It’s the first all-new Rhythm Heaven in 11 years and… it’s still Rhythm Heaven. The core game mode is 100% unchanged for the past 20 years:

  • Every level is a Rhythm-based mini-game set to original music (typically) by Tsunku.
  • It has minimal inputs. Like usually it’s just tap A at the right time.
  • You do 4 wildly different levels, then a 5th level that flips between the 4 mini-games you just learned and recontextualizes them.
  • Play 8 sets of these and you get the ultra-mix that cycles between all the previous games.
  • Beat that and you get to start working through the back half of the game, which is more of the same, but with another 32 even-harder sequels of previous levels.

Guides are saying it’s “80 games”, but the breakdown is probably closer to 40 unique levels, 16 remixes, and 24 “sequel” levels.

But that isn’t the point! The point is more Rhythm Heaven! And they did it! And it’s really good!

As with previous games, there’s some goofy new stuff as well. Most notably they added a whole mess of multiplayer games, which I haven’t spent a lot of time in, but they appear to literally be just more Rhythm Heaven except… multiplayer. But there’s more! They also crammed a whole Roguelite RPG in here, too!

The Roguelite mode is called Beatspell, and it is as best I can tell a wholly unique take on the Rhythm Heaven formula. You’re still playing to the beat, and you’re still only really using the buttons A / B / dpad, but you’re tapping them in sequence and order to cast different spells as you engage in 1:1 combat with various monsters.

Unlike normal Rhythm Heaven games, you have a 4 beat metronome with a visualizer of a circle going around a diamond, with the corners representing the “whole” notes. Tap in B -> A on two sequential beats and you do a basic fire attack. Hit the beats perfectly and you’ll crit to do more damage. Tap in B -> Down -> A with Down on the off-beat and you’ll heal. Early on it’s pretty much on-rails to get you familiar with all the core mechanics, basic spells, etc, but once you’re through the tutorial it turns into what I’d consider a “real” Roguelike. When you’re eventually set-loose, you get to choose your route through a couple branches, get various items, upgrades, and different spells. It has a shocking depth and complexity, and it eventually ramps up to be significantly legitimately challenging!

But anyway, Rhythm Heaven: Groove! It’s More Rhythm Heaven! It’s good! It’s cheap! It’s available on both Switch and Switch 2! It’s full of weird stuff! Go play it! Highly recommended!