History VideoGame / GrooveCoaster

''Groove Coaster'' (marketed as ''Rhythmvaders'' in some countries) is a RhythmGame series developed by Matrix Software and published by Creator/{{Taito}}, for UsefulNotes/{{iOS|Games}}, {{UsefulNotes/Android|Games}}, and UsefulNotes/{{arcade|Game}}s. Officially, it is a spinoff of ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'', which is why copyright notices for the game include the year 1978, the year ''SI'' was released.

An UpdatedRerelease of ''Groove Coaster''. The game itself is free, with new songs avaliable, purchasable either separately or in discount packs.

** ''Groove Coaster for Steam'' (PC via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, 2018) \\
Divided into "simple" and "arcade" difficulties (with the former using charts akin to the mobile versions), features controller support (including the Steam Controller), and three screen modes. The interface is modeled upon the arcade release ''Groove Coaster 3'', and it features DLC songs from across the franchise.
** ''Groove Coaster [=Wai Wai=] Party!!!!'' (UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, 2019) \\

** ''Groove Coaster [=Wai Wai=] Party!!!! Online Version'' (UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, 2021) \\

* AllOrNothing: The Just item renames the "Great" judgement" to "Just" and turns anything below a Just to a Miss. The arcade-exclusive Impossible item does this ''and'' also hides the targets.

*** Charts with diagonal Slide notes were modified to have most or all of those notes substituted with cardinal Slides, to better accomodate using the face buttons. Even when diagonal Slides do appear, you can still trigger them by pressing either of the nearest cardinal directions (for example, if you get a ↗ note, you can press → or ↑ and it will still count).

** Inverted with the "challenge" items "Mirror" (flips the stage horizontally and places the judgement and chain counters on the left), "Just" ("Great" is renamed to "Just" [[AllOrNothing and every timing below it converts to a "Miss"]]), "Hidden" (targets vanish right before you have to hit them), "Sudden" (targets only appear right before you have to hit them), "Stealth" (targets are outright invisible), and "No Way" (track is invisible), which can be obtained through the same mentions for the "assist" items mentioned above (except for logging in), including purchases.

* FanService: One of the soundtrack albums, ''Groove Coaster Original Soundtrack Boost'', features SeriesMascot Linka sitting down with her thighhigh socks removed and placed on her legs and sitting in such a way that she just ''barely'' averts a panty shot. In ''VideoGame/{{crossbeats}} REV.'', this image can also be seen by obtaining a 200 combo on [[CrossOver "LINK LINK FEVER!!!"]]

* GuideDangIt: Ad-Lib notes. They are hidden notes that add bonus points and judgement points, and while they won't incure a penalty if ignored, getting all of the Ad-Lib notes are necessary to achieve a Full Chain. This can be a problem if the Ad-Lib notes have very subtle cues or no cues at all; "Spring To Mind" is a major offender. You can use the Visible item to reveal Ad-Lib notes, but they only come up as level up gifts or shop purchases in the smartphone versions, and it wasn't available in the arcade versions until ''[=Starlight Road=]''.

On October 28, 2022, Taito [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV4eiLeEYZg announced]] that the arcade line of ''Groove Coaster'' games will cease new song updates due to the game's hard drive running out of space, but that they will continue to add other types of updates such as events.

* ObviousBeta: ''Groove Coaster for Steam'' has had a pretty difficult [[{{Pun}} ride]] so far. Backgrounds fail to load correctly for many players, controller support is pretty unreliable, and sound is handled pretty poorly (if you hit a note late or miss, ''the music will mute'' until you hit or the note is counted as a miss).

* TrialAndErrorGameplay: Many of the charts are straight up impossible to No Miss or even ''clear'' on a sightread just because of the {{Camera Screw}}s and note sequences that come at you so fast with little time to react. There's also the matter of the invisible Ad-Lib notes, which you ''must'' hit in order to get a Full Chain or a Perfect.

* ActuallyFourMooks: "Good Night, Bad Luck." features this but with notes instead of {{Mook}}s. On Normal, the game will throw what appears to be a Dual Slide note, only to [[CameraScrew pan the camera]] at the last split-second to reveal that they're actually two Slide notes that have to be hit separately. This gets worse on the Hard chart, where the game will throw out what appears to be a ''triple'' or even ''quadruple'' Slide note and then split it into separate single and Dual Slide notes accordingly; you ''know'' that a Triple Slide would be impossible with the arcade controller[[note]]theoretically, if such notes existed on the smartphone/tablet version, they would be possible thanks to capacitive touchscreen technology[[/note]], the real problem is that the reaction time to figure out the correct sequence is so short that this gimmick is effectively TrialAndErrorGameplay.

* CameraScrew:
** Part of the challenge is being able to hit notes as the camera makes all kinds of angle changes.
** "Good Night, Bad Luck" notoriously uses angles to give the illusion of triple or quad Slide notes (which, due to the two-Booster controller, would be impossible), before panning the camera to reveal them as separate single or Dual Slides in sequence immediately before you have to hit them.
** The Steam version has multiple aspect ratio options: 16:9 like the arcade version, 4:3, and 1:1. 4:3 and 1:1 are actually done by cropping the screen, meaning that on those screen modes, your avatar may go off the top or bottom of the screen and [[FakeDifficulty you might miss notes]] due to [[TrialAndErrorGameplay not being able to see them]].

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: The voiceover for ''Heavenly Festival'' is clearly a native English speaker. Linka's VA in the overseas version also qualifies as this.

*** ''Groove Coaster 4MAX: Diamond Galaxy'' (2020) -- '''current arcade version'''

* LicensedGame:
** In addition to Taito original tracks and arranges, there are also licensed songs, some of which use Vocaloids, and tracks to promote cross-game events. The arcade versions take it a step further, featuring tracks from more third-party [=IPs=], such as the ''Touhou'' arrange "[[Music/BadApple Bad Apple!! feat. nomico]]".
** ''Wai Wai Party'' is focused on licenses, and despite having some big-name pop, anime, and Vocaloid songs, ''still'' managed to see an overseas release.

* SelfImposedChallenge: Some items exist solely to make the chart more difficult. The Break item particularly will cause you to fail the song and end it instantly if you miss 10 notes, but you get more GC if you pass in ''Link Fever''.

** In addition to Taito original tracks and arranges, there are also licensed songs, some of which use Vocaloids, and tracks to promote cross-game events. The arcade versions take it a step further, featuring tracks from more third-party [=IPs=], such as the ''Touhou'' arrange "Bad Apple!! feat. nomico".

** ''Groove Coaster [=WaiWai=] Party'' (UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, 2019) \\
Features multiplayer modes with up to four players, a particular focus on J-pop, anime, and video game music, and alternate vocals by [[VirtualYoutuber VTubers]] on selected songs.

* AnnouncerChatter: Only in the arcade versions:

*** ''Groove Coaster 4EX: Infinity Highway'' (2019) -- '''current arcade version'''

* AllegedlyFreeGame: ''Zero'' and ''Original Style'' are "free" insofar that the base game is free to download and comes with songs you can earn through leveling up, but to play a large bulk of the full song library you'll need to purchase DLC packs.

* FanService: One of the soundtrack albums, ''Groove Coaster Original Soundtrack Boost'', features SeriesMascot Linka sitting down with her thighhigh socks removed and placed on her legs and sitting in such a way that she just ''barely'' averts a PantyShot. In ''VideoGame/{{crossbeats}} REV.'', this image can also be seen by obtaining a 200 combo on [[CrossOver "LINK LINK FEVER!!!"]]