Rhythm Heaven/YMMV


 * And the Fandom Rejoiced: When the third iteration was announced for the Wii. Even more so when it was confirmed at E3 that it would be getting a Western release.
 * Then even more when it was revealed that the controls would be button-only, not only effectively bringing the series back to its roots but also putting to bed any fears that the game, being from a series that is already notoriously difficult and requires near-perfect timing, would be absolutely rage-inducing thanks to the inaccuracy issues that come with the Wii's motion controls.
 * And even more so with the reveal of two-player games! The two-player games are mostly cooperative with a small competitive element as the game does score each player separately before grading both of them by their combined scores. There's even a selection of two-player endless games!
 * The European release has both soundtracks.
 * Base Breaker: Let's just say there's quite a divide between fans of the original Japanese soundtracks and those of the localized soundtracks.
 * Breather Level: Quiz in Tengoku. Despite being one of the few mini-games to have insta-fail conditions, you don't actually need any rhythm to pass. Just do as many button inputs as the host.
 * Karate Man in Heaven and Fever is the last main game before you hit the credits, and it usually focuses more on being memorable than being challenging, utilizing no camera trickery, basic controls and timing, and more cues than you probably need.
 * Ringside in Fever is both far easier than most of the third column (which has the notoriously irritating Air Rally, among others) and is the subject of much Memetic Mutation. Since most of the parody videos are based on a perfect run, anyone familiar with the meme has the rhythm of the song memorized, making the level even easier than it would otherwise be.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome
 * Ear Worm: The music is mostly by Tsunku, one of Hello! Project's mainstays.
 * Fan Dumb: The Manzai act is so ingrained in Japanese culture that it's virtually impossible to translate to an English audience, this being the main reason Manzai Birds was cut from Western releases. That didn't stop some fans from complaining.
 * Possible Fridge Brilliance: One of the reasons Donk Donk may be so odd compared to the other games is its rhythm--electrodes and octopi may not be inherently weirder than, say, Working Dough, but Donk Donk's rhythms are in triple time (DONK-DONK-wait DONK-DONK-wait), while almost every other game has double time rhythms (WHOA, you-GO big GUY *tap TAP*).
 * Think how you'd say "Cheerleaders" if you were doing it in a stereotypical Engrish voice. Then remember that (at least in Japan) one of the games is full of Intentional Engrish for Funny...
 * Funny Moments: See Rhythm Heaven/Funny.
 * Heartwarming Moments: See Rhythm Heaven/Heartwarming.
 * Hell Is That Noise: Screwing up while going for a Perfect. Not only because it means that you've burned one of your three chances for a Perfect, but also because it's loud. Thankfully, it's quieter in the Wii version.
 * Love It or Hate It: Not so much the games, but particular levels. Invariably, some players will latch on to certain mini-games as their favorites while others consider the same levels as the ones that frustrate them the most.
 * For example, in Rhythm Heaven Fever, you have Monkey Watch. Monkey Watch is the first minigame that requires the player to have a consistent rhythm throughout. Said rhythm is constantly interrupted by syncopated beats in the form of the pink monkeys. Love for this minigame seems to be split down the line between people who have a developed sense of rhythm and those or are looking to improve their rhythm. For those with a strong sense of rhythm, it is one of the first truly-involving minigames Rhythm Heaven Fever has to offer. To everybody else, it can be a complete nightmare.
 * Memetic Mutation: Munchy Monk 2 (courtesy of Pinkie Pie, more My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, The Tenth Doctor, and The Medic) and Wrestler Interview / Ringside have attained some popularity in parodies.
 * Touhou and Team Fortress 2 seem to compose a good chunk of the parodies on Nico Nico Douga and YouTube, respectively. Naturally, the TF2 ones are known as "Rhythm Fortress."
 * "We go together, doctor!" "Jawohl!"
 * Rhythm Heaven parodies in general.
 * Man, Suki's gonna die...
 * Scrappy Mechanic: Using the R button in Rockers 2.
 * Surprise Difficulty: Hey, there's cute graphics and a song consisting only of do-re-mi-fa-so. All you have to do is flick to the song to get a bolt through two pieces of metal. This is going to be a piece of cake! Of course, you'll likely still be on Built to Scale after multiple tries... And even if you blaze past the first few stages, the first remix will hit you as hard as any Wake Up Call Boss.
 * In all fairness, Built to Scale pulls a particularly nasty trick on a player new to the series, since they're likely not expecting it.
 * For an in-game example, Samurai Slice in Heaven only needs 17 Medals to unlock, but can get more complex than Battle Of The Bands.
 * Awww, the seals in Flipper-Flop are so cute! Sweet, I got a medal! It's time to go for Perfec- HOW'D I MISS? Wait, the timing window for their steps is that tight?!?
 * Tastes Like Diabetes: "Thrilling! Is this love?" Love Lab is cute, though.
 * That One Boss: Remix 5 in the first game, Remix 8 in the second. Note that each rather prominently features parts from That One Level - Tengoku Remix 5 has Fireworks and its really difficult timing, whereas Tengoku Gold Remix 8 heavily features Rhythm Rally and also includes Fillbots (and its really difficult timing, especially at the speed said remix goes at) on two occasions.
 * To clarify the second one, once you figure out that Rhythm Rally and Dog Ninja basically go at the exact same rhythm, the beginning turns into a matter of flicking at a constant pace. It's towards the end, and the game gradually starts to speed up, that things turn sour real quick.
 * That One Level: Fireworks and The Bon Dance in the first game. Fillbots, Rhythm Rally, and Big Rock Finish in the second.
 * Try to get Perfect in Rhythm Rally 2.
 * Love Lizards gets a lot of flack not only because it's repetitive, but the controls tend to be over or underresponsive (depending on which one you don't want it to be).
 * Fever has Love Rap, which ends up comprising the last two medals most people get, mostly due to the rather unusual timing of the sequences (to the point where listening to the audio alone frequently produces worse results than trying to figure out the visual cues on each action). The relevant Remixes are comparably easier.
 * Also any part with the Tap Troupe. The major reason is that the rhythm you need to use to exit the triplet (the bounce-bounce section) is different based on how long the section lasted. You need to either end with another triplet or change to an eighth note. One particularly nasty change actually requires you to wait for about three-eighths before making the final step! Remix 7 has the same difficulty because of this.
 * Shrimp Shuffle is notable for two things. One is that the game counts the beats for you and it's still a pain in the crotch ("1, 2, 3! 3, 2..." *player presses button* "...1!" *miss*); the other is that when the shrimps pause, their shout of "Together!" is delayed, which doesn't actually change the rhythm - but interrupts the voice counting the beats, which makes it very easy to get confused.
 * Viewer Gender Confusion: So, is the second rocker a girl or a guy? The Try Again message for Rockers has the first rocker call the second "Guy", but for rock stars, "guy" could be a gender-neutral term.
 * Maybe the second rocker shares the player's gender?
 * Also, the kid whose pinwheel got stolen in the Fever version of "Samurai Slice" is called "Pinwheel Boy", but...
 * Woolseyism: The dub of Fever has been fairly well-received, especially in comparison to the DS version.