Short: Veteran's rating - 6 + 1/ Newcomer's rating - 7 or 8
Rhythm Heaven Megamix is Nintendo's fourth entry into the series and is an arguable "Best Of" compilation of the previous 3 titles (GBA, DS, and Wii) with a small handful of new songs/games and therefore a handful of new remixes as well. This is the first chance for many people to play some of the original minigames that wereShort: Veteran's rating - 6 + 1/ Newcomer's rating - 7 or 8
Rhythm Heaven Megamix is Nintendo's fourth entry into the series and is an arguable "Best Of" compilation of the previous 3 titles (GBA, DS, and Wii) with a small handful of new songs/games and therefore a handful of new remixes as well. This is the first chance for many people to play some of the original minigames that were on the Japan-exclusive original title that set the tone and characters for the following two sequels.
Don't know what it is? It's a charming rhythm game where players will challenge short 2-3 minute songs from a broad stroke of genres. Unlike your typical rhythm game, each song plays like a thematic mini-game with original music and some tracks by legendary J-Pop producer Tsunku. The mini-games typically don't use more than two buttons and carry a sort of WarioWare style of wackiness; for example, samurai fighting off ghosts, monkeys swinging from elephants and giraffe, a martian that loves ramen and curry, and picking beards off onions. As weird as it can get, there's always some more charming ones that plant themselves firmly in your memory like monkeys (again with the monkeys) clapping at an idol concert, hitting hole-in-ones on a little island, and well... it's still pretty weird, isn't it?
At any rate, the two sequels made it here in the West on the DS (Rhythm Heaven) and the Wii (Rhythm Heaven Fever) and amassed a cult following in the West, so it was with great excitement that the 3DS was to see a new Rhythm Heaven title. Only it's not new. It's mostly old with just a sprinkle of new. If the game truly came out at a "Greatest Hits"-style of pricing, I'd have no complaints, but we're talking a full retail release here and for veterans of the series - you know, the people who made a sequel worth making - you might feel a little bit let down.
That is not to say that RHMM is any less addictive or fun to play, mind you. If you've never played the previous two games, this is an amazing chance to play some of the more popular (and some not-so-popular) games collected in one title. For the veterans, however, after the first few sections, you're going to start thinking that maybe Nintendo was phoning this one in.
RHMM boasts a tremendous 100 minigames for players to challenge, but only 20% of them are new. Luckily, old favorites make their way to the screen with a new facelift (GBA games had their art re-done) and are as adorably charming as ever, but instead of the regular columns of mini-games to work through with a remix at the end of each one, you're now going to have to work through a light-hearted story mode that makes no sense. I'm not sure why Nintendo decided to make this story-mode wrapper, but it is distracting and takes time away from the mini-games we all came to play. I should correct myself - the familiar columns do appear, but only after you've done a series of four challenges (3 old, 1 new) repeatedly and include some forced rhythm games (skill tests).
The good news is that there is more than just the 20 songs that are new. Since there are some new mini-games, that means the remixes are all new as well. They're not as good as some of the previous ones, but still remain a highlight of the game. Also, the story mode doesn't cover the whole history of the mini-games and some fan-favorites can instead be found in the game's museum to unlock and play (and inevitably perfect), but there are quite a few that didn't make the cut this time (like the love potion song), which is a shame.
As a "Best Of" there are some great features tucked away in the museum. Not only can you revisit some of the games that didn't make the story mode cut, you can also see their conditional ending photos (depending on your accuracy rating), pick up collectable mementos for each game at the shop and... oh, yeah, you can feed a goat. I have no idea why you need to feed this goat and I certainly can't tell you why feeding it means you have to play a pachinko game. Truly bizarre. Multiplayer modes are back as well and you can connect with your pals via StreetPass.
Unfortunately, reviewing the new content is going to be a subjective exercise. Personally, I didn't think most of the new tracks were all that great, but I do give a thumbs up to the tango robot; that one is my personal favorite. Also, there is a tradition in the series to have the final remix be a mash-up of every song, but given the song count in this one, it's an impossible task and the result is... lacking.
Still, it's Rhythm Heaven so it is worth your time. For veterans, however, I'm not so sure it's worth your cash. However, you may be wondering about that "+1" up above. One of the biggest bonuses that RHMM offers is you can finally switch to the original Japanese tracks without having to rely on flash carts or imports. For several fans, this is the only way to play, so it's definitely worth that +1 for some.… Expand
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