Rhythm Heaven Groove

« Rhythm Heaven Groove is not only incredibly fun, backed by an amazing soundtrack, but it's so unbelievably accessible practically everyone can play it. »

« Rhythm Heaven is fundamentally different to other rhythm games, and Rhythm Paradise Groove is no different. It might seem both whimsical and bonkers from the aesthetics and general energy of the game, and it is that, but it’s also an enormously clever project that subtly helps you develop very real rhythm skills. I love it when games entertain while also teaching like this. »

« Rhythm Heaven Groove is Nintendo at its handheld best, and that also happens to be my favorite kind of Nintendo. It is essential for rhythm game fans, and I'm going to go back to replaying older stages literally after sending this review in. The wait for a new Rhythm Heaven was long, but Tsunku and Nintendo have delivered what I consider a tie for my favorite game of 2026 with Forza Horizon 6, and I'm not just saying that because both feature Ado. »

« Rhythm Heaven Groove lives up to the expectations longtime fans have had for the series. With higher-quality songs, familiar yet flexible stage formats, and highly replayable bonus modes, it brought back memories of grinding for medals on the Nintendo DS and Wii. For rhythm game fans, it is undoubtedly the most fitting first-party send-off for the Nintendo Switch generation. »

« Rhythm Heaven Groove is a fantastic return to form from Nintendo and Tsunku, filled to the brim with fresh beats and funny characters, with plenty of modes to explore alone or with friends while you work on perfecting your skills. »

« This new installment preserves the essence that made the series a defining title in the rhythm game genre while introducing a broad selection of brand-new content and game modes that significantly expand the overall experience, with Beatspell standing out in particular thanks to its originality. »

« Rhythm Paradise Groove is a kooky, superb rhythm game that has loads of reasons to come back to play time and time again. »

« Rhythm Heaven Groove is a superb sequel that expertly capitalizes on the captivating energy of its excellent music across a series of joyfully animated minigames. The solo campaign is well-balanced and stuffed with genre-shifting earworms you won’t forget fast. The new Beatspell RPG mode and more straightforward Toybox levels don’t quite reach that same impressive bar, but the co-op mode does stand as a great addition with a solid range of competitive and collaborative games that quickly got me and my friends laughing. Even so, this irreverent return to Rhythm Heaven hits all the right notes, solidifying itself as an unmissable addition to the series. »

« A great entry in the franchise. It offers a lot of challenges and modes to keep you busy if you wish to. The first few stages are kinda bland, but the game really picks up and offers some bangers, especially in the second half »

« A truly fantastic game! Surpassed my expectations by a long shot, tons of amazing minigames, fantastic remixes with a lot of creativity, incredible songs, charming and memorable audio cues, and the game is packed with content. I also want to highlight the Beatspell mode, it is AMAZING! I was really surprised at how fun it was! It is also the easiest game of the series making it good for new or more casual players, with no minigames that feel frustrating or unfair while still offering some challenge for experienced players in the later minigames and when going for perfects. While playing it I get the feeling this game is more of a Rhythm Tengoku 2 than a Rhythm Heaven 5, and that is a good thing. I definitely appreciate more variety and experimentation while keeping the game simple, but not doing something way too different like the unskippable story mode Megamix had. The sense of rhythm is more present than ever! It is ALMOST everything I wanted from a new Rhythm Heaven and more... if they hadn't COMPLETELY fumbled the art style. The minigames that use the default visual style for this game looks BAD. And it honestly feels pretty simple to fix or at least massively improve. The biggest problem by far, at least for me, is how the line art of the characters was drawn. There is absolutely no weight to any of the lines, they don't get thinner at the ends, making every corner and detail look unbelievably lazy and amateurish, almost no even slightly sharp edges anywhere, everything is round and samey, and it completely breaks the very simple yet incredibly stylish art style of the Rhythm Heaven series every single other game followed to some extent. It feels like such a hard thing to mess up, I'm genuinely baffled that they got it so wrong. When they first showed the game my expectations immediately lowered substantially once I saw how the art looked and the obvious problems with it. Not to say there aren't ANY minigames with the game's default art style that look good, they CAN look really great, but the artist missed the mark for way too many of the minigames, resulting in a lack of that important impactful visual feedback that made so many of the older minigames so memorable for the new ones using this default style. None of the minigames are really truly "ugly" though, just VERY disappointing for the series, and I hope that if we ever get a new game it goes back to the usual art style for the series, otherwise it would be beyond disappointing. Thankfully there is quite a bit of variety of art style in the game, with many minigames not even having line art at all and looking great as a result! I even actually LIKE the way some of them have these large empty spaces on the screen, it can feel otherworldly and I really like it. And even for the minigames that look less than ideal, once you get past how they look, they can still be a lot of fun! At the end of the day, Rhythm Heaven Groove is truly an incredible game, way better than I could have ever predicted the next Rhythm Heaven game would be, and even with all the problems I have with much of its presentation, I can't bring it lower than a 9. »

« This game SLAPS, the minigames are on par with the rest of the series and are extremely fun and the fact that there's 20 remixes now really makes it chaotic. The multiplayer is also really accessible and kept me and my friends hooked for hours. Truly a great package worth every cent and more »

« [SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.] »

« [SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.] »

« I've been a fan of the series since I first played the Wii entry... on an emulator. I've played every other game in the series (excluding the arcade port of Tengoku) and honestly this stands tall as another great entry alongside the rest. The minigames are still as fun albeit weird as they were back in the day. Not to mention Beatspell, the rpg side mode. This game is filled with tons of content, and a lot of replayability. This is my personal GoTY and you are doing yourself a disservice by not at least checking out the free demo. »

« The game is perfect. Easier then the other games of the series. New minigames and a lot of cameos of older characters from the series. »

« It can seem artificially difficult if you play on a tv and don't have a low latency setup. The main part of what makes an RH game good is music and this game has fantastic music. »