"The captain might seem a little intense. He'll get mad if you mess up, but just let it roll off you like water off a duck's back."
— Blue Birds Description (Rhythm Heaven)
"The captain might seem a little intense. He'll get mad if you mess up, but just let it roll like water off a duck's back."
— Blue Birds Description (Rhythm Heaven Megamix)
Blue Birds (ブルーバーズ buru bazu) is the 8th rhythm game in Rhythm Heaven and the 24th minigame in Rhythm Heaven Megamix. In this game, you control a member of the Blue Birds, following orders from Captain Blue Bird, a duck. There is also a sequel for this game called Blue Birds 2.
The objective of this game is to be in sync with the other two birds when the Captain says "peck your beak" or "stretch out your neck!" Tap the stylus to make the right blue bird peck his beak to the ground together with the other two blue birds. Hold the stylus to make him hold his beak to the ground, and then release the stylus to stretch up his neck along with the other two. During the middle and near the end of the song, flashbacks can be seen above the blue birds, showing the three members undergoing training, among other things.
Hit: The Captain looks pleased. On the neck stretches, the Captain will blush.
Barely: The blue bird stretches his neck too early or late and he will be upset. A "doink" sound can be heard when you peak a beak too early. A barely counts as a miss.
At the very end of the minigame time, you have to hold A after the Captain Duck says "stretch out your neck!" and release A at the right moment to collect the star.
If you miss the last three cues of "Stretch out your neck!", you will get a Try Again result.
This game in Megamix has "The End" instead of "To be continued..."at the end of the minigame because the sequel does not appear in Rhythm Heaven Megamix.
Ironically in Samurai Slice, it still says "To be continued..." despite its sequel not appearing either.
Blue Birds is one of the only two games whose songs are imported to Super Smash Bros. For Nintendo 3DS/Wii U in the Miiverse stage, the other being Monkey Watch from Rhythm Heaven Fever.
The miss animation when the Blue Bird stretches his neck too late or early was redrawn for the international versions for unknown reasons. All versions of Rhythm Heaven Megamix use the original Japanese graphic here.