Platform: Nintendo 3DS (eShop only)

Genre: Rhythm

No. of Players: 1-4 local wireless and download play

ESRB: E

The “Rhythm Heaven” series occupies a lovely niche in the gaming world. It challenges players to complete mini-games to the beat of the music, each of which was set in a different, but bizarre situation. The latest title, “Rhythm Heaven Megamix,” is a celebration of what makes the series so fun by bringing back the most memorable games from past installments while introducing new games.

What makes this installment different is additional feedback on how the player performs. While the game only counts beats as hit or missed, visual feedback is given on the bottom screen in the form of rings of stars. The closer you are to the beat, the closer the the rings are to the center of the screen. Solid red rings on the edges of the screen indicate a miss. As long as stars show up on the screen, it counts as a hit. But players are encouraged keep a perfect beat by highlighting a specific beat that awards a skill star if hit perfectly.  There is one per game, which yields extra coins if successful.

Speaking of coins, they are awarded based upon the player’s performance on each game, with extra coins awarded for earning the skill star and hitting every note. These coins are used to purchase background information on each game and music tracks to listen to anytime you wish. In past installments, these prizes were awarded for completing perfect challenges. Like past games, you will be randomly challenged to do a perfect run on a random game. As long as it all beats are hit, it will count as perfect. However, you can do perfectly when a mini-game is not highlighted and it will not count as completing the perfect challenge. Instead of bonus material, perfect challenges yield Flow Balls, which can be spent on additional games.  Unfortunately, the bonus games tend to be some of the weaker mini-games in the series and are disproportionally representative of  the Wii game “Rhythm Heaven Fever.”

As for the mini-games themselves, the gameplay is as addictive as ever. Old favorites such as “Sneaky Spirits,” “Karate Man,” “Munchy Monk” and “Glee Club” are joined by new games such as “LumBEARjacks,” “Flamencobot 9000” and “Rhythm Rally.” All of them are set to catchy tunes that are likely to be come ear worms and are fun to play. While there is a story to connect the games, it does not matter at all. In the event that you get stuck, you are allowed to skip a game and come back to it later, so the game is user-friendly. In addition, a numerical score and gauge are added to the results screen, so players get a better idea of how much they can improve and how much they need to do so to get a higher ranking. This gives a better idea of a player’s performance than past games, where you could be complimented on your performance, but you were merely OK when you expected a Superb.

Overall, “Rhythm Heaven Megamix” is just as high-quality and quirky as its predecessors. Don’t be surprised if you end up losing track of time while playing this game.

Score: 9/10