Rhythm Paradise Groove Preview – The rhythm is gonna get you

I’ve never played the Rhythm Paradise games, let alone Rhythm Heaven, as they’re known in the US. Despite my love of the rhythm genre of games, I just wasn’t sure that a collection of rhythm challenges wouldn’t hold my attention without an overarching narrative or singular musical theme. Having now played a bunch of Rhythm Paradise Groove, I’m still not entirely sure if this hits the right notes with me.

At its core, Rhythm Paradise Groove is a collection of mini-games where you must get – as the game incessantly states – into the groove. Each game is short, though not quite as bitesized as in WarioWare, with a distinct visual and musical style that serves as its basis, and only one or two buttons needed to engage with each one.

The games themselves are where the joy lies though as they are all bafflingly weird. One that stuck with me was a game where you are playing as the third in a row of four lucky cat statues. In this game you jump or roll with the same timing as the other cats, and the animations when you mess up had me grinning the whole time. Sure, the point is to succeed, but Groove makes failure just as enjoyable.

I did not enjoy the game that had you at the back of a line of little guys jumping through hoops, though. I’ll accept that this might just be not having the time to get to the hang of what it wanted from me, but I really struggled here when I managed the other games fine. I guess I’ll need to practice this one with the full game.

But short rhythmic challenges isn’t the only magic trick up Rhythm Paradise Groove’s sleeves. The other single-player mode available for us to try was possibly one of the most interesting additions to the rhythm genre. In Beatspell, you embark on an epic quest, using the rhythm and various button presses to cast spells to take down the enemies in your path and save the world. Of everything I played, this was the one that I wanted more time with, and I cannot wait for the full game to see how this mode plays out.

But, if the single-player life isn’t for you, Groove has you covered. With a collection of collaborative and competitive games, you can drag friends into the chaos if you are that way inclined. My favourite was where you are playing as samurai deflecting arrows in time to the music to save your kingdom. I might have enjoyed this one so much because the team I was in quite dramatically failed – but you can’t prove it.

It’s difficult to explain just how eccentric the visual styling is. Everything is so cartoonishly exaggerated that it adds to the comedy of the experience. This is coupled with music that I have been intermittently humming to myself around the house ever since the preview event, which was weeks ago! Sure, this is a rhythm game, but the music didn’t have to go this hard.

I didn’t get all that much time with Rhythm Paradise Groove, but what I did play has sold me on the concept. The off-the-wall humour, simplicity of the mechanics, and genuinely catchy music made for a very fun experience. I only played around 10 of the confirmed over 100 games, but there was more than enough there to get me looking forward to tapping my feet along to whatever nonsense the rest of the game holds.