Rhythm Tengoku

The very last game released by Nintendo for the GBA was a herald of some of the joyful madness that was to come with the advent of the Nintendo DS. Rhythm Tengoku foreshadowed so much of the hilarious and surreal gaming that follow-up handheld would revel in, and it would be so much fun to see it properly remembered with an appearance on NSO.

These were games about hitting buttons in time with a tune’s rhythm, but in a world that seemed to have been spawned by the same developers’ WarioWare. Micro-levels included playing as mice hiding behind tea cups from a grumpy cat, plucking hairs from the chin of an onion, or a magic flying witch-man who plants and grows flowers as he whizzes around in circles.

Tengoku was released in Japan only, but that didn’t stop the rest of the world finding out about it, and—you know—getting hold of it. Its sequels were thankfully international, albeit with about 17 different localized names per title, and the secret to all of them—aside from the absolute insanity—is the quality of the music. They’re packed with J-pop brilliance.

The series has lain fallow since 2016, and with no imminent remakes, it seems a natural contender to add to the GBA collection.