Rhythm Heaven/Development: Difference between revisions

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[[niwanetwork:Kazuyoshi Osawa|Osawa]] was in agony trying to figure out how to make the game fun on [[niwanetwork:Nintendo DS|Nintendo DS]]. The team had sent a sample to [[generasia:Tsunku|Tsunku♂]], who really tore it apart. After talking with him, he gave the concept that would eventually become [[Frog Hop]], which became one of the very first games to be made for ''[[Rhythm Heaven]]''. After this, [[generasia:Tsunku|Tsunku♂]] became deeply involved with development, just as he was with the [[Rhythm Tengoku|previous game]]<ref>[https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/ds/rhythm-heaven/0/3/ Iwata Asks - Rhythm Heaven - Page 4]</ref>. The team as whole was small but with effective leadership, being clear on what ideas are fun to play and which ones need to be scrapped, and sometimes assets would be used in ways the original person who made them could not have expected. [[niwanetwork:Kazuyoshi Osawa|Osawa]] was known to have drawn the original pixel art and written the text, which would later be redrawn by [[niwanetwork:Ko Takeuchi|Ko Takeuchi]] and [[niwanetwork:Kyohei Seki|Kyohei Seki]]<ref>[https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/ds/rhythm-heaven/0/5/ Iwata Asks - Rhythm Heaven - Page 6]</ref>. On July 23, 2008, [[generasia:Tsunku|Tsunku♂]] posted on his blog about the game, which would release a week later in Japan, titled ''[[Rhythm Tengoku Gold]]''<ref>[https://ameblo.jp/tsunku-blog/entry-10117485336.html リズム！ | つんく♂オフィシャルブログ 「つんブロ♂芸能コース」Powered by Ameba] (Rhythm! | Tsunku♂ Official Blog "Tsunbro♂ Entertainment Course" Powered by Ameba)</ref>. On September 8, 2008, he posted about the release of ''[[Rhythm Tengoku Zen Kyoku-shu]]'', a soundtrack release for both ''[[Rhythm Tengoku]]'' and ''[[Rhythm Tengoku Gold]]'', released later on October 15, 2008<ref>[https://ameblo.jp/tsunku-blog/entry-10136916697.html リリース情報 | つんく♂オフィシャルブログ 「つんブロ♂芸能コース」Powered by Ameba] (Release Information | Tsunku♂ Official Blog "Tsunbro♂ Entertainment Course" Powered by Ameba)</ref>.

When it came time to localize the game overseas, careful consideration was made to make sure the game had the same impact on an American audience as it did for the original Japanese demographic. This included dubbing the songs into English, with the original development team overseeing and approving the new vocals. The staff in Japan would first translate the lyrics directly, and the staff at [[niwanetwork:Nintendo|Nintendo]] of America would localize them. They took extra care to maintain the flow behind the gameplay<ref>"As for the changes to song lyrics in the American version, the staff in Japan translated the songs into English, staying as close as they could to the meaning of the Japanese. Then the staff at Nintendo of America localized them for an American audience, and the lyrics as they are now were completed. Our main concern, though, was maintaining the flow and emphasis in the songs that enable all of the game's tapping and button-pressing. There would be no point in the game if we sacrificed the rhythmic gameplay just to make the meaning of the English and Japanese lyrics match, so we had the localizers take extra care with this." ~ [[generasia:Tsunku|Tsunku♂]], [http://blog.wired.com/games/2009/04/qa-japans-pop-i.html J-Pop Producer Tsunku Perfects Music Games With Rhythm Heaven]</ref>. At one point, there were plans to include the Japanese vocals as an unlockable, but this was cut due to memory constraints<ref>[https://www.destructoid.com/gdc-09-chatting-with-nintendos-rich-amtower/ GDC 09: Chatting with Nintendo's Rich Amtower – Destructoid]</ref>. A remnant of this can be found in the ROM of the North American version, where two files labeled "STRM_072" and "STRM_073" can be found, these being the Japanese versions of [[Struck by the Rain]]. The idea of including a dual soundtrack would later be realized in ''[[Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise]]'' (exclusively in the European version) and ''[[Rhythm Heaven Megamix]]'' (in all overseas releases).