much more unique and injects so much fun into it. There is not other game like Rhythm Heaven/Paradise for the DS, even if I think Megamix is the superior experience in the series, is this one that it’s the most… well, itself; the one that pulls all the stops, the one the weirder stuff (as hard as that is to believe), the one that went as far as to even have full-blown vocal translations of songs to other languages, and as such the one that feels more personal, the one that feels just like paraíso.
Even if there are a lot of re-used minigames which don’t feel expanded upon enough, even if the flicking and touching control scheme can get a bit to get used to (even tho it ends up being a fantastic way to play the game and I absolutely loved it), even when the difficulty to get 100% completion can begin feeling a bit like bullshit (Remix 6 is absolute evil), I still love it. I still love it with minor flaws and gripes, I enjoyed every single moment I spent with it, and I will never forget the satisfaction that gave me not only beating Remix 8, the minigame in which I gave up in my first time back when I played it so long ago, in my second try, but also getting a superb. I’m so glad I finally beaten it, and I’m so happy to say I’ve loved it so, so much more than those years ago, and I found value in things I wouldn’t have even considered back then.
Time sure flies, it seems so long ago, I finally got some rhythm, and we’re on our own path now…
So let’s go!
Oh and also, this game’s Remix 10 is better than Fever’s in both the music and fun department and yes, I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL AND NOBODY CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE, TAKE IT AWAY, CONDUCTOR!
Rhythm Heaven/Paradise doesn't pull any punches, I don't know if I would call it the hardest game in the series, but it's for sure the most consistently challenging out of all of them, especially when going for the Superbs. In occasions it feels like the game it's saying to your face ''Oh, do you want a reward? Maybe a pat on the back? Then you gotta earn it, bucko'' and proceeds to tell that you did ''Just OK'' despite only making ONE (1) mistake in the whole rhythm minigame, and that's not something that happens one or two times, it's an extremely common occurrence... and I love it for it!
I love that it's so demanding that in some cases it asks for perfection, I love that it requires to put the DS in such a seemingly weird position and can only be controlled with the touch screen, I love that it was marketed as a game that everyone can enjoy and learn from despite its absurdity and difficulty, I just love that it doesn't feel ashamed to be what it is, and on the contrary, it constantly enjoys simply existing. And you may be thinking: ''...well, that's nice I guess, but you've said really similar things about both Tengoku and Fever, so what makes Heaven/Paradise so special?’’ and the answer to that is quite simple… FROGS SINGING IN SPANISH.
Take everything I said about Fever making you feel incredibly happy while you are playing it, multiply it by at least a hundred, and you get the exact way I feel when I’m experiencing Blue Birds; while I’d say that both games are on par quality wise, all of the rhythm minigames in both experiences being incredibly creative and fun, Heaven/Paradise has a certain charm that I find extremely difficult to describe despite how easy is to pint out; every game has its unique visual flare, the music has that unique feeling that only the DS sound font can give off while also being unlike anything else on the system and producing some absolute BANGERS, and in spite of Megamix proving that a lot of this minigames can be controlled with a button control system just fine and even improving upon them, I’d still say that is this ‘’Touch book’’ system of controlling the game and holding the handheld what makes it that much more unique and injects so much fun into it. There is not other game like Rhythm Heaven/Paradise for the DS, even if I think Megamix is the superior experience in the series, is this one that it’s the most… well, itself; the one that pulls all the stops, the one the weirder stuff (as hard as that is to believe), the one that went as far as to even have full-blown vocal translations of songs to other languages, and as such the one that feels more personal, the one that feels just like paraíso.
Even if there are a lot of re-used minigames which don’t feel expanded upon enough, even if the flicking and touching control scheme can get a bit to get used to (even tho it ends up being a fantastic way to play the game and I absolutely loved it), even when the difficulty to get 100% completion can begin feeling a bit like bullshit (Remix 6 is absolute evil), I still love it. I still love it with minor flaws and gripes, I enjoyed every single moment I spent with it, and I will never forget the satisfaction that gave me not only beating Remix 8, the minigame in which I gave up in my first time back when I played it so long ago, in my second try, but also getting a superb. I’m so glad I finally beaten it, and I’m so happy to say I’ve loved it so, so much more than those years ago, and I found value in things I wouldn’t have even considered back then.
Time sure flies, it seems so long ago, I finally got some rhythm, and we’re on our own path now…
So let’s go!
Oh and also, this game’s Remix 10 is better than Fever’s in both the music and fun department and yes, I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL AND NOBODY CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE, TAKE IT AWAY, CONDUCTOR!