# The 25 Best Rhythm Games of All Time

> Plastic guitars, dance mats, VR sabers and a rapping paper dog all made the cut; the argument is over which one keeps the best time.

*By YPB Team · Published November 2, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-25-best-rhythm-games-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Guitar Hero II** — score 1000/1000
   Harmonix's 2006 sequel for the PlayStation 2, published by RedOctane, played with a plastic guitar controller.
2. **Rock Band 3** — score 685/1000
   The 2010 Harmonix band game that added a keyboard and a Pro mode for real instrument technique.
3. **DJ Hero** — score 573/1000
   FreeStyleGames' 2009 game, published by Activision, played with a turntable controller over mashups of two songs.
4. **Hi-Fi Rush** — score 536/1000
   Tango Gameworks' 2023 action game in which the whole world, combat included, moves to the soundtrack's beat.
5. **Cadence of Hyrule** — score 449/1000
   A 2019 Nintendo Switch crossover by Brace Yourself Games that sets Crypt of the NecroDancer's beat-based play in the world of Zelda.
6. **Sayonara Wild Hearts** — score 449/1000
   Simogo's 2019 pop-album game, published by Annapurna Interactive, in which a heartbroken woman races and fights through neon levels.
7. **Crypt of the NecroDancer** — score 449/1000
   Brace Yourself Games' 2015 roguelike dungeon crawler in which every move and attack must land on the beat.
8. **osu!** — score 396/1000
   A free-to-play PC rhythm game created by Dean Herbert in 2007, built on community-made beatmaps.
9. **Rez** — score 396/1000
   A 2001 rail shooter for the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 from Tetsuya Mizuguchi's United Game Artists, where shots and lock-ons add to the music.
10. **Elite Beat Agents** — score 335/1000
   A 2006 Nintendo DS game by iNiS in which players tap and drag on the touch screen to cheer people through their problems.
11. **Rhythm Heaven Fever** — score 335/1000
   Nintendo's Wii collection of short rhythm minigames, released in Japan in 2011 and produced with musician Tsunku.
12. **PaRappa the Rapper** — score 335/1000
   NanaOn-Sha's 1996 PlayStation game in which a paper-thin dog raps along with his teachers, designed by Masaya Matsuura with art by Rodney Greenblat.
13. **Thumper** — score 264/1000
   Drool's 2016 self-described rhythm violence game, steering a metallic beetle down a track at high speed.
14. **Gitaroo Man** — score 264/1000
   iNiS's 2001 PlayStation 2 game, published by Koei, about a boy who battles enemies in guitar duels.
15. **Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call** — score 264/1000
   A 2014 Nintendo 3DS sequel by indieszero and Square Enix that features more than 200 songs from the Final Fantasy series.
16. **Space Channel 5** — score 264/1000
   Sega's 1999 Dreamcast game by United Game Artists, starring reporter Ulala in dance-offs against alien invaders.
17. **Child of Eden** — score 264/1000
   Q Entertainment's 2011 rail shooter, published by Ubisoft, which could be played with Kinect or PlayStation Move gestures.
18. **Beat Saber** — score 264/1000
   A virtual reality game by Beat Games in which players slice incoming blocks to the beat with two lightsaber-like blades, fully released in 2019.
19. **Vib-Ribbon** — score 264/1000
   NanaOn-Sha's 1999 PlayStation game starring a line-drawn rabbit, able to generate courses from the player's own music CDs.
20. **Patapon** — score 264/1000
   A PSP game from Japan Studio and Pyramid, first released in 2007, in which players command a tribe with drum-beat sequences.
21. **Lumines** — score 180/1000
   Q Entertainment's 2004 PSP block puzzle game in which a sweeping time line clears squares in sync with the music.
22. **Dance Dance Revolution** — score 180/1000
   Konami's 1998 arcade game played by stepping on arrow panels of a dance platform in time with the music.
23. **Taiko no Tatsujin** — score 0/1000
   Namco's drum game that began in arcades in 2001, played by hitting a taiko drum controller.
24. **Metal: Hellsinger** — score 0/1000
   The Outsiders' 2022 first-person shooter in which shooting on the beat powers up a heavy metal soundtrack.
25. **Amplitude** — score 0/1000
   Harmonix's 2003 PlayStation 2 game in which players fly along tracks and activate each instrument of a song.

Tags: music, games, all time, rhythm games