The DS' immense popularity made it the perfect home for so many weird little games, and Rhythm Heaven is proof of that. While Japan had already received an entry in the franchise for the GBA, this was the first time the series made its way overseas,
In concept, Rhythm Heaven is like a love child of microgame collections like WarioWare and rhythm games without explicit visual cues like Space Channel 5. You're given a minigame to play until you become good enough at it to unlock the next one, then move on until you play through the all the main minigames available. If you do really good at any of them, you get a medal, and collecting them unlocks some extra content like timing tests or that minigame's soundtrack.
Now, what really makes RH shine, is its rather... odd control scheme. Different games utilize the touchscreen in different ways (generally, you have an action for touching the screen and another for quickly flicking across it), and for some minigames it will certainly take a while for you to wrap your head about how you gotta time your touches and flicks. That's what makes it so fun though, especially in specific minigames called Remixes where you will be constantly swapping games and only having a couple seconds to adapt.
Another thing that helps Rhythm Heaven stand out, is the very unique visual and musical style it has. It's hard to put into words, but you'll notice how charming all of the minigames are as you play (and you'll definitely get a few catchy songs stuck in your head for years to come).
While it's not the easiest game to come by this day since it's never been ported outside the DS, please give it a shot if you can. It'll take a bit to get used to the touchscreen inputs but by the time it's over you'll be wishing there was more to play.
In concept, Rhythm Heaven is like a love child of microgame collections like WarioWare and rhythm games without explicit visual cues like Space Channel 5. You're given a minigame to play until you become good enough at it to unlock the next one, then move on until you play through the all the main minigames available. If you do really good at any of them, you get a medal, and collecting them unlocks some extra content like timing tests or that minigame's soundtrack.
Now, what really makes RH shine, is its rather... odd control scheme. Different games utilize the touchscreen in different ways (generally, you have an action for touching the screen and another for quickly flicking across it), and for some minigames it will certainly take a while for you to wrap your head about how you gotta time your touches and flicks. That's what makes it so fun though, especially in specific minigames called Remixes where you will be constantly swapping games and only having a couple seconds to adapt.
Another thing that helps Rhythm Heaven stand out, is the very unique visual and musical style it has. It's hard to put into words, but you'll notice how charming all of the minigames are as you play (and you'll definitely get a few catchy songs stuck in your head for years to come).
While it's not the easiest game to come by this day since it's never been ported outside the DS, please give it a shot if you can. It'll take a bit to get used to the touchscreen inputs but by the time it's over you'll be wishing there was more to play.