Bits & Bops Review: The Rhythm Heaven Successor We've Been Waiting For (Just Way Shorter)
Bits & Bops absolutely nails the Rhythm Heaven formula with gorgeous hand-drawn animation and catchy music, but it ends right when you're expecting things to really begin.
I need to start with this: Bits & Bops made me smile constantly for two hours straight, and then it ended. Not "ended the first chapter" or "ended the tutorial section." The entire game concluded after I cleared the final mixtape, leaving me staring at credits thinking "wait, that's it?" This is simultaneously a fantastic rhythm game that captures everything great about Rhythm Heaven and a frustratingly short experience that feels like it could have been twice as long without anyone complaining.
Bits & Bops is a collection of 16 rhythm minigames plus 5 mixtapes (remixes combining previous games) created by Tempo Lab Games as a spiritual successor to Nintendo's dormant Rhythm Heaven series. Each minigame uses one or two buttons max, relies heavily on audio cues over visual timing, and features hand-drawn animation with original music. The presentation is phenomenal, the technical execution is flawless, and the gameplay absolutely captures that same "just one more try" addictive quality that made Rhythm Heaven so beloved. It's also beatable in roughly 90 minutes to two hours depending on how quickly you grasp patterns.
This review comes from someone who's played every Rhythm Heaven release and has been desperately waiting for Nintendo to acknowledge the series exists. Bits & Bops is the closest thing we've gotten to a proper successor (Rhythm Heaven Groove was announced but hasn't released yet), and it succeeds at replicating the core experience while adding its own personality. But the content quantity versus price creates a tension that's impossible to ignore.
What Bits & Bops Gets Absolutely Right
The hand-drawn animation is stunning. Every minigame features unique art styles ranging from TV cartoon aesthetics to storybook sketches to instruction manual schematics. The visual variety alone gives each game distinct personality, but the animation quality takes it further with smooth movement, comedic timing, and gorgeous frame-by-frame work that feels handcrafted rather than procedurally generated.
Characters have genuine charm and personality despite appearing for maybe two minutes each. The seal photographer juggling beach balls, the robot dancer with backup performers, the luminescent caterpillars (Flow Worms) that are objectively the cutest goddamn things ever put in a rhythm game. Each minigame tells a tiny story through animation and music, creating memorable moments that stick with you despite their brevity.
The music is genuinely catchy and well-composed. These aren't throwaway backing tracks. The Ocean Mixtape in particular is transcendental, combining four previous minigames into a cohesive musical experience that builds and evolves. The Jungle Mixtape slaps. Individual minigame tracks like the bird conversation game or the tea party octopus have melodies I've been humming days later. Tempo Lab Games clearly understands that rhythm games live or die on their music, and they delivered.
Technical Execution Is Flawless
The game runs on a custom engine specifically designed for lightning-fast response times. You can configure audio buffers, choose audio thread timing methods, enable WASAPI or ASIO support, and adjust latency to absurd precision. This level of technical dedication to making inputs feel responsive is rare and genuinely makes the game feel better to play. Your button presses register instantly with zero perceptible lag.
The gameplay nails Rhythm Heaven's core philosophy. Simple controls, audio-focused timing, visual gags that don't distract from rhythm cues, and that satisfying feedback loop when you finally nail a tricky pattern. The game teaches you to trust your ears over your eyes, and most minigames follow through on that promise. Sound cues are distinct and well-designed, making it possible (though challenging) to play many games with eyes closed once you've learned patterns.
Perfect attempts are immediately available rather than randomly unlocked like Rhythm Heaven's perfect challenges. This is a massive quality-of-life improvement. If you want to go for a perfect run, you can attempt it immediately after your first clear instead of waiting for the game to randomly decide you're allowed to try.
Where It Falls Short (Mostly Content Length)
The game is brutally short. 16 minigames plus 5 mixtapes means you're looking at roughly 90 minutes to two hours for a full clear on first attempt. Even accounting for going back for perfect scores and playing the four endless multiplayer games, you're probably done seeing everything within 3-4 hours maximum. For the $15 price point, this feels thin compared to Rhythm Heaven games that typically offer 30-50+ minigames.
Some minigames feel rushed or less polished than others. The demo showcased some of the best games, and while the full release maintains that quality in spots, other minigames feel noticeably less detailed. Visual backgrounds in some games feel static compared to the lively animation elsewhere. A few minigames lack the same punch and comedic timing that makes the standouts so memorable.
Musical guidance varies wildly between minigames. Some games perfectly sync rhythm inputs with obvious musical cues. Others have you counting beats or relying on memorization because the music doesn't clearly telegraph when to press buttons. This creates uneven difficulty where some games feel intuitive while others feel like you're fighting against the track. For a game that emphasizes "trust your ears," having music that doesn't clearly guide timing feels like a fundamental disconnect.
Familiar Concepts And Quiet Cues
Several minigames are extremely similar to specific Rhythm Heaven games. The ants marching game is basically Flock Step with ants instead of birds. The miner moles on a cart is See-Saw with different visuals. The coin-tossing monkey feels like Working Dough with money instead of dough. These aren't bad games, they're fun and well-executed, but they feel more like fan game reinterpretations than wholly original concepts. I wanted more games that felt 100% unique like the bird conversation or octopus tea party.
Audio cues are sometimes too quiet or get drowned out by music. Rhythm Heaven games have extremely distinct sound effects that cut through music clearly. Bits & Bops occasionally has cues that blend into the backing track, making them harder to parse. This is particularly noticeable in busier minigames with lots of visual and audio elements competing for attention.
The endless multiplayer games are cute but feel gimmicky. There are four endless games supporting up to four players, which is a novel idea, but they're clearly side content rather than main attractions. Two are proper endless games, two are more like rhythm toys. They're fun for a few minutes but lack depth for sustained play.
No sequel minigames or difficulty ramps. Rhythm Heaven games typically feature "2" versions of minigames with increased difficulty and new wrinkles on established mechanics. Bits & Bops ends right when you'd expect those to unlock. The robot dance game in particular feels like it desperately needs a harder sequel version. The lack of escalation makes the ending feel abrupt.
The Content Problem Everyone's Talking About
Now we sadly have to talk about the biggest downside of this game; the lenght.
I cleared every minigame and all five mixtapes in roughly 90 minutes on first attempt. Going back for perfect scores added maybe another hour. The four endless games provided maybe 20 minutes of entertainment. Total playtime to see everything: under three hours.
For context, the Wii Rhythm Heaven (Rhythm Heaven Fever) had roughly 50 minigames plus remixes. The 3DS Rhythm Heaven Megamix had over 70 games combining new content with remasters. Bits & Bops has 16 core games. Even accounting for the lower $15 price point (compared to $30-40 for Nintendo's titles), the content ratio feels off. It's roughly one-third the content for half the price, which mathematically works but emotionally feels insufficient.
The game ends right when it should be ramping up. You clear the final mixtape expecting a post-game world to open with harder remixes, sequel minigames, or bonus challenges. Instead you get credits and a pat on the back. It creates a "wait, that's it?" feeling that undermines the otherwise excellent experience. I wanted more not because what's there is bad, but because what's there is so good that ending abruptly feels like being cut off mid-conversation.
This genuinely feels like a phenomenal demo for a full game that doesn't exist yet. The quality is there, the foundation is solid, the artistic vision is clear. It just needs more. Another 10-15 minigames, sequel versions of existing games, harder post-game challenges, literally anything to extend the experience beyond two hours.
What Works Despite the Length
The perfect score replay system is broken (videos are out of sync), but I expect this to get patched. It's a cool idea in theory, letting you watch your perfect runs back.
The lounge hub area is interactive and charming. You access the Discord through an in-game computer, manually stop the record player before swapping songs, and interact with objects scattered around. These little touches add personality without padding runtime.
The game corner minigames being required for progression is weird but ultimately harmless. You only need to try them once each to unlock the next tier of content. They're cute diversions even if they're not the main attraction.
The difficulty is more forgiving than Rhythm Heaven's harder entries. This makes Bits & Bops more accessible to rhythm game newcomers but might disappoint veterans looking for serious challenges. The balance feels intentional rather than accidental, prioritizing fun over frustration.
Technical Excellence Deserves Recognition
The custom engine work is genuinely impressive. WASAPI and ASIO support, configurable audio buffers, custom audio thread timing, all designed to minimize input latency as much as physically possible. This level of technical dedication to responsiveness is rare even in AAA rhythm games. Your clicks show up instantly, and that matters way more than people realize for rhythm game feel.
The game runs flawlessly on Steam Deck with only minor menu freezes. Gameplay itself is perfectly smooth. For a rhythm game where frame drops would be disastrous, the optimization work is commendable.
The Verdict
Bits & Bops is a love letter to Rhythm Heaven that captures the magic of Nintendo's series with gorgeous animation, catchy music, and satisfying gameplay. The technical execution is flawless, the artistic vision is clear, and the charm is undeniable. It's also frustratingly short, ending right when you expect the real game to begin.
This feels like a 9/10 experience trapped in a 6/10 package size. What's here is phenomenal. There just needs to be more of it. I want sequel minigames, I want harder post-game challenges, I want literally any reason to keep playing beyond going for perfect scores on existing content.
If you loved Rhythm Heaven and have been waiting years for anything resembling a successor, buy this immediately. You'll have a great time for two hours and wish it lasted longer. If you're on the fence or prioritize content quantity over quality, wait for a sale or potential DLC announcements.
Bits & Bops proves that Tempo Lab Games understands what makes Rhythm Heaven special and can execute on that vision with their own personality and style. Now they just need to make more of it.
Score: 7.5/10 - A brilliant Rhythm Heaven homage that's over way too soon.
We at NLM received a key for this game for free, this however didn't impact our review in any way.