I read a post on the blog of someone with about 20 years of rhythm game experience about "tips for improving from beginner to intermediate," and it really made sense to me. Apparently the tips fall into three categories: settings, practice methods, and mindset. Settings come first: if you raise the note speed until it feels "maybe a little fast?", the charts become easier to read. Adjusting the judgment timing (audio offset) and turning off effects, cut-ins, and character voices is the safe bet, and I can confirm that from experience.
The most important thing in practice is to "play lots of songs, lots of times." Instead of obsessing over a full combo on a single song, you expose yourself to all kinds of charts so your body learns the patterns. When you hit a wall, the efficient approach is apparently to watch play videos of skilled players, focusing "only on the parts you can't do."
As for mindset, when you can't figure out a chart, listen to the song with your ears instead of your eyes. Rhythm game charts are always built around the music, so using the song's sounds as cues helps you understand faster. If you're tired or plateauing, just take a break. Coming back the next day feeling fresh and suddenly being able to do it is so relatable.
I put this into practice right away. I just cycle through all sorts of songs, check fingerings in videos when I get stuck, and if it still doesn't work, give up for the moment and go to sleep. In the end, I really feel that "keeping at it while having fun" is the best way to improve.
Source: なもろぐ
Rhythm Doctor's v1.2.0 patch landed on October 7, and it is mostly a gift to people who build their own levels. If you have ever wanted your custom charts to feel less like a spreadsheet and more like a stage show, this is the update to read about.
The headline additions are all in the editor. There is a new text decoration type that supports depth, movement, colour and outline width, plus custom font support for floating text. The most interesting one to me is the new "Go to Level" event, which lets a single level switch between .rdlevel files in the middle of playing. That opens the door to branching, multi-part charts that behave like one long set piece.
Players get something too. Custom level search now accepts filters such as rank, difficulty, 2-player support and whether you have already played it, and they can be combined in one query. The 1P/2P switcher before a level was redesigned, the endings of 3-X and the final level can be skipped from the pause menu once you have beaten them, and holding shift on the calibration screen gives finer visual offset adjustment.
On the quality-of-life side, the editor now has an "Open Recent" list of up to eight files, a "Test Level" button and a new shortcut for cycling resolution backwards. There is also a "bomb beat" you can place that counts as a miss if pressed, which is a neat way to punish autopilot hands.
The developers also reminded everyone that custom levels live on the Steam Workshop, and that the game already carries crossover levels from titles such as UNBEATABLE and Bits & Bops, tucked away in the hospital basement. I like seeing a rhythm game keep investing in its community tools long after the 1.0 launch.
Source: Rhythm Doctor on Steam News
More than ten years have passed since the last Rhythm Heaven, and Rhythm Heaven Groove, called Rhythm Paradise Groove in PAL regions, came out on Nintendo Switch on July 2, 2026. It also runs on the Switch 2 through backward compatibility. It was nice to see Nintendo still sticking with such a simple formula: press buttons in time with the music, and not much more.
For the $39.99 price, the content is generous. There are more than 80 single-player minigames and more than 30 local multiplayer games for up to four people, split evenly between cooperative and competitive. The soundtrack is by Tsunku, who has worked on the series since 2006. On Metacritic the game sits around 82 points from 53 reviews, with scores such as a 9 from Pocket Tactics and an 8 from Nintendo Life.
The new addition is Beatspell, an RPG-style mode where you cast spells by following a metronome. It is a fun idea, though most reviews agree it is not the strongest part of the game. What really shines are the minigames: absurd, inventive, with a WarioWare feel, but where rhythm matters more than reaction speed.
The weak point is input latency when the console is docked and the picture goes to the TV. There is a calibration screen, but it does not always do enough. In a game decided by milliseconds, that is a serious problem, especially for couch play, which should be its best setting. The general advice is to play in handheld or tabletop mode.
What I like most about this review is its tone. It praises Nintendo for not adding an open world, a season pass, or narrative missions, and for showing that a rhythm game can justify itself on quality alone. If you have a Switch and like the genre, it seems an easy game to recommend, as long as the latency does not put you off.
Source: WWWhat's New
A two-faced adventure: by day you run a record shop, and by night you dive into a rhythm game. I came across news that the demo of "MR. RECORDS" is available on Steam. It was developed by Glee-Cheese Studio, published by Wired Productions and Gamersky Games, and supports Japanese, among other languages.
The protagonist, George, runs a record shop with his dog Buzz. New records arrive every day, and his daytime job is to find the one album that suits each of the eccentric customers. As the shop grows, the story says that hidden narratives gradually come into view.
At night, when George plays a record, a dreamlike rhythm stage is built from his memories, emotions and scenes from his life. It asks you to dash, jump, slide and dodge in time with the music, with more than 40 stages and over 45 original tracks spanning funk, progressive rock, hip-hop, electro, world music and 80s pop.
It also includes rhythm battles, minigames, visuals that shake your perception, chase events and side activities with Buzz. The structure of stitching together George's memories using music, photos and notes caught my interest too.
Personally, I love how the act of selling records itself connects to the fun of choosing songs. The article does not yet mention a release date or price for the full version, but I want to get a feel for it through the demo first.
Source: 4Gamer.net
Beat Saber is about to change more than it has in years. In late September the team announced what it calls the biggest update in the game's history, arriving in spring 2027 on Meta Quest, Meta VR glasses and Steam.
The centrepiece is Flux, a new single-player mode built around hand tracking, where your hands become the weapons. Powers like the Flux Tether channel energy between your palms to slice notes in time with the beat, while your hands punch through other targets. Destroying notes builds Jolt energy, and squeezing your fists while slicing triggers a Jolt for big scores. Controllers are supported too. Flux launches with 35 songs from the Original Soundtracks, Extras and Anniversary packs, with artists such as Lindsey Stirling, Teminite, DragonForce, Haywyre, Camellia and Boom Kitty, and more songs are planned afterwards.
Beyond Flux, the campaign gets a refresh with a light narrative, new missions and checkpoints that unlock rewards. There is a new menu system, a first-ever progression and rewards system with cosmetic sabers, notes, bombs, profile badges and banners, and the first logo redesign in nearly a decade.
The part I find most notable is universal hand tracking: for the first time, you will be able to play the entire song library without controllers. The team stresses that controllers are not going away, since this is one more way to play rather than a replacement. After eight years, it is a bold way to keep a rhythm classic feeling new.
Source: Beat Saber on Steam News
SEGA has announced “KING of Performai The 8th,” an official nationwide tournament for its arcade music games maimai でらっくす, CHUNITHM, and オンゲキ. It runs for the Japanese version and the International ver. at the same time. Since it covers three games in one tournament, I think it is welcome news for anyone who plays all of them.
Here is the schedule. Entries for the Japanese version run from October 9 at 12:00 to November 22 at 23:59. The online qualifiers run from October 29 at 7:00 to November 23 at 23:59. The final qualifier, LCQ, is on December 9 (Japanese version only), and the final tournament is planned for February 14, 2027 at Tokyo International Forum Hall B7, with an audience. Ticket information will be announced later.
The online qualifiers are open to anyone who plays at a shop that has the target machines. You enter through each official site (maimai でらっくすNET, CHUNITHM-NET, オンゲキ-NET) and then play the assigned songs. For maimai, the assigned songs are 「ATLAS RUSH」, 「氷滅の135小節」, and 「魔法仕掛けのファンタジア」. In CHUNITHM, you play the MASTER course in Qualifier (1) and Qualifier (2), and ranking is decided by the combined score. In オンゲキ, you play four designated songs in a row, and the score is totaled from the Technical Challenge.
What I find interesting is that just joining the qualifiers comes with rewards. In maimai, playing the assigned songs gets you early access to 「魔法仕掛けのファンタジア」. In CHUNITHM, clearing the reward course gets you early access to 「狂命」, and playing 「狂命」 four times also unlocks a character. オンゲキ has a participation title too. Even people who are not aiming for the tournament have a good excuse to try new songs first.
The International ver. has no LCQ, and the top two finishers advance to the final based only on their online qualifier results. I think it is good that the door is open to players overseas. For the detailed rules, please check the official site (
https://maimai.sega.jp/kop8th/).
Source: 4Gamer.net
"Afterbeat", a bullet-hell rhythm action game in which the stage changes with the music and you advance while dodging incoming obstacles, was officially released on Steam on 8 October. It was featured in Game*Spark's "Today's Steam Highlights", where the headline reads "Overwhelmingly Positive". The price is 1,900 yen, with a sale at 1,425 yen until 16 October.
The core of play is moving forward while avoiding stages that shift along with the rhythm. It supports local co-op for up to four players, so it sounds like a game you can play side by side with friends.
Another eye-catching feature is the stage editor. You can create your own challenges, and share and download them through the Steam Workshop. Rhythm games also have a big appeal in making charts yourself, so a solid editor is probably a reason the game can be enjoyed for a long time.
The story is set in 207X, in a world where a mysterious disease is spreading. The protagonists, Anna and her partner Haru, are said to work on treatment using an interface based on pulse and rhythm. This official release brings a reworked story mode and tutorial, and an improved editor. It is also said to support several languages, including Japanese and Chinese.
It was genuinely good news to see a title that grew out of early access reach more people across language barriers.
Source: Game*Spark
Echo Foundry Interactive, a San Francisco indie studio with veterans of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and DJ Hero on the team, has set October 16, 2026 as the Steam release date for Sound System, a five-fret rhythm game priced at $24.99.
Players can take guitar, bass or vocals using a keyboard, controller, compatible guitar peripheral or microphone. Multiplayer covers local split-screen and online play: co-op bands share multipliers, while competitive modes have players fight for stage control.
The game launches with more than 50 songs, mixing well-known covers, established indie acts and emerging bands. Indie and emerging artist tracks are free, studio covers cost $0.99 each, and the studio plans monthly single releases and rotating store content.
The part I find most interesting is the PulseMap Editor, which the studio describes as "Mario Maker meets Guitar Hero". You can upload your own music, build charts from scratch or modify existing ones, and share them, and artists can bring original tracks into the game. Visual customization is broad too: note highways, static or full-motion video backgrounds, scoring widgets and themes.
The announcement dates from March 2026, so this is a heads-up rather than a review. Whether the song list and charting tools hold up is something to judge after launch, but a plastic-guitar-style game that is open to user charts is a welcome idea.
Source: CGMagazine
Muse Dash has added a collaboration with UNDERTALE and DELTARUNE, announced on Steam at the end of July. The patch note is written as a news broadcast in the style of Mettaton's "MTT News", complete with asterisks, which is a fun nod to the source games.
The new "Song of Determination & Power" music pack contains eight new songs. There are also hidden sheets: the one for "Death by Glamour" has a BOSS switch you can turn on, and the one for "MEGALOVANIA" lets you, in the developers' words, face Judgement. The pack comes with a themed illustration with the flavor of the Underground, too.
What I enjoy about posts like this is how a rhythm game uses collabs to refresh itself without changing the core loop. Hidden sheets that you unlock by tapping the difficulty button give veteran players something harder to chase, while the music pack itself is easy to enjoy at any level.
The format of the announcement is also worth a mention. Instead of a plain list of changes, the team wrote a mock battle menu with FIGHT, ACT, ITEM and MERCY, and even a little HP bar for the "R.M.B Squad". It reads like something fans will want to share, and I think that kind of playfulness is part of why the community around this game stays lively.
Source: Steam News (Muse Dash)
Beat Saber's Hip Hop Mixtape 2 arrived with update v1.45.0 on August 27, and it is a very different flavour from the electronic tracks the game is known for. The pack brings eight hip hop and rap songs, plus a brand new environment to slice through.
The track list mixes recent hits and genre staples: Kendrick Lamar's "tv off", Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow's "INDUSTRY BABY", Doja Cat's "Kiss Me More", JID's "Surround Sound", Lil Wayne's "6 Foot 7 Foot", Cardi B's "I Like It", Doechii's "NISSAN ALTIMA" and Tommy Richman's "MILLION DOLLAR BABY". Rap flows are busy and syncopated, so I am curious how the charts translate those rhythms into swings.
The pack is fully uncensored, with an Explicit Lyrics Toggle so players can set their own preference. You can buy it on its own or as a bundle with the base game, which is handy for newcomers.
The update also includes level editor fixes: the play and stop buttons no longer freeze in the BPM menu, strobe effect values behave correctly when adjusted, and arcs no longer appear offset in front of the notes. Small fixes like these matter a lot to the mapping community.
It is a good reminder that a rhythm game lives or dies by its song library, and that mixing genres is one of the best ways to keep long-time players coming back.
Source: Beat Saber on Steam News
Showmetech’s review of Rhythm Heaven Groove, released for Nintendo Switch on July 2, 2026, gives it a high score of 95 out of 100, with 100 for sound and for fun. The article calls it the best rhythm game on the console and says it could make the year’s best-of lists. I was curious about such enthusiasm, so here is a summary of the main points.
The controls are simple, with one or two buttons and no motion sensor. The challenge is pressing at the right moment, guided by the sound. Minigames come in groups of four, followed by a remix, with more than 80 for one player and more than 30 new multiplayer games, either cooperative or competitive. There is also Beatspell, a battle mode in RPG style that the review compares to Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.
According to the reviewer, the music is the strongest point, produced with Tsunku. He highlights the track “Brolly Good Show 2,” sung by Jacky Halim, with harpsichord and French lyrics in front of the Eiffel Tower. I like a review that names a specific song, because it shows the soundtrack really stuck with him.
There are important practical warnings. Wireless earbuds are not recommended, and playing with the console docked adds input lag. The game has a TV delay adjustment option that helps offset it. Getting Perfect in every minigame is hard and usually takes several tries, which gives plenty of reason to play again.
On the negative side, the review points out that there is no full Brazilian Portuguese localization, only the eShop description and the physical cover. It also criticizes the modest graphical ambition for current hardware. The digital price is listed as R$ 219.90. Overall, it sounds like very good news for fans of music games.
Source: Showmetech
