Game: Beat The Beat: Rhythm Paradise (Rhythm Heaven Fever in the US)
Console: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Nintendo SPD Group 1
Release Date: 6th July 2012 (PAL)
Listen along with the game OST as you read
Rhythm Heaven Fever (as I'm going to call it, as its easier on the ear), is a music and rhythm game for the Wii, the 3rd game in the Rhythm Heaven series, the first being a Japan only release for Gameboy Advance, and the second being the fairly popular DS game "Rhythm Heaven/Paradise".
Putting down the DS stylus in favour of the Wiimote, we're once again greeted by a host of cute cartoon creatures, ready to introduce us to the new game. At first there's only one rhythm minigame unlocked, but assuming you don't totally suck at a minigame, its fairly easy to release the entire collection of them, one at a time from the game's grasp.
The controls are beyond simple with just the A and B buttons in use for the entire game, but this doesn't make gameplay any less fun; there are a variety of minigames featuring all sorts of wacky events and characters using the buttons in different ways. There are remix stages, testing what players have learnt at the end of every 4 games, raising the difficulty with each set.
Musically this game is excellent, with a vibrant and varied soundtrack, encompassing many styles and sounds, without this the game just wouldn't work at all. It's easy to forget how important the soundtrack is in rhythm games, but every track feels polished and fitting for the visuals that accompany it.
As for the unlockables, there's a wealth of things to discover if you have enough medals (obtained through achieving a superb rank, on minigames). Unlockables are sorted under three headings; Rhythm Toys, Endless Games and Extra Games, the better ones requiring more medals to unlock. The credits theme is a playable rhythm game, and there's also a two player mode with two player unlockable content.
Graphically, the game adopts a cartoon style, which accommodates a variety of cute animals and inanimate objects into the games. With over 50 minigames to unlock (granted some of them are a more difficult version of a previous game), there's plenty of variety, and the remix stages keep things fresh with clever mash-ups of games.
All in all this is a fun rhythm game with plenty of content, that's easy to play and difficult to master. Fans of the series will need no encouragement to play this game, and I'd recommend it to anyone with a sense of rhythm. It may seem like a kids game at first, but with an amazing soundtrack and a slowly increasing difficulty curve, its for all ages.
Rating: 92/100
Grade: A
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