#review
The door closes behind you with an ominous click. It's bright in here—too bright. Before you can get your wits about you, your host begins to speak. More »
Rhythm Heaven Fever keeps faithful to its GBA and DS predecessors in just about every way, bringing everything fans loved to the big screen. From the catchy music, to the adorable humor everything's there, especially the challenging gameplay.
It's one of my favorite games of this generation -- a title that offers a much stronger education in game design and a more pure, direct, and genuine experience than most games on the market.
You'll love
A bevy of addictive, catchy songs
Adorably unique style and art
A great deal at any price (especially $30)
You'll hate
Musical amateurs will occasionally be frustrated
Hardcore players may find it too easy
It's one of the last good times you'll have on the Wii
Los Angeles' iam8bit gallery played host to Nintendo last night, as the two companies launched Rhythm Heaven Fever with a full scale party. There were plenty of demos of the game on display, live painting by artists Yoskay Yamamoto and Mari Inukai, a live DJ spinning tunes, and a few photo booths where players could dress up and pose, or even dance for a video running on Nintendo's own site. The event was a lot of fun, and you can pretend you were able to be there by browsing through the gallery below. iam8bit always does a great job with these events, and co-founder Jon Gibson promised us there's lots more on the way: He's currently working hard on the leetUP event that iam8bit is co-hosting at the beginning of next month, and says VIP tickets for that one have sold out already. We'll be in attendance, so stay tuned for more.
To mark Rhythm Heaven Fever's launch, Nintendo is holding a launch event this Friday Feb. 10 at the iam8bit Gallery on Sunset Blvd from 6 to 10pm. There will be drinks, food, and music, too. First come, first served. More »
The correct approach is to just have fun, enjoy the funny animations and noises when you screw up, and keep playing until you can keep up with the rhythm naturally. I wish I could say I came to this enlightened approach easily. I was taking the whole thing way too seriously, getting far too irritated at the seventh "remix" stage (a new song that blends the previous minigames), and then I played a couple of rounds of multiplayer with my wife, who burst into laughter whenever she missed the timing. It was revelatory.
I hold Rhythm Heaven games to a high standard. The DS game became such a fixture in my life that it permanently wired rhythms into my brain. Months after the last time I picked it up, I'll still randomly "scratch-o, hey" or hit imaginary taiko drums in my head. I'm predisposed to seek music games with original music anyway (Parappa, Gitaroo-Man) as it is, and Rhythm Heaven is among the most replayable and content-rich of the genre.
So when I say Rhythm Heaven Fever doesn't quite measure up to its predecessor, please understand that's not a condemnation. I just mean it's merely wonderful instead of the most wonderful.
The ideas presented in Fever would probably fit on an iOS device or portable platform than a home console, but this game is right at home on the Wii, and the console version realigns the core concept back with its original button-pressing vision.
Nintendo's Rhythm series made its debut outside of Japan three years ago with Rhythm Heaven for the Nintendo DS. This fun, quirky title proved surprisingly addictive, and instantly became a fan favorite - its outlandish style and simple yet challenging gameplay even appealing to those not usually in...
