Rhythm Heaven never misses a beat

Rhythm Heaven isn’t Nintendo’s best-known series, nor its most prolific. Prior to the launch of Rhythm Heaven Groove on the Switch this week — it’s out on July 2nd — there were only four previous entries, one of which was exclusive to Japan. The most recent came out more than a decade ago . Even still, there’s a case to be made that this is Nintendo’s most consistent franchise. There are few guarantees in life, but a new Rhythm Heaven being great is one of them. If you’re unfamiliar, Rhythm Heaven is sort of like a music-focused version of WarioWare . That means it’s a collection of short and bizarre minigames, except these ones all test your sense of, well, rhythm. In Groove , for instance, there’s a stage where you’re controlling a car’s brakes and gas, and another has you helping a crab throw macarons. But all of these actions need to be done on beat. Most of the levels seem simple, given that they usually only require one or two different buttons, but keeping the rhythm can be a challenge. What makes the games work is a combination of great, catchy music — the series is produced by Japanese singer-songwriter Tsunku — and weirdo minigames. Groove ’s levels will have you doing everything from avoiding a sneezing moon to chopping vegetables to serving as a background dancer during a J-pop concert. I always find myself tapping and singing along to help get myself into the right mindset. Even now as I write this, the beeping track from the car level is stuck in my head. …