There are plenty of music games for different kinds of people. Dance Dance Revolution is for people who want to work up a sweat. Guitar Hero is for those who want to rock; we salute you. Wii Music is for people who want a marginal upgrade from hitting pots and pans with wooden spoons. And Beatmania IIDX is for masochists (or at least that’s what I surmise from this YouTube clip). But who is the new Nintendo DS release Rhythm Heaven for?

Well, as far as I can tell, Rhythm Heaven is for crazy people. Musically-inclined crazy people, to be precise.

Rhythm Heaven starts off sane enough. You go through a quick tutorial on the all-important stylus flick. This motion is made by drawing a checkmark. Other motions you’ll encounter in the game include tapping, scratching, and combinations of those three. You’ll use them to unlock over 50 musical mini-games. Pretty standard sounding DS game so far.

But don’t let your guard down yet. Oh yes, the crazy is coming. Each mini-game is its own song, with the styles covering practically every genre of music (I recommend wearing headphones, as hearing the bass will help greatly). To pass songs, you control some strange creature/object via the touch screen and fill in the missing notes at the correct time.

So in one game, you could be controlling a machine which builds widgets in tune with the beat, and the next, you’re singing a duet as an Easter Island moai statue. Or you could be an anthropomorphic frog backup dancer. Or you could be a scientist who makes love with another scientist. But I mean, they literally make love, like in beakers that they shake to the beat. Wait, that still sounds awful and wrong. I mean, they mix their liquid chemicals together to make sweet, sweet music. Err… well, I assure you this game is rated E for Everyone.

The wacky situations aren’t the only thing screwy. I found the requirements for passing mini-games to be confusing at times. Playing perfectly will earn you a medal which unlocks side-games and other toys. But playing less than optimally can either net you an “Okay”, or a “Try Again”. And it’s unclear where the boundary is for either. You’ll think you did good enough but fail, or feel that you did poorly yet pass. But no need to fret if you run into a mini-game that seems impossible; if you fail it enough, you can skip it and move onto the next one.

Rhythm Heaven is not for the faint of heart. The mini-games can get painfully difficult, as in my fingers hurt after playing them. People who have never played music games, or are hopelessly arrhythmic, will probably be frustrated by the cutely designed characters telling them they need more practice. But for seasoned veterans who cut their teeth on games like Elite Beat Agents or Rock Band, Rhythm Heaven is a formidable opponent that will make you smile with its craziness and ingenious mini-games.

by Jedwin Celestino

images from Joystiq and Wikipedia