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GBA
Rhythm Heaven
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New Import, Ships Today |
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NCS
Game Synopsis
«©NCSX»
Nintendo
presents 40+ mini-games which require rhythm and
sync to win. Make that strict rhythm and sync skills
since the games are challenging and brook no
foolishness or ill-timed input. As a rhythm player,
gamers pluck hair, swing at balls, punch flower
pots, bang drums, and much more. A total of 8 stages
which contain 6 mini-games each progressively ramp
in difficulty. In order to progress to new rhythm
exercises, one must complete each mini-game
successfully to advance to the next game.
The introductory exercise is a beat meter of sorts where a video
screen thumps out the letter "A" and you're inclined
to tap the "A" button in time to the cues on screen.
The challenge is to tap as closely as possible to
the cues since you're being measured for accuracy.
As you continually tap the "A" button, a little
chart is printed out which shows the accuracy of
your tapping on a zig-zag graph. The closer the tap
point on the graph is to the center, the more
accurate your tapping rhythm.
In the next sequence, the video screen counts down from 3 to 0
continuously and you tap the "A" button when the
beat reaches "0". The beats are straightforward at
first but later, pauses are introduced which try to
trick an "A" button thumper. Later in the exercise,
random number skipping also occurs to throw a player
off his game. At the outset, the rhythm of the beat
is constant but the speed of the cues subtlety
speeds up until you're anticipating the "A" button
at different times. The sound of the cue as it
appears is a tiny shrill beep but the press of the
"A" button elicits a heavy and solid thumping sound
that may cause people within range of your GBA to
bop their heads in unison to the beat.
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Some
examples of rhythm challenges that await:
1) A frizzy-haired karate dude stands on the left
side of the screen while flower pots and other
objects are hurled into the screen. Punch them in
time to the music where a girl says things such as
"Hey baby, how's it going?" While the karate dude is
punching pots, he'll also bop up and down to the
catchy beat of the music. Every time a pot is hit,
one of five hearts on the left side of the screen is
filled with color. When karate guy punches a rock,
his facial expression changes and he leers at the
player as if he did something special. Poor punch
timing will result in humorous effects.
2) An onion with a face is sprouting hairs and one
must use a pair of tweezers to snatch the hairs off.
The game starts with hairs popping out of the
onion's chin followed by tweezers which swing in an
uninterrupted arc below the vegetable's chin. As the
tweezers pass each hair, tap the "A" button to
pluck. Each pluck causes the onion's face to blink
and after all the hairs are removed, it looks up to
the heavens as if satisfied with the work. Some
hairs are curled up and stringy which require a
longer "A" button press in order to remove. In
addition to a yellow onion, a purple radish also
makes an appearance for grooming services.
3) A marching band appears where four marchers do
their thing while a bossman bellows out commands on
the left side of the screen. At first, the crew
turns their collective heads to the left or right
when instructed by the drill sergeant. You do this
by pressing the d-pad to the left or right when
cued. Once the head turning game is done, it's
marching time where one waits until the sergeant
bellows out his command and then press the "A"
button in time with the rest of the marchers. If
you're doing it properly, the four marchers march
without with a strict tap-tap-tap sound on the
ground. Each march ends with an "at attention" move
which is activated by pressing the "B" button. If
you're missing the cues or tapping out of step,
you'll hear tiny boing-boing-boing sounds and the
sergeant's face will turn red and angry as smoke
billows from the top of his head
4) A green-skinned batter in a green room waits for
balls to pop out of a pipe in the ground and smacks
them when they reach level by pressing the "A"
button. A UFO floats in the background in front of
the window. The music has a Latin flavor and the pop
of the ball as it is ejected from the pipe coupled
with the crack of the bat as it hits the ball adds
to the musical tempo. During the course of play, the
camera pans out of the little room to add a bit of
challenge to the ball hitting antics since the ball
can barely be seen when the camera pans far away. If
you hit the ball well, it pops right out of the
screen. If poorly hit, it'll bloop to the side.
5) Three dogs with white gloves and big red wigs are
dancing in time with each other as the music plays.
They'll clap, shake, and sway like a musical gang.
The claps add accompaniment to the music. The claps
must also be tapped in sequence from left to right - mess up a
cue and instead of a solid clap sound, you'll hear a
blooper sound.
NCS Consensus
One of the most addictive and dare we say, grooviest, rhythm
games EVER. The mini-games are varied enough to
catch and keep a player's interest despite the fact
that pretty much all of the games require one single
command - tapping the "A" button in time like an
automaton.
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This document and photos are ©NCSX 2006. All rights reserved. No
reproduction in whole or in part of this document
may be made without express written consent of
National Console Support, Inc.
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