Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
With my coverage of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble having ended, we move on to Rhythm Heaven Groove. I had previously covered Rhythm Heaven Fever in detail, but I had no means of recording off the 3DS, so I skipped coverage of Rhythm Heaven Megamix (but I do have the game, and I have played through it).
Rhythm Heaven Groove is the fifth game in the series, after over a decade since the previous game. Made by the same people as WarioWare, they share the WarioWare games’ structure or a large amount of very short and unrelated scenarios with simple controls, with little to no plot to connect them together but with a cast of characters outside those scenarios tying them all together. The long hiatus was likely due to the declining health of co-creator and music producer Tsunku♂, and everyone thought this would be the last game in the series.
The gameplay varies a lot in a Rhythm Heaven game, but what they all have in common (with one exception early into the series involving a demonic game show host) is that you must perform actions to the rhythm of the music playing. Some involve playing music, but most do not—Rhythm Heaven Groove alone ranges from jumping over hoops to cleaning up a construction site to defeating evil spirits to participating in a bird migration. Rhythm Heaven is also known to be stricter than most other rhythm games: you don’t get partial credit for almost getting the timing right: you either get it right, or you don’t.
This video takes us through Stage 1, consisting of Hoop Trundling, Brolly Good Show, Disc Dog, Feeding the Beast, and Remix 1. These five were already in the demo, which I covered some time back.
This first part of the series takes us through the main solo mode games, plus a few side modes.
00:00 - Hoop Trundling
Type: Cue
We begin with Hoop Trundling, where you play as the last in a group of five Trundlorbs. We have a long introduction here about how the timing for this game can be very tricky without music to establish a rhythm, then the proper tutorial. Being at the very beginning of the game, it is as basic as it gets: you have a single cue of “pa pi pu pe” and are tasked with finishing the pattern with “po,” completing your Trundlorb jumping over the hoop. The tempo is relatively slow and gentle, and the window to press the button is relatively wide. The one surprise thrown at you is when the camera does an iris out towards your Trundlorb, introducing the concept of obscuring your view so you must rely on the audio cues. Missing this portion will forfeit your chance for an “Amazing!” rank.
04:05 - Brolly Good Show
Type: Cue
The second part of the game demonstrates multiple actions in the same game—in this case, it’s opening and closing your umbrella. You’re playing as the blue Umbrella Performer, and like in Hoop Trundling, you’re the last one in line and have to follow the patterns set forth by the red, pink, and green Umbrella Performers. In a sense, this game plays a lot like Clappy Trio from the original Game Boy Advance Rhythm Heaven, though with two alternating actions. This game can be subtle in if you mistime an input; watch the green Umbrella Performer and see if he does a sideways glance at your character.
08:23 - Disc Dog
Type: Cue
Again, Disc Dog introduces you to the sort of challenge without a pattern to follow: Sister Silver will whistle, and you must jump on the seventh beat after her whistle. If you time it right, the dog will automatically catch the flying disc as it passes by. (A near miss has the disc bounce off its mouth, and a complete miss has it sail right on by.) Most of the games will have no pattern to follow, and you must simply listen to the cue and know what to do. We begin with something simple, with a single cue to follow. (If this looks too simple to you, we will see Disc Dog 2 in Stage 11.)
11:59 - Feeding the Beast
Type: Cue
Song: "My Telepathy! Watashi no Atsui Kosen" by Yui Sakurai (FRUITS ZIPPER)
Disc Dog was a more unusual take on the cue-based games, with a single cue and waiting out some number of beats, while Feeding the Beast is more like how the rest of the game will be like: hear a cue (in this case, the heart-shaped pods popping out of the flowers) and respond (press A to have Dino reach out and take a bite exactly 2 beats after the pod pos out). This is something of a rough start to this kind of game, as there are many inputs, and they come at you relentlessly, but the requirements to pass are pretty lenient; you can miss a lot and still get a “Good” rating, allowing you to move on.
14:48 - Remix 1
Type: Remix
Every set of five games ends in a remix, and while most of this game’s remixes do not have themes (and Remix 1 is no exception), they do still test you on being able to quickly adapt from on scenario to another as the game rapidly cuts, dissolves, and other such transitions. In order to pass a remix and show you fully understand this stage’s individual components, you have to play them all together.
With my coverage of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble having ended, we move on to Rhythm Heaven Groove. I had previously covered Rhythm Heaven Fever in detail, but I had no means of recording off the 3DS, so I skipped coverage of Rhythm Heaven Megamix (but I do have the game, and I have played through it).
Rhythm Heaven Groove is the fifth game in the series, after over a decade since the previous game. Made by the same people as WarioWare, they share the WarioWare games’ structure or a large amount of very short and unrelated scenarios with simple controls, with little to no plot to connect them together but with a cast of characters outside those scenarios tying them all together. The long hiatus was likely due to the declining health of co-creator and music producer Tsunku♂, and everyone thought this would be the last game in the series.
The gameplay varies a lot in a Rhythm Heaven game, but what they all have in common (with one exception early into the series involving a demonic game show host) is that you must perform actions to the rhythm of the music playing. Some involve playing music, but most do not—Rhythm Heaven Groove alone ranges from jumping over hoops to cleaning up a construction site to defeating evil spirits to participating in a bird migration. Rhythm Heaven is also known to be stricter than most other rhythm games: you don’t get partial credit for almost getting the timing right: you either get it right, or you don’t.
This video takes us through Stage 1, consisting of Hoop Trundling, Brolly Good Show, Disc Dog, Feeding the Beast, and Remix 1. These five were already in the demo, which I covered some time back.
This first part of the series takes us through the main solo mode games, plus a few side modes.
00:00 - Hoop Trundling
Type: Cue
We begin with Hoop Trundling, where you play as the last in a group of five Trundlorbs. We have a long introduction here about how the timing for this game can be very tricky without music to establish a rhythm, then the proper tutorial. Being at the very beginning of the game, it is as basic as it gets: you have a single cue of “pa pi pu pe” and are tasked with finishing the pattern with “po,” completing your Trundlorb jumping over the hoop. The tempo is relatively slow and gentle, and the window to press the button is relatively wide. The one surprise thrown at you is when the camera does an iris out towards your Trundlorb, introducing the concept of obscuring your view so you must rely on the audio cues. Missing this portion will forfeit your chance for an “Amazing!” rank.
04:05 - Brolly Good Show
Type: Cue
The second part of the game demonstrates multiple actions in the same game—in this case, it’s opening and closing your umbrella. You’re playing as the blue Umbrella Performer, and like in Hoop Trundling, you’re the last one in line and have to follow the patterns set forth by the red, pink, and green Umbrella Performers. In a sense, this game plays a lot like Clappy Trio from the original Game Boy Advance Rhythm Heaven, though with two alternating actions. This game can be subtle in if you mistime an input; watch the green Umbrella Performer and see if he does a sideways glance at your character.
08:23 - Disc Dog
Type: Cue
Again, Disc Dog introduces you to the sort of challenge without a pattern to follow: Sister Silver will whistle, and you must jump on the seventh beat after her whistle. If you time it right, the dog will automatically catch the flying disc as it passes by. (A near miss has the disc bounce off its mouth, and a complete miss has it sail right on by.) Most of the games will have no pattern to follow, and you must simply listen to the cue and know what to do. We begin with something simple, with a single cue to follow. (If this looks too simple to you, we will see Disc Dog 2 in Stage 11.)
11:59 - Feeding the Beast
Type: Cue
Song: "My Telepathy! Watashi no Atsui Kosen" by Yui Sakurai (FRUITS ZIPPER)
Disc Dog was a more unusual take on the cue-based games, with a single cue and waiting out some number of beats, while Feeding the Beast is more like how the rest of the game will be like: hear a cue (in this case, the heart-shaped pods popping out of the flowers) and respond (press A to have Dino reach out and take a bite exactly 2 beats after the pod pos out). This is something of a rough start to this kind of game, as there are many inputs, and they come at you relentlessly, but the requirements to pass are pretty lenient; you can miss a lot and still get a “Good” rating, allowing you to move on.
14:48 - Remix 1
Type: Remix
Every set of five games ends in a remix, and while most of this game’s remixes do not have themes (and Remix 1 is no exception), they do still test you on being able to quickly adapt from on scenario to another as the game rapidly cuts, dissolves, and other such transitions. In order to pass a remix and show you fully understand this stage’s individual components, you have to play them all together.
