How Rhythm Heaven Groove Motivates You to "Get Gud" at Music Games

How Rhythm Heaven Groove Motivates You to "Get Gud" at Music Games

No one's going to FORCE you to practice, but the rewards are rich.

It's been more than 10 years in the making, but a new installment of Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven games has finally arrived to make music with us. Rhythm Heaven Groove for the Nintendo Switch is a deeply soothing balm for music game lovers, especially in such rough and tumble times.

Groove's whimsical visuals and sharp sense of humor make it an easy recommendation for music game lovers. But be warned: Like all Rhythm Heaven games, when Groove asks you to stay on the beat, it means it. You cannot fluff your notes. But whether you're a professional musician or music-curious, Groove has a lot to teach you... and striving for a "Perfect" is never without motivation.

That's because Groove has a lot of goodies that only become available if you work hard at getting better. Even its built-in RPG, “Beatspell,” locks most of its levels behind Medals, which you secure by scoring "Amazing!" ratings on Groove's regular levels. That means giving a near-flawless performance without more than a single mistimed button press. Maybe two, in some of the more generous stages.

It's very hard to get an Amazing score in Groove. That's the point. You can theoretically blow through the main game in a couple of hours: Unlike earlier Rhythm Heavens, Groove is quick to give you the "OK" to move on from a level even if your performance absolutely stinks up the joint. It wants you to "get gud," but unlike your childhood piano teacher, it's not intent on making you drill its content to the point of nausea. You move on, you find a song that you fall in love with, and you return to the scene of your failure in hope of redemption and that coveted Amazing! medal. 

Or you don't, and you never return. But then you miss out on the fun of opening up Groove's delightful toy box of minigames, short stories, and beat machines. These extras are simply musical tchotchkes to dilly-dally with, kind of like a grown-up version of the Fisher-Price Busy Boxes that you attach to the side of a baby's crib. They exist simply for the joy of thumping a puffer fish with a tennis racquet to a funky beat. Mathematical precision is important in Groove, but it also wants you to get lost in the sheer joy music brings us every day. Getting a passing grade on its main stages is only half the story. The rest unlocks when you practice enough to learn how to make music's mathematical half co-exist with its ethereal, spiritual half.

And if that doesn’t do the trick, Rhythm Heaven Groove has one more trick up its sleeve to motivate the slackers: Pictures of hot, half-naked people drinking cocoa, tea, and soda. All you need to do is learn a simple song about the letter "A!" You can do that much, right?