Rhythm games like Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution used to be all the rage in the United States around the days of the PlayStation 2. With dozens of new titles flooding consumer markets on a yearly basis, it seemed like nobody could get enough of games that challenged the player to hit keys in time with a wide array of different music. Eventually, though, knockoffs, market oversaturation, rising import costs, or perhaps a simple passing of a fad would spell doom for the heyday of rhythm games in the states.
Good news, though! Rhythm games actually haven't gone anywhere, and although they might not do the stateside numbers that they did during the peaks of the Guitar Hero and DDR crazes of yesteryear, these games still have dedicated fanbases for good reason. For those who might be feeling a little rusty, check out some of these beginner-friendly titles to help ease back into the rhythm gaming genre.
10 Geometry Dash
Geometry Dash is a casual music game available for mobile platforms, as well as on steam through browser versions and a Steam release. The game is simple in concept: the player is tasked with keeping a block alive as it careens through a maze of musically timed obstacles that must be dodged at increasingly precise timings. The game also features a wide array of community-generated content, meaning that there's a lot to play here for such a deceptively small title.
It might not have the ultra-complex scoring systems of some other popular rhythm games, but Geometry Dash's wide availability and intuitive control scheme have earned it a dedicated fanbase. Those elements also make it perfect for newcomers to rhythm gaming in general, so they'll want to check it out too.
9 Pump It Up
Who doesn't have fond memories of playing Dance Dance Revolution? It seems like everyone has formative gaming experiences wherein they stomped away at a DDR cab for hours on end, regardless of how skilled they actually were, having a great time in the process. Unfortunately, as popularity in the United States waned, and import costs for machines went up, it started to become harder and harder to find DDR cabinets running the newest versions of the game.
Luckily, there's Pump It Up, a dancing game from Korean developer Andamiro. Although the game is largely similar to DDR, it does feature some important differences, the most important of which is that arcades outside of Japan still order Pump It Up cabinets, making newer versions of the game much easier to find than its counterpart in DDR.
8 Jubeat
A barrier that players can feel to some of the most "advanced" rhythm games out there is their control schemes: titles like Beatmania IIDX can feature a multitude of keys and notes that come at the player at blinding speeds, making it difficult to adapt for first time players. Luckily there's Konami's Jubeat, which plays like a musical version of whack-a-mole.
Players outside of Japan looking to gleefully smack a glowing box to anime music might have to do some searching, though - it can sometimes be difficult to find Jubeat machines in stateside arcades. Typically the best bet to find Jubeat cabinets is to look for smaller arcades focused on Japanese imports and to start the search there.
7 Muse Dash
Muse Dash is a simple game with a colorful anime-styled aesthetic, and an extremely accessible control scheme. The player is only really going to be pushing two buttons here, as they guide their character through a stage full of enemies that they must defeat to the beat of the music.
It isn't all fun and games, though. Despite its simple controls, Muse Dash can get quite punishing on higher difficulties with more complex maps. Like some of the best rhythm games out there; it quite happily wears the title "easy to learn, hard to master" as one of its primary selling points.
6 Crypt Of The Necrodancer
Crypt of the Necrodancer boldly combines rhythm gaming with... a dungeon crawling roguelike? That probably sounds unusual, but it ends up working shockingly well in the final product. Players will have to move their character to a stage's beat to dodge attacks, traps, and deal damage to enemies as they progress through more and more difficult challenges.
Although it might not be a "pure" rhythm game like some other entries on this list, Necrodancer is still a very enjoyable experience for anyone looking for something unique. Switch owners will also be pleased to find that the game has an exclusive Legend of Zelda tie-in for that console's version of the game.
5 Friday Night Funkin'
The free-to-play love letter to the classic Newgrounds flash games of yore Friday Night Funkin' has been making waves in rhythm game circles on account of its rapid rise to popularity, nostalgic aesthetic, and intuitive gameplay. Although it might be structurally similar to Dance Dance Revolution or Pump It Up, FNF sets itself apart through moddability.
This one is practically tailor-made for those who grew up wasting away the hours playing old-school flash games on websites like Newgrounds, but while the aesthetics are certainly a large part of the appeal, the gameplay is nothing to sneeze at either, and the wide range of available mods keeps fans coming back for more.
4 Taiko No Tatsujin
Taiko no Tatsujin is a game about drumming. The original arcade versions of the game sat players in front of a huge taiko drum that they could beat senseless in time to a range of available songs. Controls are simple: players are tasked with beating the center of the drum for red notes and the edges for blue, with some special sequences included for drumrolls and the like.
Ports of the game to home consoles like the Switch and PlayStation have experimented with motion and button controls to replicate the drumming excitement of the arcade version, but those who are looking for a more complete experience can purchase a peripheral drum controller from third party vendors.
3 Osu!
Osu! is a free-to-play rhythm game that thrives off of community content; fans upload songs and maps that they've created to the game's website and then become available for download for the community at large. With the price of admission being zero, Osu! is definitely worth checking out for newcomers to the rhythm game genre.
Gameplay-wise, Osu! features a wide range of different modes with radically different gameplay, but the most popular one involves clicking circles that appear onscreen to a beat - testing both a player's aim and rhythm sense. The upper levels of this game can get pretty insane but the player shouldn't be discouraged, there are plenty of maps tailored to beginners.
2 DJMAX RESPECT
Those looking for a straight-to-the-point, no-nonsense rhythm game experience will be greatly satisfied to discover the latest entry in the DJMax series: DJMax Respect. This is one of those examples of a game that doesn't do anything really groundbreaking in concept but executes the ideas it does want to focus on so well that the player still has a great time.
In its purest form, this is a game about pressing the corresponding button on a controller as notes fall down the screen. Simple, yes, but there's a hefty skill ceiling there that players can sink their teeth into if they so choose. The game doesn't lack content, and features several different button layouts for players of all skill levels.
1 Project Diva
The world's preeminent virtual pop star Hatsune Miku has a number of multimedia projects to her name, including a number of video games, the most prominent of which is the Project Diva series of rhythm games. Notes fall in from all corners of the screen towards their destinations, challenging the player to hit the corresponding buttons as high-energy vocaloid tracks play in the background.
The latest entry in the series, Project Diva MegaMix for the Switch, features an interesting "hold" system wherein players can twist their fingers about trying to hold down buttons for certain notes to score extra points. This allows for a highly competitive scoring system, and keeps the replayability for each song's difficulty high.
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