Rhythm Heaven

*Rhythm Heaven*
ESRB:	- Everyone
PEGI:	- 3 years and up
CERO:	- All ages
USK:	- All ages

Rhythm Heaven (リズム天国ゴールド^?, Rhythm Tengoku Gold), known as Rhythm Paradise in Europe and Rhythm World (리듬세상) in Korea, is the second game in the Rhythm Heaven series, released for the Nintendo DS on July 31, 2008 in Japan, April 5, 2009 in North America, May 1, 2009 for Europe and September 24, 2009 for Korea.

It was developed by Nintendo SPD1 and most of the music was composed by Japanese producer/singer TSUNKU. It was the first game in the series to be released outside of Japan.

Gameplay

The game is meant to be played by holding the Nintendo DS sideways. Left-handers have an option to change the position of the visual gameplay to allow easier playing. The game primarily uses the touch screen.

Development

Rhythm Heaven's development "wasn't easy" for the staff. Osawa didn't like the idea of using buttons, so he considered a control mechanic that involved the Touch Screen. The ability to touch the edge of the Touch Screen was considered, but was determined to be too difficult.

The Flick action took the staff a "little getting used to" as they had to make it feel "fair" to the player until they realised that if flicking was combined with the music it would give the players a "good sense of timing". The Flick action took them about "two to three months" to research and "six months" to eventually adapt the control into Rhythm Heaven.^[1] Tsunku really liked the idea of the Flick action regardless of the long time to adapt. At that time, he thought of the idea for Frog Hop, which became one of the very first games to be made for Rhythm Heaven.^[2]

Controls

The controls for Rhythm Heaven, just like every other game in the series, are very basic. There are four main mechanics used, both for all of the mini games available to play and just getting around the game itself. These controls are tapping, holding, sliding and flicking, in addition to the L/R buttons that are used in exclusively Rockers 2. The start button is used to pause during a mini game.

List of Rhythm Games

Built to Scale	Glee Club	Fillbots	Fan Club	Remix 1
File:Built to Scale.png	File:Glee Club-title.png	File:Fillbots-title.png	File:Fan Club-title.png	File:1st Remix.png
Rhythm Rally	Shoot-'Em-Up	Blue Birds	Moai Doo-Wop	Remix 2
File:Rhythm rally.png	File:Shoot 'em up.png	File:Blue birds.png	File:Moai Doo-Wop.png	File:2nd Remix.png
Love Lizards	Crop Stomp	Freeze Frame	The Dazzles	Remix 3
File:Love lizards.png	File:Crop stomp.png	File:Freeze frame.png	File:The dazzles.png	File:3rd Remix.png
Munchy Monk	DJ School	Drummer Duel	Love Lab	Remix 4
File:Munchy monk.png	File:DJ school.png	File:Drummer duel.png	File:Love lab.png	File:4th Remix.png
Splashdown	Big Rock Finish	Dog Ninja	Frog Hop	Remix 5
	File:Big rock finish.png	File:Dog ninja.png	File:Frog hop title.png	File:5th Remix.png
Space Soccer	Lockstep	Rockers	Karate Man	Remix 6
File:Space Soccer.png	File:Lockstep.png	File:Rockers.png	File:Karate Man DS.PNG	File:6th Remix.png
Airboarder
File:Airboarder.png
Built to Scale 2	The Dazzles 2	Frog Hop 2	Fan Club 2	Remix 7
File:Built to scale 2.png	File:The dazzles 2.png	File:Frog hop 2.png	File:Fan club 2.png	File:7th Remix.png
Rhythm Rally 2	Fillbots 2	Blue Birds 2	Lockstep 2	Remix 8
	File:Fillbots 2.png	File:Blue birds 2.png	File:Lockstep 2.png	File:8th Remix.png
Moai Doo-Wop 2	Karate Man 2	Glee Club 2	Space Soccer 2	Remix 9
File:Maoi doowop 2.png	File:Karate Man 2 DS.PNG	File:Glee club 2.png	File:Space soccer 2.png	File:9th Remix.png
Shoot-'Em-Up 2	Splashdown 2	Munchy Monk 2	Rockers 2	Remix 10
File:Shoot 'em up 2.png		File:Munchy monk 2.png	File:Rockers 2.png	File:10th Remix.png

Reception

Rhythm Heaven received fairly positive reviews. Official Nintendo Magazine gave this game 82% for it's "hilarious games" and "superb soundtrack" but it was marred of it's length.^[3] Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com gave this game a B+ as a "must-play experience" but felt forced to make use of the touch screen.^[4] Craig Harris of IGN gave the game an "Amazing" rating of 9.0 for being "off-the-wall" and "incredibly fun and addictive" but criticized the "awful lyrics" in songs.^[5] This game is known to be favorable on Metacritic, with an average score of 84.^[6]

Trivia

This is the only Rhythm Heaven game to not have the following:
- A Rhythm Test. Instead, a flicking practice is used.
- A Remix with lyrics. While Remix 2 (DS) has vocals, they do not count as lyrics.
- A main game that features The Wandering Samurai as the main character—he was in an Endless Game instead.
- A variation of Night Walk.
- The Clappy Trio, Sneaky Spirits, Power Calligraphy, and/or Tap Trial as playable minigames.
This is the first Rhythm Heaven game to use Rhythm Games with 3D models—them being Built to Scale, Rhythm Rally, the two game's sequels, and Airboarder.
For promotional purposes, pop singer Beyoncé appeared in the North American commercials.
The American singers are uncredited in Airboarder (the Staff Credits). They include Lores Ferris Dandoy, Brad Holmes, Ayaka Nagate, and Frank LeGree.
This is the game with the most Rhythm Toys, with seven, and the most non-multiplayer Endless Games, with six.

References

Rhythm Heaven
Rhythm Games		• • • •
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Medal Corner	Endless Games	• • • • •
	Rhythm Toys	• • • • • •
	Guitar Lessons ★Basic Course★	• • •
	Guitar Lessons ★Technical Course★	• • •
Miscellaneous		• • • Music Corner • Reading Corner • Practice Flicking • Perfect Campaign • Characters • The Rhythm League • Rhythm Heaven • Rock 'n' Roll Hall • Development History • Rhythm Tengoku Gold Comic • •