History VideoGame / RhythmThiefAndTheEmperorsTreasure

''Rhythm Thief and the Emperors Thief'' (''Rhythm Thief R: Emperor Napoleon's Legacy'' in Japan) is a rhythm game unlike any other. Released in 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS, this game by Creator/{{Sega}} [[Creator/SonicTeam CS2]] and xeen Inc essentially combines the exploration gameplay of the renowned ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' series with ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven''-esque minigames.

A rhythm game unlike any other. Released in 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS, this game by Creator/{{Sega}} and xeen Inc essentially combines the exploration gameplay of the renowned ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' series with ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven''-esque minigames.

A rhythm game unlike any other. Released in 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS, this game by Creator/SonicTeam and xeen Inc essentially combines the exploration gameplay of the renowned ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' series with ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven''-esque minigames.

A rhythm game unlike any other. Released in 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS, this game essentially combines the exploration gameplay of the renowned ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' series with ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven''-esque minigames.

* ShoutOut:
** Several levels behave similarly to Sega's previous rhythm games.
*** R23 and R28 use the same kinds of prompts from ''VideoGame/SpaceChannel5''. R23 uses the menu theme from the first game while R28's music samples from the soundtrack of ''Space Channel 5: Part 2''.
*** R13 and R29 use prompts from ''VideoGame/SambaDeAmigo''. R29 also uses music from ''Feel The Magic: XY/XX''[=/=]''Project Rub''.
** The carousel sound in Tuileries Garden is a clip of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riZHROjpfSI Merry Memory-Go-Round]]" from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'' (begins at about 1:45).

* [[spoiler:NapoleonDelusion]]: [[spoiler:The person you see for most of the game who refers to himself as Napoleon is just an impostor, though unlike most other examples of this trope, he knows he's a fake but pretends to be Napoleon because it's easier to gather minions to execute doomsday schemes this way.]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Believe it or not, Paris actually DOES have a [[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/only-cobbles-can-stop-frances-rollercops-5sb6t78m8 brigade of roller-skating police officers]]. Granted, they can't quite pursue thieves running atop buildings, but still.

* ShownTheirWork: Sega really went all out with rendering Paris, including some little details. For example, when Raphael goes to Montmartre (which is a popular place for street artists to sell portraits and caricatures), he encounters an artist who draws his portrait and a picture of Marie. However, French gamers or people well versed in French culture can find an [[CriticalResearchFailure equal number of mistakes]], such as the striking lack of non-White people among the [=NPCs=] or Raphael saying that the colours of the French flag stand for freedom, equality and brotherhood (which they don't). Not to mention Raphael's, Marie's and other main characters' names in the original Japanese version of the game are anything but French names.

* ConvenientlyEmptyBuilding: This gets taken UpToEleven. Even when Phantom R goes to world-famous Parisian landmarks like Notre Dame, Les Invalides and the Eiffel Tower ''mid-day'', absolutely no tourists or civilians are around to see him do things like find the Dragon Crown or a secret entrance into the catacombs or fight with the Chevaliers Diaboliques. [[spoiler: Even when the Eiffel Tower is struck by lightning, there is no one in there other than Phantom R.]]

* OlderThanTheyLook: Though they both look like teenagers, Raphael is eighteen and Marie is just one year younger than him. Taken UpToEleven in the flashback where [[[[spoiler:Raphael's father leaves.]] Even though the boy is around 15 or 16, he looks about 10.

A rhythm game unlike any other. It essentially combines the exploration gameplay of the renowned ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' series with ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven''-esque minigames.

* AlluminumChristmasTrees: Believe it or not, Paris actually DOES have a [[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/only-cobbles-can-stop-frances-rollercops-5sb6t78m8 brigade of roller-skating police officers]]. Granted, they can't quite pursue thieves running atop buildings, but still.

[[caption-width-right:231:The question remains at why [[PaperThinDisguise no-one can tell the difference]].]]

** The carousel sound in Tuileries Garden is a clip of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riZHROjpfSI Merry Memory-Go-Round]]" from ''[[VideoGame/NightsIntoDreams NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams]]'' (begins at about 1:45).

*** R23 and R28 use the same kinds of prompts from ''VideoGame/SpaceChannel5''. R28's music even samples from ''Space Channel 5: Part 2''.

*** The showdowns against Faux Phantom R use the same kinds of prompts from ''VideoGame/SpaceChannel5''. The second variant of the minigame samples from that game's soundtrack.
*** The samba levels use prompts from ''VideoGame/SambaDeAmigo'', and the second variant of this uses music from ''Feel The Magic: XY/XX''[=/=]''Project Rub''.

** There are rhythm games that play like Sega's past rhythm games ''VideoGame/SambaDeAmigo'' and ''VideoGame/SpaceChannel5''. One of them also uses music from ''Feel The Magic: XY/XX''[=/=]''Project Rub''.

->"It's Showtime!"
-->-- "Raphael/Phantom R"

* JerkassFacade: Raphael as Phantom R comes off as this to the police in general, but underneath he's actually a nice guy.

* UnexplainedAccent: In spite of taking place in Paris, the game features an odd amalgamation of French, American, and British accents, [[OohMeAccentsSlipping with some characters even using multiple accents in the course of one conversation.]] Averted in the French dub, [[CaptainObvious obviously]].

* BonusBoss: R46, 'Enter the Waiter', featuring Phantom R in a punch-up with a kung-fu-crazed bodyguard. Oh, and [[ThatOneLevel it uses the tilt controls]].

* AnachronismStew: At first, the plot seems to just be about stopping Napoleon, who seems to have been [[UnexplainedRecovery brought back to life]], from taking over France. Then [[spoiler:Napoleon retrieves an ancient treasure from under Paris. Which turns out to be the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Which is a flying stone spaceship ''with a nuclear reactor in the center''.]]
** Also, the story is supposed to take place in the present day, but several NPC characters have very outdated names such as Urbain or Auban.

* BookcasePassage: In [[spoiler: Raphael's apartment.]]

* BottomlessMagazines: In R35, Inspector Vergier never reloads. Ever.

* CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: It's a rhythm game, so naturally this pops up; [[spoiler:Phantom R channels the energy of everyone in Paris who desires the Hanging Gardens to stop]].
* ClimaxBoss: R31, 'Gone With the Wind'. It's also one of the few rhythm games that doesn't have a harder variant with the same mechanics later on.
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: The chevalier fights, where Phantom R and [[spoiler:Vergier]] mow down tens of them per minigame. [[spoiler:The true Chevaliers force Phantom R to [[EnemyMine team up with Charlie and Vergier]], but still go down with one hit each.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: Implied with [[spoiler:"Napoleon's"]] death after his second defeat by Phantom R. With the [[spoiler:Hanging Gardens]] crumbling, he steps back off the edge and falls, smiling.
* DubNameChange: Ralph becomes Raphael, Maria becomes Marie, Claude becomes Charlie, Bodouin becomes Vergier, Heinrich becomes Jean-François, Rowan becomes Alfred, [[spoiler:Darius becomes Isaac]]... Yes, that's pretty much the whole cast.
** {{Justified}} for Ralph, Maria and Heinrich as [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign their names didn't fit with the French setting.]] Unexplicable for Claude whose French name was changed for an Anglo-Saxon one. Most likely, this is because [[spoiler:Charlie is a unisex name and Claude is not, [[TomboyishName although females named Charlie are rare, even as a nickname.]]]]
* TheDulcineaEffect Marie seems to have this on Raphael.
* EiffelTowerEffect: Literally; the Eiffel Tower features prominently in the cover of the game, and is viewable in the majority of shots of the Paris skyline in-game.

* ImprobableWeaponUser: Charlie and soccer balls.

** Also "Moon Princess," which doubles as a ChekhovsGun.

* LuminescentBlush: A couple of time. Once on Marie when she is complimented by Raphael at the ballroom.
* MagicMusic: [[spoiler:Marie's violin.]]

* OlderThanTheyLook: Raphael is eighteen, Marie is 17.
** Raphael looks like he could be in his late teens, but [[spoiler: in the flashback where his father leaves, even though he's around 15 or 16, he looks about 10.]]

* PaperThinDisguise: Raphael's "Phantom R" disguise is just a suit and a lack of glasses. Even people who actually know Raphael and see Phantom R don't seem to put the pieces together.
** [[spoiler:Though it's hinted that a few people ''do'' see it. They just don't call attention to it.]]
* PlotCoupon: The bracelet of Tiamat.
** PlotCouponThatDoesSomething: At the end of the game, Raphael [[spoiler:harnesses the city's energy with the bracelet and destroys the reactor of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in a large beam of light.]]

* PublicDomainSoundtrack[=/=]RockMeAmadeus: Quite a few of the songs are actually pieces of classical music. Some of them, such as "En Garde, [[spoiler:Jean-François]]," are remixed to modern instrumentation.

* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler:Charlie isn't Inspector Vergier's son. Rather, Charlie is Inspector Vergier's ''daughter''.]]

* SequelHook: [[spoiler:The deal with Raphael's dad remains a mystery and he is ready to move on to the next stage of the plan with the real Napoleon.]] Which makes it a shame that Sega are ''only'' making games for their top four franchises as of March 2012.

* ShoutOut: There are rhythm games that play like Sega's past rhythm games ''VideoGame/SambaDeAmigo'' and ''VideoGame/SpaceChannel5''. One of them also uses music from ''Feel The Magic: XY/XX''[=/=]''Project Rub''.

* ShownTheirWork: Sega really went all out with rendering Paris, including some little details. For example, when Raphael goes to Montmartre (which is a popular place for street artists to sell portraits and caricatures), he encounters an artist who draws his portrait and a picture of Marie.
** CriticalResearchFailure: However, French gamers or people well versed in French culture can find an equal number of mistakes, such as the striking lack of non-White people among the [=NPCs=] or Raphael saying that the colours of the French flag stand for freedom, equality and brotherhood (which they don't). Not to mention Raphael's, Marie's and other main characters' names in the original Japanese version of the game are anything but French names.

* AmbidextrousSprite: Averted! It's most noticeable with Fondue, who has a ring around one eye.

* {{Leitmotif}}: Phantom R's theme is used constantly throughout the game. But don't worry. It's catchy.

* LostForever: Thankfully averted. If you miss parts of the Phantom Notes in places you only visit once, the missing pieces will turn up in Auban's shop.

* UnexplainedAccent: In spite of taking place in Paris, the game features an odd amalgamation of French, American, and British accents, [[OohMeAccentsSlipping with some characters even using multiple accents in the course of one conversation.]]
** Averted in the French dub, [[CaptainObvious obviously]].
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Graf's breakdown after you defeat him.]]
* JustForFun/XMeetsY: [[VideoGame/ProfessorLayton Professor Layton's]] point and click-based exploration meets [[VideoGame/RhythmHeaven Rhythm Heaven-style]] minigames.

* AmbidextrousSprite: Averted! It's most notable with Fondue, who has a ring around one eye.