Rhythm Heaven Fever Review for Nintendo Wii (Wii)

System: Wii
Dev: Nintendo
Pub: Nintendo
Release: February 14, 2012
Players: 1-2
Screen Resolution: 480p

What's even worse is that you can't play multiplayer mode off the bat. You actually have to unlock the multiplayer stages by earning "medals," which you get from getting superb ratings on songs. This basically assures that at least one of people playing in multiplayer has the song down cold. Not only does this create massive skill differentials in multiplayer, but more often than not you simply don't want to play a song in multiplayer that you already managed to basically perfect in the single-player mode.

Rhythm Heaven Fever Screenshot

Besides multiplayer songs, you can also unlock things like endless minigames that have you play a song until you screw up, music toys that let you just screw around, and songs in the café. These rewards are pretty cool and the endless minigames are actually rather fun. It's certainly enough to motivate you to try and perfect every song, as insurmountable as that may seem.

Overall, Rhythm Heaven is just fun. It's not the longest game out there and it's a simple premise, but it has the childlike charm that its predecessors had, coupled with the graphics capabilities of a console rather than a handheld. The music is great, the graphics are fun to look at, and completing songs actually gives you a sense of accomplishment. If you don't like Rhythm Games or minigame compilations, Rhythm Heaven Fever won't make you a believer. However, if you have ever picked up a Guitar Hero controller or tried your hand at WarioWare, then you'll probably be just as amused by Rhythm Heaven.

By
Angelo M. D'Argenio
Contributing Writer
Date: February 17, 2012

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

3.0

Graphics
The graphics aren't bad. The cartoony look of the game serves its purpose. The assets are just re-used too much.

4.0

Control
Tap buttons to the beat of the Rhythm. Check!

4.8

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
You couldn't have a music-based game without music could you? The music is really good, though some tunes are overly cheesy.

3.4

Play Value
The game encouraged me to play until I got a gold rating on every single song, but there are some unnecessarily difficult roadblocks.

4.1

Overall Rating - Great
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 - 1.9 = Avoid	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	3.5 - 3.9 = Good	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair	4.0 - 4.4 = Great	5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

Players must feel the rhythm and tap buttons on their Wii Remote controllers accurately, in time to the music to pass each challenge.

All the games are new to this edition, though people who have played the Nintendo DS version might recognize familiar characters.

The player is presented with numerous quirky challenges, all set to funky beats, that challenge them to interact with the action on screen in time with the music.

As players become more proficient they can earn a medal for their accurate performances and unlock bonus content.