Rhythm Paradise Groove Review: It’s gonna get you

Or, our Rhythm Heaven Groove review for those across the pond...

As a debilitatingly white man with minimal access to rhythm, there are few things more intimidating to me than a rhythm game. It’s like playing something in a language that my body is opposed to at a genetic level; my people clap on the ones and threes. But it sure seems like a connection to the beat is a good time for those who have it, so I did my best to learn a new language in Rhythm Paradise Groove.

With a nine-year gap since the last game in the Rhythm Paradise series – better known to American and Japanese players as Rhythm Heaven – you’d be forgiven for not being familiar with the franchise. Last appearing on the Nintendo 3DS with Rhythm Paradise Megamix in 2015, the series is a WarioWare-style minigame bonanza, full of high-speed mini-challenges, each one challenges you to match the beat of the game’s music using different visual and audio cues.

Each game can be played on its own to strengthen your skills, or as part of a remix with other minigames to test your rapid-fire skills (and ability to remember the right controls).

While there is a lot to take in across Groove’s 80 single-player and 30 multiplayer games, Rhythm Paradise as a whole knows to keep things simple controls-wise. Most games focus on the A button as your input, occasionally with a d-pad button or two  to keep your left hand busy as well. The true challenge is getting a feel for the rhythm of each game; strangely, I felt like a lot of the tutorials provided for each were more hindering than helpful.

Each one is delivered at a lower tempo than the songs themselves, making it hard to find the sweet spot of each input compared to the more energetic pacing of the games themselves. I actually found the remixes to be the best learning tool, as bouncing between the different games helped improve my twitch reaction, based on whatever technicolour fever dream was happening onscreen.

Design-wise, this was where I hit a snag in my enjoyment; the way Rhythm Paradise Groove unlocks the minigames is EXTREMELY slow-paced. Each stage of four games unlocks one at a time, ending with a remix, and only after being shown the tutorial and completing one run of the previous game.

I do understand the worry of overwhelming the player right from the jump, but I wish that I had a few more options when I first launched the game – it makes it feel like doing chores before I can play the whole thing, especially knowing there are 80 of these to unlock one by one. It’s good to see that the multiplayer selection starts with a third of its library open to you from the beginning, which just makes the single-player selection’s slow drip feel frustrating by comparison.

While the quick access to multiplayer is a huge boon, it does clash against the main issue I encountered while playing Rhythm Paradise Groove – the challenges of audio delay in a rhythm-based environment. On first boot while docked to the TV, Groove will run players through a test to try and sync up to the delay between your TV’s sound and your controller inputs, asking you to tap A to the beat to figure out any delay. The setup process is very upfront about this being an issue for gameplay, even warning that it might give false positive responses during play.

It’s a fair warning to provide – even after repeating the setup process, it felt like I could never truly nail the rhythm while playing docked on the TV. By comparison, playing handheld seemed to make understanding and succeeding at each new minigame a lot easier. I could just be telling on myself here for my natural tempo deficiency, but the difference felt like night and day while playing. As a result, it seems like TV mode – the natural fit for a multiplayer session, if you’re not on a rooftop in a Nintendo ad – might actually create an artificial hard mode for your squad of players.

Stepping beyond the central games, Rhythm Paradise Groove also has some additional goodies for players, with a literal Rhythm Toy Box full of smaller rhythm games to noodle with in between unlocking the main content. Groove also includes longer-form games like Beatspell, an RPG-like spell-casting adventure that brings to mind the StreetPass Quest days of old on 3DS. New levels and toys are unlocked by winning medals for high scores in the main pool of minigames, creating a nice feedback loop as you bounce between everything Rhythm Paradise Groove has to offer.

Despite my natural handicap in the field, I still had a good time with Rhythm Paradise Groove. I feel like each player’s mileage may vary, as far as which minigames are an instant hit and which feel inscrutable, at least at first. Groove isn’t here to harsh your vibe, and always has an encouraging tone even if you miss the mark sometimes… Or a lot. (I’m looking at one stage 4 minigame in particular here.) If you look past the bizarrely plain main menu, you’re sure to find one flavour or another of rhythm content that hits right for you, and acts as a gateway to locking in with the rest.

Or hey, maybe you have natural musicality, and this whole game is intuitive and super-accessible! That’s the great thing with Rhythm Paradise Groove – the dance floor is open to us all. I’ll try not to step on your feet.

Rhythm Paradise Groove was reviewed using a promotional code on Switch 2, as provided by the publisher. Click here to learn more about Stevivor’s scoring scale.

Rhythm Paradise Groove 2 July 2026 Switch   Buy on Switch 2: Nintendo eShop, Amazon