Rhythm Heaven Groove brings a cult classic series to Switch next year

By Jesse Lennox Published March 27, 2025

A brand new entry in the Rhythm Heaven series was announced during the March Nintendo Direct. Rhythm Heaven Groove is currently slated to arrive sometime in 2026.

The trailer for Rhythm Heaven Groove came late in the Nintendo Direct presentation and featured a set of charming characters walking along a path with basic instructions on how the game works. It shows off a little character jumping through hoops in time to the music to score points. The narrator hints that there will be more activities that you will do beyond jumping through hoops, but everything will revolve around pressing buttons on the beat. For example, we see glimpses of jumping cat dolls, birds flying, and a man using a giant hammer to flatten cans. Unfortunately for those who have been eagerly awaiting a new entry in the series, the wait will be a long one. This upcoming Switch game won’t arrive until 2026.

Like previous games in the series, Rhythm Heaven Groove will feature plenty of original music tracks from renowned musician Tsunuku.

The first Rhythm Heaven released on the Game Boy Advance, with the second coming on the DS in 2009. Both were rhythm games where players would play through a host of levels featuring different scenarios that involved pressing buttons or touching the screen to the beat. After over 10 years since the last game, this was a shocking reveal despite the game not arriving until next year.

With the Switch 2 on the way and backwards compatibility already confirmed for most Switch games, odds are you can look forward to playing this on your Switch 2 in addition to your Switch.