Taiko: Drum Master

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"Taiko: Drum Master" (English title), also known as "Taiko no Tatsujin" (太鼓の達人;　"Taiko Master") is a drumming game for the Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 2 based on the popular Japanese arcade game. A drum simulating the taiko is played in time with music. It is made by Namco. The home version can be played with a TaTaCon, a special controller which looks like the face of a Taiko drum. Players control one of the two main characters - WadaDon, a red-faced and blue body taiko, and WadaKatsu, a blue-faced and red body taiko.

Graphics

The graphics are 2-D, with cartoon-like feel. Cut scenes show the adventures of the animated taikos and their friends.

Characters

WadaDon

WadaDon is the main protagonist of the series. His dream is to share the beauty of Taiko with the world. Three years have passed since he moved into the Wada House, and he's become quite popular around town. He has a monstrous appetite and sometimes has expensive shopping at the Wada House which may take over for the worst.

WadaKatsu

WadaKatsu is WadaDon's twin brother. He is every bit as rambunctious as his brother. Three years have passed since he moved into the Wada House. He only recently realized he's not the main character. He also eats like a hog, but he sometimes has a tendency to hold back more than his brother.

Tamashi

These are the very souls of Taiko. Upon entering two flawlessly designed Taiko drums, the Tamashi gave life to Don and Katsu. Without the Tamashi, Don and Katsu would be mere drums. various types of Tamashi exist. When Don and Katsu make a mistake in Taiko Mode, they exhale "Dispirited" Tamashis.

Master Bachio

Master Bachio is a drumstick shaped-character who is two, yet one. He teaches how to play the Taiko in the "Tutorial" mode, and prides himself on his grace and agility. He is actually quite big in the world of water treading.

Inu

The Wada household's kind and courteous dog. He loves to wear a hood. Inu risks his life performing death-defying balancing acts in the Reach the Helicopter! mini game. He usually appears in most releases.

John

Inu's younger brother, John is a festival dancer. He does what motivates him precisely to perform the stunts he does in the "Reach the Helicopter!".

Tetsuo

The youngest son in the Wada household. At six years of age, he's already too much for anyone to handle. He attends a Taiko class, but often skips it to go to festivals. In the "Watermelon Eating Contest!" mini game, it almost seems he enjoys hitting the main characters.

Granpa

The 75-year old grandfather of the Wada household. Retired from work, he spends most of his time looking after his grandson Tetsuo. He asked Unagi to take everyone to the beach so he could recover from back pains.

Hana

Hana lives next door to the Wada House. She is one year older than Tetsuo, and acts like his older sister. She became friends with the Wada family when they were talking about Ms. Mariko and Katsu at the beach.

Mimizu

Mimizu is WadaDon's pet worm. She sleeps in a flowerpot and does not have a tongue so she doesn't speak, but expresses her feelings with body language. She is an excellent advisor when it comes to romance. This veritable doctor of love single-handedly manages all of Donko and Ms. Mariko's relationship troubles.

Neko and Shaxy

Neko and Shaxy are like two peas in a pod. They're inseparable and share everything 50-50. Neko doesn't like to swim, so they always stay at the beach hut.

Neko

The pet cat of Hana. She lives next door to the Wada House.

Shaxy

Hailing from Miyajima, this ladle was given to Hana as a souvenir. The Japanese characters for "Victory" are written on the back.

Unagi

This mysterious creature has a lantern on his head. He travels throughout the country, running a stand at various festivals across the land. He puts on a beautiful fireworks performance in the Fireworks Festival! mini game. A very dependable figure, Unagi takes everyone to the beach.

Donko (or Donko-chan)

The lovely maiden was brought to life at the same Taiko factory Don & Katsu came from, and later followed them into Tokyo. She took too long getting ready for this game, so she wasn't included. Too bad.

Kame

This turtle can be spotted a mile away by the apron he wears. He helps out in the mini game, "Fireworks Festival!" Kame greatly admires Unagi, who he calls "Bass". Some players think they mean "Boss" due to wrong spelling.

Kabuki Kids

These kids wear a fox, man, and woman mask, but they're really three teddy bears. They are very shy, these dancers never remove their masks. They recently decided to attempt more aggressive dances.

Ika

Ever since seeing how scrumptious the Takoyaki looked, these silly squid began worrying if they'll look just as appetizing as calamari. Skilled swimmers, the Ika have labeled themselves "Children of the Sea."

Dancing Lion

Chomping his teeth as he moves, the Dancing Lion performs hypnotic dances to the music. No one knows what sort of creature lies underneath the costume. A rival of the Kabuki Kids, the Dancing Lion in continuously striving to improve his dances.

Namahage

Although he has an intimidating appearance, Namahage is actually a good person at heart. No one knoes what sort of creature lies underneath the costume. It's also unclear exactly how good a person he is too...

SuzuDon

These bells chime off prayers of thank's at shrines. They've been a part of Unagi's family for as long as they can remember.

Takoyaki

There are basically 10 brothers from Osaka. They apparently enjoy being pricked with toothpicks. Rumor has it there were originally 11, but that's never been verified.

The 4 festival chicks

Unagi has a constant phrase that he hollers, "Don't dirty your colors!" but he takes good care of them. The chicks colors are green, blue, pink, and yellow.

Goldfish

These goldfish are from a goldfish-scooping game stall. They swim around excitedly even after being scooped up. All of them are exstatic over their spot in the limelight this season.

Lanterns

These lanterns light up the streets and booths at festivals. Their faces may not show any emotions, but these lanterns are very diligent workers. Unagi constantly says, "It isn't enough just to provide light!" but takes good care of them as well.

Ms. Mariko

A colored water balloon. Her tear-filled smile is adorable. She became friends with Hana at the beach. She has a crush on WadaKatsu.

Gameplay

Symbols moving horizontally along a timeline show what to hit and when. Home versions distinguish single and double strikes, arcade versions hard and soft strikes.

Successful play builds up a life meter. If the meter is past a certain point by the end of the song, the song is passed.

In the Japanese version, subtitles under the symbols give the pronunciation of the sounds (for example, "do don do don") using a traditional system called kuchi shoga (口唱歌).

Despite the game's cute and childish appearance, many players find the game quite difficult to master. Players need to accomplish 75% of the drum chart to pass, which can be very challenging on harder levels.

Music

Music in the Japanese version includes J-pop, anime music, western classical music and traditional Japanese Festival Music. The North American version removes some of these genres, changing them to American cartoon themes, a few NAMCO originals and mainstream American hits like "Love Shack" by the B-52's and "Toxic" by Britney Spears.

Notes

The home version also has two mini-games, the "100 meter dash", played by drumming as quickly as possible, and the "Boston marathon", where the player must keep a regular beat in order not to tire out the taiko athlete.

The home versions include a few more games.

WadaDon and WadaKatsu, the characters of the game, are named after the sounds a taiko drum makes when you strike the surface or the side of the drum respectively. Coincidentally, "katsudon" is also the name of a Japanese pork dish.

• Don: Hit the center of the taiko.
• Kat: Hit the edge of the taiko.
• Yellow: Drum roll to use it.
• Large notes: Use Both sticks.
• Burst note: Drum roll to pop it.

Songs

This is the full list of the following songs.

Pop and rock

1. "ABC" - by The Jackson 5
2. "American Girls" - by Counting Crows
3. "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" - by Jet
4. "Girls & Boys" - by Good Charlotte
5. "I'm a Believer" - by Neil Diamond
6. "Killer Queen" - by Queen
7. "Lady Marmalade" - by Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa and Pink
8. "Love Shack" - by The B-52's
9. "Material Girl" - by Madonna
10. "My Sharona" - by The Knack
11. "Rock the Dragon - by Shuki Levy
12. "Slide" - by Goo Goo Dolls
13. "That's the Way (I Like It)" - by KC and the Sunshine Band
14. "The Impression That I Get" - by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones
15. "Toxic" - by Britney Spears
16. "Tubthumping" - by Chumbawamba
17. "Walking on Sunshine" - by Katrina and the Waves.

Anime/TV

1. "Dragon Ball Z Theme Rock the Dragon" - by Shuki Levy
2. "Jimmy Neutron Theme" - by Bowling for Soup

Classical

1. "Beethoven's Symphony No. 5" (Beethoven)
2. "Carmen Prelude" (Bizet)
3. "Foster's Medley"
4. "Hungarian Dances No. 5" (Brahms)
5. "Symphony No. 25 in G Minor" (Mozart)
6. "William Tell Overture" (Rossini)

Namco original

1. "Don Rangers" (10 crowns to unlock)
2. "Dragon Spirit"
3. "Katamari on the Rocks"
4. "Ridge Racer" (15 crowns to unlock)
5. "SOULCALIBUR II Brave Sword, Braver Soul"
6. "Taiko March" (including music from Sky Kid, The Tower of Druaga, and The Legend of Valkyrie) (5 crowns to unlock)
7. "The Genji and the Heike Clans" (KAGEKIYO) (20 crowns to unlock)
8. "Saitama 2000^[1]"
9. "MOJIPITTAN Medley^[2]"

Children's Songs

1. "Alphabet Song^[3]"

Difficulty

The following difficulties are included. Clear all songs in any mode to unlock a happy ending movie.

• Easy - Represented as cherry blossom flowers.
• Normal - Represented as bamboo shoots.
• Hard - Represented as a pine tree bonsai.
• Oni - Represented as a demon, 25 crowns in hard to unlock.

PSP version

Rather than using an external Taiko drum, the PSP version makes use of the D-pad and action buttons as well as the shoulder buttons which control the rim shots. The analog stick is also get used to perform a tambourine bonus. The PSP version includes the original gaming mode as well as a variety of minigames and a modified AD Hoc mode dubbed, communication mode. While in Communication mode, you can play the game with up to four other PSP gamers. There are currently no plans to bring the original Taiko Drum Master for the PSP outside of Japan.

See also

• Taiko no Tatsujin

External links

• Gamespot review of Japanese version
• Gamespot review of US version
• Namco page (in Japanese)
• Namco Donder Page - more recent version of Namco page in Japanese. Includes 2005 versions of games.
• Table of music tracks by version of the game (in Japanese)

Remark

Bonus

• The game comes with a Taiko controller with drumsticks and it is plugged into the PS2 console.