Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure

SEGA has crafted a wonderful first attempt at the rhythm genre on Nintendo 3DS with Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure by mixing up the standard fare totally, slotting in all sorts of fantastic and addictive mini-games, a wealth of gorgeous presentation, and some absolutely amazing, toe-tapping tunes, plus a heap of impressive voice acting.

A brilliant adventure whose shortness is its only drawback. Well worth a look.

The variety in the minigames mixed with the exceptional soundtrack make for a delightful combination.

Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure is about as connected an experience as you'll find in the genre. The characters are cool, the narrative interesting, and the gameplay (mostly) very enjoyable.

Ryhthm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure is more than it appears to be. It is not just another music and rhythm game, but an engaging title that will make us play for hours. The story it offers is a right decision, as it invites us to keep playing and advance to unlock more songs.

It may be a little too easy, but nonetheless this is a lot of fun. Rhythm Thief is the best game of its kind since Elite Beat Agents.

Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure is certainly for the fans of Professor Layton. Even if the puzzles are of course not as widespread as they are in the big model.

You don't control a thief that fights Napoleon with dance and music every day.

Though I spent more time on the map screen than I would have liked, the world of Rhythm Thief is so beautiful and lively that I was, in general, just happy to be inhabiting it, and delighted to play out some absurd scenarios in clever musical vignettes. It's not a flawless experience, but it is a joyful one.

One can complain that Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure isn't all that new, but it often takes the portable puzzle-adventure genre to new heights via an abundance of addictive minigames.

The gameplay itself is pretty standard genre fare, consisting primarily of button taps and touch-screen swipes. But the way it's packaged makes a big difference. [July 2012, p.86]

There's perhaps a little too much repetition of particular rhythm tasks --and some are certainly more successful than others-- but Rhythm Thief is a joy from start to finish. And with a huge amount of collectibles and post game content, provides a package that should form part of any 3DS owners library.

One could have feared it would be a dull copy of Layton, but fear not: Rythm Thief is a nice, fresh, rythm game mixed with puzzle elements. The atmosphere of the japanese-dreamt Paris works well, and even though it's a little short, the adventure is indeed very nice.

It is an interesting experiment, if not without issues. It's basically a Professor Layton clone with rhythm-games instead of puzzles, and yet it doesn't balance as much as well mini-games and storytelling. While not flawless, it's still a reccomended purchase to both fans of the genre and the Professor Layton franchise.

Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure is an enchanting rhythm adventure that really brings the funk.

One of the best rythm game ever created on Nintendo 3DS.

Fun and enjoyable with some catchy songs, it's just a shame some of the window dressing let's it down.

The Emperor's Treasure doesn't just have rhythm: it also has soul.

A title overflowing with charm and verve, with a style that can entertain children and adults alike. It has a couple of missteps, the biggest of which is the occasional use of gyroscope controls, while simple puzzles and missing object searches don't quite match the title's overall quality.

Professor Layton may offer a more cerebral challenge but Rhythm Thief has more than enough charm and imagination to waltz its way into your affections.

It's a game with a song in its heart and romance in its soul, a sweet-natured slice of old-fashioned escapism underpinned by taut and satisfying rhythm-action systems. If a hopeful tilt at a sequel in its closing moments seems rather naively optimistic, you can hardly blame SEGA for dreaming.

The start of something magical, Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure will no doubt blossom into the next Professor Layton or Phoenix Wright for 3DS.

Keeping the rhythm is hilarious in 3DS. The Emperor's Treasure knows catch with minigames but it is a little boring on the predictable story, and excessive dialogue. Good music and beautiful Paris. A great idea.

A good game with over fifty unique music minigames and a simple but entertaining story to tell. An excellent rhythm game for 3DS.

The constant shift in direction will leave you confused. But there are genuine pockets of excitement amongst the humdrum. [Apr 2012, p.92]

The opening scene of Rhythm Thief professes, "Imagination rules the world," and what it delivers follows suit. For its minor slip-ups, the game still innovates in the rhythm genre by offering a real story. If anything, the final product proves that extra creativity can make a difference, but it needs to be spread through all aspects of a game to make it a top contender.

Rhythm Thief's collection of musical minigames is one of the best in recent memory, but the game's bogged down by dull adventure segments and a broken rating system.

SEGA reinvents the music adventure game by giving us a strong story and a very pleasant background which is Paris under the lights. A really a nice mixture of Rhythm Paradise, Elite Beat Agent and Samba de Amigo.

A brilliant idea and a nice structure, but the concept of the musical mini games is often too simple and recycled.

By the end of the game, I truly felt attached to the characters and was excited to see what would happen next.

Mixes Dance Dance Revolution, a ressurected Napoleon Bonaparte and parisian tourist information in a way that sounds absurd, but actually works very well. The game is visually beautiful, and the varied rhythm-based minigames utilizes everything the 3DS has to offer. However, you will have a hard time beating this game if you can't keep a beat.

Catchy mix of music and rhythm game with adventures elements with a specific main hero brings lots of entertainment with very few frustrating moments. [May 2012]

A point and klick adventure, spiced with rythm mini games. It's not perfect, but it is one of the best of its kind on the 3DS.

Rhythm kings who know their timings should give this a try, but everyone else should step cautiously.

Rhythm Thief is a nice rhythm game. Especially the anime-ish style and variation in rhythm driven mini games worked out well. The lame puzzles and slow pace of the adventures themselves however, make Rhythm Thief miss the allure of other games like Elite Beat agents, Professor Layton or Rhythm Heaven.

Rhythm Thief is, in spite of its flaws, one of the best titles this spring for the Nintendo 3DS. SEGA brings us a musical adventure with splendid characters, a nicely written script, a traditional soundtrack and a nice mixture of Elite Beat Agent, Professor Layton and Samba the Amigo.

Rhythm Thief is a very good game with over fifty unique music minigame and a good simple story to tell. Sometimes it can be a little slow paced, with long exploration phases instead of just having the player in front of waves of new challenges, but it is still a funny and fresh experience.

A spellbinding journey with catchy tunes, beautiful visuals and enough rhythm set-pieces to strike a chord while we twiddle our thumbs and wait for the next Layton and Phoenix Wright games. It hits a few bum notes along the way, but this performance is worth a round of applause.

While I had a good experience with Rhythm Thief, it is not a fantastic game. With the lavish presentation, the intriguing story, and the assortment of collectibles, it is so disheartening to see gameplay that ranges from "kind of okay" to "pretty broken." And though I recommend that everyone experiences Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure, the whole package is disappointing and not worth rushing out to get.

Fun rhythm mini-games, but it can't match up against the various games it emulates. [July 2012, p.70]

Having to struggle through the campaign in order to have fun with a game is not my cup of tea. In fact, I wish I could have just bought the game second-hand and started chasing points right away.

Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure features some excellent rhythm action gameplay, a well-executed narrative and an interesting array of colourful characters. While there are some pacing issues, particularly during exploration, and the odd mini-game that isn't quite up to scratch, this is largely a very successful marriage of music and adventure. If they ever made Professor Layton: The Musical, Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure is what you'd be left with, a charming game perfectly suited to the portable.

Perhaps if there was something more interactive about the exploratory portion of Rhythm Thief, the low frequency of rhythm-action action wouldn't be so galling, but plodding through the streets of Paris, no matter how amusing the dialogue of its citizens, feels like a cheap way of stretching out the game length. Which was actually an unnecessary trick if you ask us.