When even the characters are loving the music, you know you're in for a good rhythm game.
Rhythm games live and die by their music. And Rhythm Heaven's music is simply put, superb.
Rhythm Tengoku
- The first Game Select theme
is a bit wacky, just like the game itself, but the second theme is downright epic. - Karate Man — the first mini game and the song that started it all. While undeniably basic compared to what comes later on, it is still a groovy track that, alongside the rhythm game itself, does a great job in introducing the concept of Rhythm Heaven to first timers.
- Spaceball has an interesting tango vibe.
- Space Dance sounds really upbeat and climactic.
- WISH (Can't Wait For You), the fifth remix, is dramatic yet energetic, with a killer guitar.
- Sick Beats is a wonderfully funky '80s style song that will make you subconsciously bob your head.
- Tap Trial is a very groovy track that is good for tap dancing (preferably alongside a few monkeys and a giraffe that stares into your soul), also remade as a bonus mini-game in Fever. Its sequel Tap Trial 2 picks up the pace and goes for a incredibly energetic ska-vibe.
- The*Bon Odori. It's the only non-remix song in the game with full lyrics. It's as catchy as it is hard.
- Rap Men and its sequel Rap Women are both Totally Radical, with Rap Women taking a swing turn!
- Night Walk is a cool little song pulled from the Play-Yan for those unfortunate enough not to get one.
- Remix 6 was the beginning of the trend of remixes that are a mixture of all of the rhythm games, and as you'd expect, it's catchy as all get out. They even managed to fit in Quiz Show, which has no music but the intro theme!
Rhythm Heaven
- Game Select 1 and Game Select 2 both pump you up for the challenges ahead.
- Fan Club ("Thrilling! Is This Love?") might be a little cheesy, I suppose. But it's adorable in both Japanese and English. Its sequel is a pop take that's even more energetic than before. Wonderful!
- Struck by the Rain, the Karate Man theme, is an incredibly melancholy vocal track and one of the best ones in the franchise. For those who don't like the English version, here's the Japanese version, and the surprisingly good French and German versions.
- Remix 3, a catchy yet atmospheric enka track.
- DJ School is already fantastic, but it's even better with DJ Yellow's vocals. Scratch-o, hey!
- Love Lab is both catchy and cute, perfectly matching the mood of the game. Someone even made a lyrical version of the song.
- Rhythm Rally and its sequel are both catchy despite being frustrating to no end.
- The ominous guitar of Tears of a Dog Ninja is amazing.
- Young Love Rock 'n' Roll, the theme for Frog Hop. It's a great catchy tune whether in English or Japanese. Spin it, boys!
- Munchy Monk is a good energetic track, but a bit short. Its sequel fixes that with an even better energetic track.
- Shoot-‘Em-Up is an awesome piece of music with guitars and keyboards for the second and final waves.
- Space Soccer is a delightfully catchy techno beat that manages to make a piano sound awesome with its legendarily climactic ending that will send goosebumps down your spine. Space Soccer 2 kicks this up a notch with a Western take that extends the final part.
- Lockstep is an energetic and upbeat track that perfectly matches the fast paced and intense rhythm game it plays in. Its sequel isn't quite as energetic, but it is just as good, being a groovy swing take on the track.
- Remix 7 is a pleasant track that eases you into what the rest of the Remixes will be like, but what sells it is the final few seconds as it segues into Big Rock Finish and you realize you've been playing the extended version of one of that minigame's tunes.
Rhythm Heaven Fever
- Once again, both Game Select themes are upbeat and energetic.
- Hole in One is an incredibly relaxing and cheerful track that works wonders as the introductory track for the game and is all but guaranteed to make one smile upon listening to it. There's also Hole in One 2, which goes for a much more intense, but also incredibly triumphant feel.
- Screwbot Factory and its sequel have a techno-Arabian feel to them.
- See-Saw — never was playing on a see-saw so epic.
- Fork Lifter is pure funk.
- The delightfully bouncy Board Meeting. It's a shame that it's one of the shortest songs in the game...
- Monkey Watch is really catchy to help you keep the beat, despite it being one of the more contentious minigames. Oo-ki, oo ki, ki!
- Remix 3 has some powerful vocals for an uplifting song. Now if only the remix itself wasn't so brutal...
- Micro Row is an upbeat techno based track that is sure to make you want to swim in a black void with your microbe buddies. Its sequel adds extra guitars to the track that arguably make it better.
- Ringside — probably the most famous song of the entire series. It is also a very catchy and energetic song to boot that is only enhanced by the vocals. Wubba dubba dub, is that true? Yeah.
- Flipper Flop is both catchy and downright adorable.
- Flock Step. Tweet twe-twe-tweet twee-tweet, SQUAWK!
- Cheer Readers and Cheer Readers 2 — Let's go read a buncha books! Yay!
- Fever's version of Karate Man uses a hard rock song titled "Lonely Storm". It sounds great in both Japanese and English.
- "I Love You, My One and Only", the eighth remix, is a song about unrequited love.
- "Beautiful One Day", the ninth remix, is also a really cool pop song about realizing the beauty within yourself even when heartbreak sets you back. A feel-good change of pace after Remix 8.
- Remix 10, which even includes the tutorial level. It has the nerve to trip you up with a Fake-Out Fade-Out TWICE at the end of the track.
- "Dreams of Our Generation", the Night Walk theme, works great as an ending song.
- Air Rally, a wonderfully upbeat tune best known for "Ba bom bom bom!" People who played the previous game will get goosebumps when the music shifts into Rhythm Rally's music.
- The beautiful funkiness of two-player endless game Kung-Fu Ball.
- Samurai Slice, is an incredibly intense and epic piece perfect for slicing demons in half. Special mention goes to its more techno-based and heavily energetic sequel.
Rhythm Heaven Megamix
- Fan Club 2, while identical to the one in DS in term of cues, has a brand-new remix of "Thrilling! Is This Love?" that's incredibly cheery.
- Because of the sheer amount of minigames, this game features three Final-Exam Boss remixes instead of just one, named the Left-Hand, Right-Hand, and Final Remixes. Final Remix stands out for switching to a medley of the four games' respective themes halfway through. The gag of including Rhythm Test is also brought back here.
- "Kitties!" is a delightfully jazzy saxophone and piano tune. Of course, some people can't hear it without the sound effects.
- Sumo Brothers mixes the traditional Japanese style with techno.
- Blue Bear is a melancholy song that hits all of the right marks.
- On the other hand, Pajama Party is a heartwarming song in a similar vein to Love Lab from Heaven.
- "I'm a Lady Now" is the only vocal Remix in the entire game (in the English version at least). Unlike other songs, this one was in English to begin with, and it's actually Surprisingly Good English.
- Tongue Lashing is a slow-paced techno song that is hard not to dance to.
- Karate Man Senior is an intense rock song befitting of both the culmination of all the Karate Man levels as well as the final non-Remix level.
- This time, Super Samurai Slice decided to try out an 8-bit game style. It has a fitting rock theme.
- This live version of "Tokimeki no Story", the song from the Lush Remix. Not only did it extend the track, but it also made it sound more awesome.
- Tangotronic 3000 features a romantic track that works well for a tango minigame.
- Every song from Tengoku has completely remastered audio, as opposed to just having the songs in their original form like the other games. While the songs' compositions stay exactly the same, they certainly sound a lot better. Examples include Cosmic Dance, Sick Beats, Rhythm Tweezers 2, and Karate Man Returns!
- Not a rhythm minigame, but the theme for the Challenge Train deserves a mention for its techno rave beats that many players tend to ignore.
- Micro-Row is a short but sweet jazzy tune.
- As for story variants, Shoot-‘em-up has a great tune, too. Sadly, it’s very short.
