It’s always great to see Nintendo take a chance on translating and localizing established series, which is why it was both a shock and pleasure to hear the company was releasing Rhythm Heaven, also known as Rhythm Tengoku Gold, outside of Japan. Quirky games have found great success on the DS, and it is likely that Nintendo is looking to tap into the casual audience with the game.

Rhythm Heaven is a series of around 50 music-based mini-games. You unlock them one at a time, tapping and flicking along to the music and audio clues. In this combination music/casual game, players will have to be a cheerleader, work in a factory, bang a drum, do a lizard mating dance and more. All this is done to incredibly catchy original songs…

I bet all those North Americans who preordered Rhythm Tengoku Gold at Play-Asia or a similar site feel sorry now – Nintendo announced at E3 2008 that the music game similar to WarioWare will be released in North America as Rhythm Heaven. Like its GBA predecessor Rhythm Tengoku (which was never released stateside), Rhythm Heaven involves going through assorted mini-games, tapping their stylus or finger on the touch screen to the beat.

The fun part about Rhythm Heaven is that you won’t be prompted to tap by some flashing icon on the screen. Instead you have to pay attention to the music, created by Tsunku, and keep up the beat on the touch screen.