When you think about what makes Nintendo special – along with iconic characters like Mario and Zelda – it’s important to remember their willingness to be a little bit quirky and unconventional.
From motion-based gaming to quirky minigame collections, bizarre character-filled worlds, and even unconventional hardware, Nintendo consistently embraces ideas that other companies would consider too risky or unlikely to succeed.
Rhythm Paradise – known as Rhythm Heaven outside the UK – is a surprisingly fantastic game. It’s a collection of simple rhythm-based minigames that are much more enjoyable than you might expect.
After over ten years since the last installment, Rhythm Paradise Groove successfully revives the series’ tradition of delightfully strange and creative gameplay. I really enjoyed my time with it, spending a couple of hours lost in its world.
If you’re new to Rhythm Paradise, it’s a game made up of fun, fast-paced rhythm challenges. The basic idea is simple: you’re quickly shown how to play – usually just pressing a button to the beat – and then you jump right in!
The challenges range from simple to difficult, but they all share a lighthearted, comical atmosphere. You’ll likely make mistakes along the way, but that’s part of the fun! After each round, you receive a score and then continue to the next game – it’s a straightforward process.
You might not think much of this game at first, but once you start playing, its music will quickly captivate you.
I didn’t get much time to play Groove, and I was really upset that I might not have done well on some of the mini-games, especially since I couldn’t replay them to improve my score.
This has haunted me while I continue to wait for the full game.
Let’s skip the introduction. If you’re visiting this page, you likely already appreciate Rhythm Paradise and what makes it so special.
So, rather than simply praise how great the games still are, I want to focus on the two aspects that really stood out to me.
One key feature is multiplayer mode. You can play with others in two ways: cooperatively, working together towards a shared objective, or in a free-for-all where everyone competes against each other.
I worked with a team of three to defend the castle from a barrage of arrows, acting as its protectors.
We weren’t very good at defending against the arrows, but despite that, everyone had a really great time!
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Groove understands that there’s a shared human experience in collective failure, and they’ve built their success around acknowledging that.
The most exciting part was when we all raced to grab a piece of cake as soon as the timer hit zero. We each silently counted down, trying to be the quickest!
We were playing a best-of-three game, and somehow, unbelievably, we all ended up tied with two points each going into the last round. Then, in another surprising turn of events, the other three players all won at the same moment, leaving me embarrassed and without any cake at Nintendo headquarters.
Needless to say, I will be inflicting these games on my unsuspecting friends in the weeks to come.
Although playing with others was probably more enjoyable, discovering the story was definitely more captivating.
Beatspell is a new mode that introduces what is effectively a miniature RPG into Rhythm Paradise.
You use magic to attack enemies and restore your health, defeating waves of opponents to advance to the next stage.
To cast a fireball, you needed to press A twice. Healing involved pressing A, then B, and then A again.
Timing is crucial here. The more accurate your actions, the more effective they’ll be – a perfectly timed action will deliver a critical hit.
The game begins easily enough, but boss battles can become quite stressful.
I only got to try the first couple of levels, so it wasn’t very challenging yet, but it definitely grabbed my attention. If developed well, I think Groove has a potentially great game on their hands.
Based on my experience with the demo, the game mode seemed quite short, with only four levels accessible. I’m hoping the final version has more content.
I’m not expecting a huge, complex game, but adding more variety – like longer levels, choices in how you play, and more spells to discover – would make this mode incredibly engaging and I’d happily spend a lot of time playing it.
As a huge Rhythm Paradise fan, I can honestly say Groove delivers everything I wanted and then some! It’s just fantastic – everything you’d hope for from the series, and it even manages to surprise you with extra goodness.
I’m really looking forward to the warm British summer and spending it creating a fun scene: a muscular man juggling apples on his biceps, all set to music!
Authors
Alex Raisbeck writes about video games for TopMob, covering both big-name titles and smaller independent games. He’s also contributed to well-known gaming publications like VideoGamer, GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, and PCGamesN.
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2026-06-12 15:11