A Review: Simplicity + charm + rhythm = Rhythm Heaven Fever for Wii

At first I was surprised that Rhythm Heaven Fever didn’t include motion in its control scheme. The controls, in fact, are infinitely simple: the “A” and “B” buttons are essentially the summary of control for the entire game. Upon thinking about this, I decided it was for the game’s benefit. Rhythm is a precise art (trust me, I know). Motion control is not a precise art. Conclusion? The simplicity of this control scheme is nothing short of brilliant! While other rhythm games rely on bulky peripherals or imprecise motion control, Rhythm Heaven Fever nails the idea of actual rhythm with its blessed simplicity!

The game is set up in a series of short-but-sweet minigames arranged in columns of five. The final game in each column is a remix of the previous four. As you progress through the game, opportunities to unlock extras like music and reading material by earning perfect scores on minigames open up. These windows of opportunity are open for a limited time/tries only, but, even if you fail, will open up again eventually. This arrangement really lends itself to the game’s playability. You’ll feel driven to play the game, open up opportunities for perfect scores, and earn the game’s unlockables.

Rhythm Heaven Fever excels in the charm factor. It’s a rhythm game, but the activities you participate in are hardly related to music. In one game, you’ll kick balls away from a pair of weasels on a date so that your own date will be content. In another, you’ll find yourself in the shoes of an aspiring tap dancer. In yet another, you must march in time with a group of seals in order to please a strict captain. The game’s graphics are cartoony, and this works really well.

Rhythm Heaven Fever has a two-player mode that is welcome, but far too shallow. Only a fraction of the games from single-player make it to the two-player mode. Also, I think, in addition to adding more games to the multi-player mode, a four-player option could have been incorporated easily enough.

Rhythm Heaven Fever also has no online play to speak of, which is lamentable.

But I think “simple” is what the developers of Rhythm Heaven Fever were shooting for. And for a slim $29.99, I give it my full recommendation.

This review will serve as my final post on Infendo. I’m afraid I just don’t have the time to serve you all like I should, what with school, work, and my personal blog taking up so much of my time. It’s been a pleasure!