It’s hard to believe that Rhythm Paradise Groove is the first new game in the series in over ten years. I have such fond memories of this type of game, even importing Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan for the Nintendo DS (Elite Beat Agents when it did finally hit the West, by the way), and adoring the type of simple to play, yet difficult to master rhythm based fun on offer.
Yet here we are, and I’ve had the chance to play a bit of Rhythm Paradise Groove, including the new single player mode. I’ve sampled the difficulty, and the multiplayer that it’ll contain, and so far… it’s an absolute blast.
I want to first allay any fears that it’s suddenly going to be an easy game. The first mini-game I tried had me horrified at my own skill. As a small blob you are trying to jump through colourful hoops, and I failed over and over. I thought it was odd there was no music, and then after failing the game made that exact point to me. It tells you that if you try to find a rhythm with others, and with music, it’ll be easier. And it is, a bit. A madcap soundtrack starts up, and you have others jumping with you to make timing easier. It’s still not easy, and Rhythm Paradise Groove does demand you hit those beats properly.
As the narrator explains further (and punctuates every sentence with “beep”), you move onto the real thing. It’ll give you positive reinforcement for how you performed, even if you really didn’t do as well as you’d have liked. Within that first game alone, I realised that Rhythm Paradise Groove was going to consume me, as I’ll definitely be trying to better my performances.
There’s just so much personality and charm to the game. Returning players will recall the noises, the animations, and the visual delights on offer. The characters are all cutesy and weird looking, exactly as you’d hope. Every track I got to hear (and play, I guess) was a banger, and even when popping my head umbrella to shield from rain, in time with the music, I was smiling ear to ear. That’ll make sense if you end up grabbing it, I promise.
For those who do find the early game easy, there are some seriously tricky moments awaiting you. One featured some cat dolls that require you to jump in time, but then change it’ll add other moves into the routine that make it far from simple. Even as someone who has always enjoyed this type of game, it felt frantic and challenging.
Beatspell is the new single player mode, and it reminds me a little of Slay the Spire, but with musical gameplay. You progress through a dungeon of some kind and will attack enemies with spells. These spells seem to be handed out the further you progress, but I only got to play a few levels.
It’s difficult to explain, but you activate moves by playing them in time to the rhythm. There is a shape on the screen with four points that you must hit in time to make your moves more effective. For example, if you cast your spell on the beat perfectly you’ll get a critical hit, meaning you can wipe the enemies out quicker and more efficiently.
Soon after starting this mode I got a heal spell which added a “mid” beat button press. Instead of simply hitting “A – A” to throw fireballs, you now have to hit “A – down – A”. Again, the better you perform to the timing of the beat, the more health you’ll get back. I’m absolutely fascinated by how far this mode goes. There are unique enemy designs for each level, and even by the second level the map seemed to grow. There seems a lot I don’t quite yet know about this mode, but I do know that I wasn’t expecting such a cool idea within Rhythm Paradise Groove, and I can’t wait to get stuck into Beatspell when the game is out.
It’s a truly different take on the existing core idea, because you properly get in the zone with your moves, aware that if you absolutely nail the timing you can decimate enemies, but they are also hitting you, so you have to balance attack with defence, all while keeping on the beat to maximise efficiency. It’ll be interesting to see how hard Beatspell gets, but even after my short look, it’s very exciting.
Then there’s the multiplayer mode, and what a daft time they truly are. I can’t pretend everyone will love how silly Rhythm Paradise Groove is, but even the two multiplayer mini-games I played were lovely. One featured a samurai theme where arrows are being fired at your castle, and you have to time your button press perfectly to defend said arrows. Eventually hearts are fired to heal you as well. It’s demanding, and requires you to pay attention to the music and rhythm to get things right.
The highlight was “Cake Wait”, however. Which is simple but devastating to your pride. As four people sit round a table with one slice of cake, your job is to grab it first and enjoy your sweet goodness. You have to slam the button down at a set time and the closest to that time gets the cake. The screen will change, sometimes zooming in on the clock, sometimes elsewhere.
The music is rhythmic, but so are the bouncing chaps sat round the cake itself. It’s a first to three job, and it gets competitive quickly, especially since the on-screen losers are often obliterated from the screen in a mess. But the character of Rhythm Paradise Groove shines through here, and I’m sure the cake-wanting lads’ hair grows if they are winning. Suddenly in a random round there will be people appearing at the side of the scene, watching the madness. It’s glorious, silly fun, and exactly the kind of thing that’d be brilliant with some like-minded friends.
So far, so good then. Rhythm Paradise Groove is everything I’d want in a comeback. It’s fun, silly, and full of wit. But it’s also challenging, has seemingly loads to do, and obviously has superb music. It’s hard to know quite how much demand for this type of game there is these days, but with it being available on the original Switch, you’d have to assume this could be yet another party game success for Nintendo. Welcome back old friend, I am so glad you’re still around.
Rhythm Paradise Groove is coming to Nintendo Switch on July 2nd.
