Seeing this game lift so much from Megamix, both visually and even mechanically with things like the Skill Stars and the score bar warms my heart in ways I cannot describe, we Megamix enjoyers are eating, but the Rhythm Heaven fans as a whole are feasting.

I think it says a lot about a series when despite only having four entries, one of which never released outside Japan, manages to produce and share such joy, process a spirit so unique and easy to fall in love with and even when its father company seems to have toss it aside and forgot about it, both creators and fans still keep the dance going. Few games can accomplish the feat that Rhythm Heaven pulled off in each of its entries, entice us to smile, to be weird and fun, to produce animations, tributes and completely original games, the fan-works and fanbase it has cultivated is one of dear appreciation for not only the experiences themselves, but also the act of creating brand new things and enjoying them as a community. Heaven Studio has been around for a while, even if only now it finally got its 1.0 release, and it has exactly that as an objective, to unite a community, both players and creators, celebrate the fun that is in sharing and appreciating other people’s work, a perfect way to keep the paradise alive.

It’s also the most impressive fan-work I’ve ever come across in my entire life.

Heaven Studio opens such spaces of possibilities that boggle the mind so much it’s kinda hard to belive this is real at first, 50 minigames from the original series completely recreated in glorious HD art, keeping that bubbly style that Megamix introduced and making it even more pretty and charming, and if that wasn’t enough, it has 2 brand new original games that are so good at first I thought the were some kind of sub-games from Fever I didn’t check out, and make me even more excited to see what people will come up with in future releases for future remixes, ‘cause here’s the thing: there’s no real way to play the original games stand-alone. Heaven Studio is not a fan-game that just so happens to have a level editor; its whole status as a game depends on the output of fans, and the tools at disposal are anything but lacking.

Look, I’m not able to even begin to understand how anything about its editor works, this is no Mario Maker level creator, nor it needs to be. It’s complex and deep, it has all the tools needed to craft remixes, both classic, inspired by other songs, or just takes in one specific game, the end-result will go as far as your imagination and effort allows, and more games will be added as time passes to broaden the horizons even more. So many ways to experiment in such a fitting and beautiful presentation; as I said I probably will not be able to do much myself with it unless I really get into it, but luckily for us filthy non-remix creators peasants, the game has some remixes that come with the package, alongside those aforementioned two new minigames, and if some say that first impressions are all, then Heaven Studio really took it to heart

Each of the of the remixes that come with the download feel so different from one another, embodying different spirits of what’s to be done with this tool, different visual and sound styles that each feel surreal, I was laughing my ass off while playing the Code Remix not only because I was unable to believe this was real, but also because it was so damn fun, so incredibly polished and so astonishing. This really reminds me of the fan Guitar Hero and Trombone Champ songs using original music or from other games, except taken to the next level, to one of contagious happiness and sheer creativeness, one seen in even other fan remixes beyond the first ones. Over on the game’s Discord server you can see hundreds of persons haring their work, and of course not all are absolute bangers, some are more experimental and not that well charted compared to others, but all feel special, all feel full of heart, and the ones that hit, REALLY hit. I don’t even know how to begin explaining to you that one of the best and most amazing remixes I’ve ever played is one about the Story of Undertale song without seeming like a madman, but it’s the truth, and I have to speak it, it’s utterly insane, but that hasn’t stop me from loving something Rhythm Heaven before.

So many fascinating remixes, visually impressive and subversive, a community effort that’s already out of this world but that still has so much yet to offer that I can only describe as… a superb.

To celebrate the game’s release, the original developers created the Lush Remix, a remix that uses all 52 included games; this is no mere ‘’we got the game celebration’’, not just only a tribute to all the final remixes in the games of the series, is a gift, a gift that marks an end and a beginning, there’s so much yet to be seen and enjoyed, there will be meme songs along the way, maybe original ones, and a ton of Undertale/Deltarune inspired remixes (believe me, there are a ton already and it’s scary how good most are), but even right now, just one day after the game released, and after many, MANY GitHub beta releases, this is the most beautiful community effort I’ve seen, and one I can only hope it will have so much yet to give, I cannot exhaust the words to praise everyone that has worked or is contributing on Heaven Studio, this is beyond impressive.

If you aren’t familiar with the series but like this idea, hold on playing it, not only because most of its remixes are hard as balls and as a whole is really defendant on you having knowledge of the way the rhythm in these games works, but also because this is so much more worth to play when the time is right, a way to cap-off the Rhythm Heaven adventures, but also for them to keep going in brand new ways…

Also forget about Rhythm Hell, the true underworld is The Miner Grind like that remix is the cruelest thing I’ve ever bop my head to. I don’t know who is responsible for that one but hey, my outmost respects to you, you crazy bastard…

it's super cool that the ability to play custom remixes is a finally reality in a very nice and convenient way. considering this game is completely made by fans for fans, all of the custom remixes are fan made and this game gives you all the tools to make your own stuff, it's really neat. they've even added in a few completely original fan minigames, something that wasn't asked for but is definitely welcome.

with the custom levels themselves, there are some people out there who really know how to cook up some fun and impressive levels. there are some levels i'll play that do things that are very clever or feel like they're similar in quality and thoughtfulness to something you'd see in a base rh game. at the same time though, as to be expected with open source rhythm games there are some levels that are real stinkers. not to say i put down anyone who is just trying their hand at making their own remixes, like me personally i haven't even bothered opening the level editor so other people have already made greater steps than i have. my biggest criticism though with some of these levels sometimes though is that no matter how well made or cool looking they are, it sometimes doesn't really feel like some of them are meant to be played the way some of them just throw in a fuckton of cues or have transitions between minigames that feel impossible to react to. obviously it's a case by case basis, not all levels are created this way, but there are a good handful i've played that i think have potential to be good but are just brought down by a feeling of trying way too hard, and i think sometimes the solution is to just tone it down a bit. there's a sort of balance you need to find to make a level feel difficult but still reasonable to play.

also, one last point that is more of an external factor but something i hadn't experienced until now with this game that i really don't like is acquiring custom levels. if you want to download custom levels for yourself, the only way (at least afaik) is to join the heaven studio discord and go to a channel with a massive amount of forum posts, each individual one containing a custom level someone made. in the past i've never really had to join a discord to access something like this but i've heard stories of people that have had to put up with it. usually things like the entire collection of custom levels would just be on a separate website for people to upload their own levels, but godddddd it sucks so bad to have to scroll through a bunch of individual forum posts just to find new things to play. you can search for certain levels someone may have made and there are a small selection of tags you can filter through, but considering heaven studio is still fairly new i don't even bother searching for things i want because the likelihood someone has made something specific im looking for is very slim and the small amount of search filters don't really help narrow things down. also because of this system of having to use discord to find new levels there's not a whole lot of moderation in terms of like separating the good levels from the bad like something like osu's ranked and unranked map system, so really the only way to tell if a level is gonna be well made or not is to read comments on the post for a level, or if there are no comments you just have to download and play it for yourself. given, like i said earlier, heaven studio is fairly new so all of this could be subject to change and maybe eventually there will be a better way of hosting downloads for new levels, but for the time being it's something that personally factors into my enjoyment with this game even if it isn't directly an issue within the game itself.