Rhythm Tengoku

Rhythm Tengoku (リズム天国) is the first game in the series released for the Game Boy Advance on August 3, 2006 in Japan, and also the last game Nintendo had developed for the Game Boy Advance. This is the first installment of the Rhythm Heaven Series.

An arcade version was co-developed by Sega.

Menu
The Menu (メニュー) is unlocked after the player clears Rhythm-kan Check the first time on a new file. The options give the player access to Rhythm Games, Rhythm-kan Check, Rhythm Shiryo Shitsu, Studio and Options.
 * Rhythm Games (リズムゲーム) goes to the Game Select menu, where all of the unlocked Stages and the Omaku Corner are accessed.
 * Rhythm-kan Check (リズム感チェック) is a replay of the test given at the start of the game. The player can Pause and Quit this time.
 * Rhythm Shiryo Shitsu (リズム資料室) is where the player can read various things, received as a Gift from the Perfect Camapaign on certain games.
 * Studio (スタジオ) meanwhile allows the player to listen to the music they've received also as Gifts, as well as drum to them.
 * Options (オプション) is where the player can change their sound preference to "stereo" (for headphones or DS speakers) or "mono" (for GBA speakers), or delete all of their saved game data.

Rhythm Games
Rhythm Games are the main core of Rhythm Tengoku. The core gameplay of all of the Rhythm Games is based on rhythm, with every minigame having its own set of rules. The object here is to clear all the games by achieving a decent score. After every five games, a Remix appears that combines those games into one. Clearing the Remix unlocks the next Stage.

Once a "Superb" rank is achieved on a game, a chance to go for a Perfect appears at random times. Other things can also be accessed through the Omake Corner such as the Café, Drum Lessons and Rhythm Toys. Everything unlockable in these areas can be obtained by earning Medals.

Rhythm Tengoku Taikenhan
Rhythm Tengoku Taikenhan (リズム天国 体験版) is a demo version of the game, which was playable in kiosks up until the game's release. It reminds the player of the price of the final game, the price being 3,800 yen (or 33.53$ in USD), in virtually all accessable parts of the game. It consists of a single Stage called Otameshi (おためし), which contains a shortened version of Rhythm-kan Sokutei and three games (Karateka, Rhythm Datsumo and Pachi Pachi Sanninshu) and a shortened version of Rhythm-kan Sokutei.

Although the player can obtain Medals, there is no Omake Corner, and therefore nothing to unlock with them.

Trivia

 * A strategy guide for this game was released in Japan.
 * This is the only Rhythm Heaven game to have 5 Rhythm Games and a Remix in each Stage.
 * This game has only 8 Stages, unlike the 10 in Rhythm Heaven and Rhythm Heaven Fever.
 * This is the only game to not have a variant of Munchy Monk.
 * Rhythm Tengoku Taikenhan, unsurprisingly, has the data for everything else from the final version. There are however, some things that go unused exclusively in this version.
 * Marcher has the "リズム天国 おねだん ¥３,８００" text appear on the conveyer belt at the end, while in Air Batter, it appears on the last zoom-out. Marcher 2 has glitchy sprites instead of the actual text. Karateka 2 has the text in the background the same way the original does.
 * Marcher and Air Batter are also set to unlocked in Rhythm Tengoku Taikenhan, though they are inaccessable.
 * Interestingly, although none of the games in Rhythm Tengoku Taikenhan have a Rank by default, they are shown to have an OK rank after they are played, even if the player got a Try Again which normally wouldn't change the game's Rank.
 * Although the Menu can be accessed through the debug menu, the Stereo/Mono options are non-functional. The game is locked to Mono sound regardless of which option is chosen.