Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "RHYTHM HEAVEN GROOVE BREAKS SERIES SALES RECORD IN FIRST WEEK"

Episode Date: July 24, 2026

Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠Join The Normandy For Ad-Free NME, Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠ In this segment of Notorious Mass Effect, Analytic Dreamz delivers a detailed key points breakdown of Rhythm Heaven Groove, the fifth mainline entry in Nintendo’s iconic rhythm series. Released worldwide July 2 2026 for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, this fully original title marks the first new Rhythm Heaven game in over 11 years and celebrates the franchise’s 20th anniversary. Analytic Dreamz covers its 80-plus brand-new minigames, Everyone Play multiplayer for up to four players, unlockable Beatspell RPG mode, precise rhythm-focused gameplay, Tsunku’s original soundtrack, record-breaking Japanese launch of 393378 physical copies, Metacritic score near 82, and overall strengths that make it one of the series’ strongest entries.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Shepard promise me you'll tell them to subscribe for free content ladies and gentlemen we are about to get into the number one game currently on the Fimitsu charts and that's all you need to know because some people will say that the hiatus was egregious shepherd all right my fault y'all don't even know what I'm talking about so ladies and gentlemen for this specific uh specific segment we're getting into rhythm heaven groove and of course over here at notorious mass effect getting into the gaming and music IPs that notoriously affect the masses, safe to say, rhythm heaven groove is currently the number one most play game on the Famitsu charts.

But of course, that's not it. As when you look at rhythm groove as far as the IP, safe to say it's beyond successful. This IP has generated a mammoth amount of revenue as far as dollars. And over time, it's became one of... Nintendo's staples as far as many games. Now what do I mean about that? Basically, it went again to the gameplay loop in the second, but of course, currently with Rhythm Heaven groove as number one on the Famitsu charts had a whopping 393,000 out the gate as far as June 29th, July 5th, 2026. And it became objectively speaking the best launch in rhythm heaven history.

selling more than double previous series debuts. Now, of course, when you look at it in totality, it currently just passed half a million. So shout out to them for that. Don't forget that this game officially came out July 2nd, 2026. So now that is already past half a million. And currently, as far as this particular week, it's still at number one selling 126,000 copies

as far as this particular week from July 6th to July. 12. Now the main thing, well, not this week, my fault. That was the Fimitsu chart period. So it's still number one, objectively speaking. So the main thing I was going to get at is that when it comes to the actual IP of rhythm heaven groove, they've had a plethora of titles, right? And combined with the Wii plus 3D as Lifetime total, it has 750,000. And of course, it's one of the biggest hits in general as far as rhythm heaven groove out of all the releases i don't know i don't know how many games in general um oh it's five because i think this is the fifth main entry so with this being the fifth main entry all the other four they did solid but of course this one is currently putting bta

on all the other rhythm heaven groove uh sales out there so getting into the long hiatus part because the last rhythm heaven game was in twenty five 15. So it was 15 plus years since the full original. And basically, it's because people were not buying the actual game. Shepard. Sadden history. Just look at the state of gaming. Like, what is going on? And of course, I did talk about how it has five titles in the mainline series. But of course, the sales are dwindling to a point where the fans are not as encapsitated by the gameplay loop. And then of course, not even to mention that the key, collaborator, Sunku had laryngeal cancer as far as in 2014 and vocal cord removal in

2015 basically reducing his activity. So of course, that played a factor into the 15 plus year hiatus. But of course, when you look at, I say 15 years, like I'm talking about the original. Obviously, it's been 11 years since Megamix. But when you look at the overall hiatus, of course, Sunku's health had a part to play in that. But of course, when it comes to Nintendo, they wanted to keep the door open, per the director Yoshio Sakamoto in 2017, but prioritized other titles until, of course, fan demand got to a point where a sequel, or not sequel, another installment was plausible. So now we have rhythm, heaven, groove, the fifth mainline entry for Nintendo's rhythm series,

and boy, did the connoisseur show out. as it was first so when you come to the original heaven series of course it was 11 years ago followed by Rhythm Heaven Mega Mix and released as part of the franchise's 20th anniversary celebration as far as Rhythm Heaven groove of today, the one that was released this month.

But when you look at it, as far as the gameplay loop, it's a classic rhythm gameplay. Basically, time and button presses primarily with A plus occasionally B and D pad inputs. Heavy emphasis on listening to music and audio cues rather than visual prompts. That's why you may get confused on the multiple games popping up throughout my coverage of this game because analytic dreams video on Spotify to see the video along with the audio because I'm currently showing gameplay.

But of course, all the different mini games that you're seeing on the screen, they follow the classic rhythm gameplay feature as far as time and button presses. primarily due to music and audio cues rather than the visual prompts. So it's more humorous, you know, fast-paced rhythm challenges and in very interesting scenarios, as you can see right now, 80 plus brand new rhythm mini games and this rhythm having groove, which is fantastic, right? But then of course you have stages that contain roughly four many games followed by a remix and combining mechanics from previous games and in a high,

rankings amazing slash superb medals unlocked bonus content so you probably be thinking to yourself as a 9 to 5 worker how long will this game take me well I'm glad you asked you guys as the main story will take you around 5

and a half to 6 hours the main story plus extras will take you around 11 to 12 hours and of course completion is it will take you from 20 to 24 hours now when it comes to the price point I do not believe I pulled up the actual price So I want to see how much this game actually is.

Because I wouldn't think it's too much, right? Rhythm heaven grew, but you never know what Nintendo. You know what I'm saying? So this game is $40. That's not too bad. And it does have a physical version. Shout out to Nintendo. Probably putting the code in a box like Rockstar.

I mean, somebody had to say it. So anyways, when it comes to the $40 price tag, that's not too egregious for the gameplay loop that you're getting. of course for the Nintendo connoisseurs out there you can't really be a chooser because of course there's not a lot of games on a Nintendo platform that's notoriously affecting the masses because of the lack of impact compared to console and PC games now I'm just you know objectively speaking if there was one console you could skip out on is definitely the switch right so that is harsh a harsh reality

for Nintendo connoisseurs primarily but of course that's the reality we live in but when they do have a notorious mass affecting game like rhythm having groove we're here the cover and break down the review and sales roundup so getting back into that the gameplay loop as far as the motop

player aspect as 30 plus local motop player mini games supports up to four players using joycons there's no online motop player what in the actual you guys see that's the problem now as far as a quirky game like this and all type of mechanics that leads into all type of

multiplayer enjoyment why in the world would they have no online multiplayer shepherd just look at the state of gaming is that not a problem what is going on like what is going on to the point where are we back in the 2000s not because you know local multiplayer i do not have any type of animosity but in the year of 2026, if you have a game that begs for multiplayer online aspect, why not have it in the game? You guys. See, that's the problem. So anyways, there's no online multiplayer. That is a big con in my opinion.

But anyways, it does have multiplayer technically. It's just local. So you all have to be in the same place, same console, same TV. Okay, they get the point. So basically, when it comes to other modes in the game, you have this mode. called beat spells. So that is the unlockable RPG inspired campaign. Players can, players become a rhythm mage casting spells through timed button combinations and it includes story chapters, boss battles, increasing difficulty and rhythm-based combat mechanics. Now,

at first glance, people who are not aware of this series is probably saying to themselves, why would I pay $40 for a musical simulator? Like, it doesn't seem that captivating, right? But when you look at the fans as far as the masses, the people who actually played this game as far as all the five games in the entry and what they have to say about it, apparently. When it comes to the simplistic controls, the amount of fun you can have as far as the infectious sunk-cool soundtrack, which you talked about earlier. And of course, the way that you could play with your friends locally, I think they call it a very addictive party-friendly. game. And when you look at it from that aspect, there's a lot of different games where you could probably look at and say, why would I spend $40 on this until you realize the party aspect as far as games like Beat Sabre. Of course, we sports. I'm not comparing this to wesports. So I'm just talking about

party centric type games that people enjoy that makes you accept the price tag a little more than you otherwise would if you didn't know that. So with that being said, another. Another thing I want to get into is that this game is only on the Nintendo Switch in the Switch 2. You guys see that's the problem. Now I know that Nintendo has to have some type of exclusive to make people want to purchase their hardware. But when it comes to party games, I do believe it should be multi-platform. Nintendo is already notorious for having certain flagships under their umbrellas such as a Mario,

Zelda, etc. But when it comes to this particular game, it is treated with that. same level of prestige and I don't know if it actually deserves it based on the sales right this latest rhythm heaven groove blew all the other rhythm heaven grooves games out of the water i mean it's doing fantastic on the charts but when it comes to the entire mainline entry i think the exclusivity hurt the franchise and that is part of the reason why it may have went on that 11-year hiatus so but that means said the other thing i was going to again to, aside from this game being on the Switch 2 and the Switch 1, I think when it comes to

the biggest complaint from the masses, not I think, I looked this up. So based on my research, the masses complain that there's noticeable input slash delay slash display lag while playing docked on many televisions. And they say calibration options exist but aren't perfect. Now, this reminds me of something that I have to switch to another platform. As I kid you not, for the life of me, I never realized why when you're using a recording platform as far as music, there was a calibration setting. I was like, isn't this the main thing that they should have automated? Like, you literally have to go in on BandLab. If the voice is offset from the beat, you have to go to the setting, right?

It's like the tuner settings, like the latency or whatever. And usually for me, because I'm always using headphones, I have to put my headphones around my mic, not this mic, but another one. I put my headphones around the mic, turn the sound up, and let it calibrate to the beat. I'm like, shouldn't just be an automated process. I don't know why, but that just seems so archaic to me. I kid you not. So maybe it's just because I'm using BandLab. Y'all can let me know if there's other platforms out there that automatically

calibrates the latency as far as the tuner and the beat in the voice. But basically, a lot of people for this specific game says that's a problem as well. But it seems like they do have that calibration option, but it isn't perfect. Now, a lot of the masses who played this game said the best experience is handheld because once again, the input lag apparently from playing on a docked on television. A lot of people say the headphones are recommended for accurate timing, and that makes sense. It's a music game. And when you look at the bugs, there's really no game breaking bugs, and it's very minuscule if any as far as bugs. So it's very good on that aspect.

And when you look at the community reception is extremely positive, which brings me into my next point. As when you look at the review roundups for this particular game, not only has it been on the number one slot in the Femitsu charts for like almost a month, but when you look at the review roundups, IGN gave this a 9 out of 10 saying, quote, Rhythm Heaven Groove is a superb sequel that expertly, capitalizes on the captivating energy of his excellent music across a series of joyfully animated minigames.

The campaign is well balanced and stuffed with genre shifting earworms you won't forget fast. Now what type of description? You guys. Hey man, it teaches on. But anyways, Game Informer gave it an 8.25 out of 10. Now what? That's extra in my opinion, but that's whatever. saying quote rhythm heaven groove is not my favorite in the franchise but it makes me just as happy

proud anxious and angry as all the previous games in the series grooves collection is great i genuinely think i genuinely don't think there is a single game among it's more than a hundred single and multiplayer games that i actively dislike but there also weren't any i immediately flagged as new all-time favorites. So that's somebody who obviously is a long-time connoisseur or the franchise. So now, I will get into Nintendo Life, but I feel like they may be a little biased, right? So we're not going to get into them. GameSpot. GameSpot gave this game an 8 out of 10 saying, quote, Rhythm Heaven Groove is an infectious blend of unapologetic weirdness and toe-tapping

rhythm gameplay in a heck of a party game to boot. Unapologetic weirdness infuses all of the mini-games. Rhythm game play. play hits with percussive force that feels great. Remix sections are like a magic trick. And then last but definitely not least, the gamer gave it a four out of five saying, quote,

is wonderful how much rhythm having groove can do with just as few simple button presses. Having played every single title in the series, that boy flexing, you know what I'm saying? Goodness gracious. Shout to the gamer, boy. That man, really loves this franchise. Having played every single title in the series and mastered some of

his hardest challenges, that boy's sweat. Groove feels like the perfect entry for newcomers who want to see what the fuss is all about. You know what I'm saying? Just look at the state of being like what is going on? It's very out of the blue that you get a rhythm game like this, very much a party game, and it stays on the top of the charts for quite some time, I first seen it, I was like, you know what, that's a pretty good first week sales. You know, 300 some thousand. I mean, that's a lot, right? Let's see where it's at a month from now.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're almost a month from now, and it's still the number one most play game on the Famitsu charts, more specifically than Nintendo charts. So the main thing you need to know is that this is the first original rhythm heaven game in more than a decade. Every mini game is completely new. No remakes or ports with them taking 11 years to be. make this game. That makes sense. Sunku returned to compose the music despite previous health challenges. So shout out to a healthy

recovery. Beat spell of course introduces RPG progression to the series for the first time. So I didn't know that. A beat spell is the first time mode and achieved the largest Japanese launch and franchise history. Shout out to longevity in the gaming industry. So with that being said, my link to share in my bio to follow me on my social medias and of course if you're on spotify and if you've played rhythm heaven groove let me know what is your favorite part about the game and why