It began as an idea created by its composer and supervisor Tsunku, who proposed it to Nintendo due to his belief that they could do a better job with it than he could.

The sixth, seventh and eighth sets consist of stages that were based on previous games, but are much harder.

Players who achieve Superb receive a medal which can be used to unlock Endless Games, Rhythm Toys, and Drum Lessons.

On some occasions, players are allowed to attempt a Perfect Campaign of a randomly selected stage.

Players who succeed receive an in-game certificate as well as a gift (varying on the rhythm game).

The Arcade version has a leaderboard feature, which tallies up the score based on the player's Flow at the end of a stage.

The Drum Lessons and Concert Hall modes are directly derived from this original concept for the final game, four years later.

[4] Osawa was wary that people would enjoy it due to its lack of a music score as he felt that it might only appeal to a niche audience.

It was decided to be released on the GBA due to Osawa's desire for a smaller screen and portability.

[5] One stage that made an impression was Rhythm Tweezers, a level that featured an onion with a face from which players pluck its hair.

Osawa brought this offer to the attention of Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and others who approved of the idea.

[5] The game received an Excellence Prize for Entertainment at the 10th annual Japan Media Arts Festival in 2006.

[13] GamesRadar staff included the game's drum lessons in its list of the "20 Magical Nintendo moments".

[15] Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft called it "one of the Game Boy Advance's most interesting (and enjoyable) titles".

[17] CVG's Andy Kelly included the Bon Odori song in his list of the 100 best video game themes ever.

[18] 1UP.com's Bob Mackey called its lack of an American release "one of the great Game Boy Advance injustices of 2006".

[19] Wired's Chris Kohler noted that Rhythm Tengoku (as well as other games) should be released on the Virtual Console or WiiWare services, but it was not.

Rhythm Heaven Fever, released for the Wii in 2011 in Japan and 2012 in the West, features four minigames from Tengoku as bonus games unlocked by getting a certain amount of medals.

Rhythm Tengoku and its sequels were the source of inspiration for independent video games such as Beat Sneak Bandit and Karateka Mania.

[22] In April 2010, THQ released a game heavily inspired by Rhythm Tengoku called Beat City.