Aka Rhythm Heaven Groove, aka Rhythm Heaven Miracle Stars.
If you thought the whole Lylat Wars, Star Fox thing was tough, meet Rhythm Paradise Groove, otherwise known as Rhythm Heaven Groove in North America, and Rhythm Heaven Miracle Stars in Asia. In previewing this title, I’m tackling all three named iterations, I promise you.
We were able to spend about an hour of hands-on time with the upcoming title, checking out its single-player and multiplayer modes alongside a special single-player RPG mode called Beatspell (not that we can talk much about the latter).
While Rhythm Paradise Groove has over 80 solo games to play in its single-player mode, we were limited to a handful. One such mini-game was the hoop jumping one you can see in the image and video below, and Slice ‘n’ Dice was another, also shown off in in image below.
Simply put, all mini-games will involve hitting a Joy-Con 2 button to the beat. In the hoop jumping game, the button press — timed at the right moment, of course — will cause you to jump over the hoop. In another, the button press will send a dog high into the air, catching a frisbee if timed properly. In Slice ‘n’ Dice, you’ll catch an item of food and chop it up to add to a salad.
While it’s all standard fare — and powered by some decent, thumping music — the hoop mini-game in particular just had me feeling like the game wasn’t quite calibrated. I’m pretty good with keeping to a beat, but I was struggle town when it came to the damn hoop. I’m not sure if a calibration tool exists for Rhythm Paradise Groove — or how that would work on handheld compared to docked modes — but I’d sure like there to be some tool to make sure I’m not losing my mind (or the beat).
While I fell flat (literally, as long as we’re talking digital avatars) with the hoops, I was able to redeem myself with Rhythm Paradise Groove‘s multiplayer modes. As a digital ninja, I rarely missed arrows being fired at my emperor in co-operative mode, and I was able to walk away with cake in hand in a competitive mode where you had to snatch the tasty snack as close to a countdown as possible. As per usual, multiplayer modes proved the most fun of the mix.
I’m not able to get into Beatspell into great detail, but the RPG mode features the usual stylings and trappings that comes with a role-playing adventure. You’ll be asked, yet again, to hit buttons timed to the beat, with mechanics that involve attacking other enemies, or healing yourself.
As with RPGs, expect different types of spell-based attacks, and levelling up your character. Overall, Beatspell is a nice change from the usual single-player mini-games that you’ll find in collections like this.
If you’re a fan of rhythm-based games such as this, you’ll hopefully be familiar with Headbangers Rhythm Royale, a free-to-play multiplayer version of what Rhythm Paradise Groove has on offer. I tend to prefer it over what I experienced in this preview in terms of both variety, cost, challenge, online multiplayer, and calibration.
Regardless, Rhythm Paradise Groove heads to Nintendo Switch on 2 July 2026. It’s priced at $59.95 AUD.
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Rhythm Paradise Groove2 July 2026Switch
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