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Hello Kitty and Friends Happiness Parade is dancing its way into homes through the Nintendo Switch with this new rhythm game led by Sanrio characters. It is a very cheerful and upbeat endless runner experience from publisher Rogue Games, Inc. and developer Dabadu Games. The music for Hello Kitty and Friends Happiness Parade is incredibly catchy and gets players up on their feet while the cheerful artistry and bright colors truly do fulfill Hello Kitty’s mission to spread joy. There are 23 different levels with over 40 foot-tapping songs that fill this game, as well as fun extras such as cute outfits, challenges for extra rewards, and more.
Though the story feels a bit of an afterthought, a game like this doesn’t really need too much of an involved story in order to have fun dancing along to the rhythm of the music. In Hello Kitty and Friends Happiness Parade, Hello Kitty and ten of her friends are going on a music parade tour to spread happiness to the world. Meanwhile, the evil Kuromi is out to stop the cheer by placing traps and sending goons out to prevent Hello Kitty and her friends from continuing to dance.
Dancing Mechanics Of Hello Kitty And Friends Happiness Parade
Joy-Con Twirling Dance Steps
Originally, Hello Kitty and Friends Happiness Parade was a mobile game for Netflix subscribers, although this new edition has been redesigned for the Nintendo Switch with three new levels and 20 new songs exclusive to this system. When it was originally being played on mobile devices, the rhythm mechanics were managed through players tapping on parts of the screen at the correct time. Now that the game is being brought to the Nintendo Switch, the motion capture abilities of the Switch’s joy-cons are utilized instead to help get players more active and dancing to the beat of the music.
Using the joy-cons for motion sensing, or pushing buttons, players attempt to react in time to the rhythm game while directing Hello Kitty and ten of her friends through an endless runner experience along a parade route. While dancing to the beat, they have to avoid traps placed by Kuromi and can even strike a perfect pose for mid-parade photoshoots. As characters hit traps, their health is decreased and there aren’t many ways to heal along the route. When the health bar runs out, it’s back to the very beginning, with no save spots partially through a level.
The concept of motion capture is wonderful, although the execution is not perfect. While it works great for the standard steps, through several plays with multiple controllers, joy-cons occasionally struggled to recognize moving left and right by waving the hands as indicated or physically moving left or right. Missed motion sensing left Hello Kitty and her friends running head-first into Kuromi’s traps, however, which ended levels early even when using the very helpful Pompompurin’s shield.
The Variety Of Music Is Perfectly Catchy
A Unique Soundtrack
The music is by far one of the best parts of the entire Hello Kitty and Friends Happiness Parade game. Players will find themselves having the tunes stuck in their heads for days after playing the game, and the beat of each song is incredibly catchy to keep everyone wanting to take a turn dancing along. The soundtrack to the game is fully licensed and uses a mixture of J-pop, disco, electronic, and many more extremely catchy tunes that are not commonly heard, at least in the midwestern United States.
As players dance their way through Hello Kitty and Friends Happiness Parade levels and special challenges, they accumulate coins that can be used to purchase fun in-game clothing options to dress up their characters. Adorable hats and sunglasses not only add to the fun, but during the levels there are mid-parade photoshoots that act somewhat as a minigame and these cosmetic items can make the photoshoot experience a true diva-like change of pace that can make players and onlookers laugh out loud.
The Verdict: Hello Kitty’s Rhythm Game Is A Fun Experience For All
Four Stars
This dancing rhythmic runner game is made for all ages and truly can be a fun experience for any age. There are a lot of flashing lights which could be disruptive for someone with sensory needs, or even cause headaches for anyone playing, but those can easily be disabled in the game settings. The music, artwork, and cheerful feeling of the game as a whole are incredibly addictive and fun, as long as nobody expects an in-depth story or even a logical explanation for why Hello Kitty is twice the size of the humans along the parade route.
Hello Kitty and Friends Happiness Parade was released for the Nintendo Switch on October 26, 2023. Screen Rant was provided with a Nintendo Switch digital download code for the purpose of this review.
