One of the best moments from E3 2003 was hanging out after the show with Clay and other friends. In particular, one moment sticks out, when Clay brought out his Japanese PS2 and showed us Namco$B!G(Bs drumming game, Taiko no Tatsujin. Being the rhythm game fan that I am, I eagerly jumped right in, helped out by the kind loaner of actual taiko sticks from another friend. It was so simple and catchy, with graphics so weird and colorful, I was firmly convinced that it would never get brought over to the United States.
Apparently flush with excitement over the release of Katamari Damacy and its success, Namco decided to pull a fast one on me and release their drumming game in North America as Taiko Drum Master. Not only was it a rhythm game that I could play without disturbing the neighbors, but it would finally allow my wife to fulfill her life-long dream of becoming a drummer, even if only in a video game. So I plunked down the cash, and soon I had my very own drum controller and game.
First off, the controller that comes with the game. It is the exact same version that comes with the Japanese version – to the point that the sticks still say $B!H(BTaiko no Tatsujin$B!I(B on the side. All you need to do to set it up is snap three plastic pieces into the drum base, and it$B!G(Bs ready to go. The design is almost too simple; a few solid hits or bumps can knock the base loose, which is an absolute killer on your score. Moreover, as complained about before, the feet on the base have no traction, and it$B!G(Bs easy to shove the drum around during play. You$B!G(Bll either need to stick on your own, play on a rough surface, or be prepared to compensate for the sliding drum.
There$B!G(Bs one major complaint about the Namco-built taiko controller, though: it has several noticeable dead spots. The most prominent are in the controller$B!G(Bs center line, but there$B!G(Bs two other obvious ones, between the boundaries of the center beats and the edge taps. I$B!G(Bve heard that this is for the structural integrity of the controller, but I really think it$B!G(Bs just slipshod construction. Eventually, you will learn the quirks of the controller, but newcomers to the game will be frustrated as they feel out the drum and find where its deficiencies are.
For the game, though, the premise is quite simple. You play the taiko drum in beat to a song, and try to hit enough beats on measure to pass the song. Taiko drumming is relatively simple; you only have to really worry about hitting either the center (red beats) or the edge (blue beats) of the drum. There are some special beats that will get you extra points, but those are really optional. The heart of the game is the center and the side of the drum.
What might seem goofy to some people, though, is that despite the simplicity of the premise Namco still found it fit to put a story around the game. Okay, so the story is that Don and Katsu, the two animated taiko drums, have decided to go with Tetsuo, Hana, and the other residents of the Wada house to celebrate something and bring the joy of taiko drumming across the Pacific Ocean. I$B!G(Bd say that this is the most absurd premise I$B!G(Bve heard, but the truth is that it isn$B!G(Bt even the strangest premise Namco has come up with this year. The plot, such as it is, exists mostly to provide an excuse for the colorful graphics that accompany the game.
As I said before, the control is quite simple. But more importantly, because of the simplicity of the entire setup, the game$B!G(Bs controls are very sharp. Each bang and tap (which are the terms Namco wants to use for the center and edge hits, but I$B!G(Bm ever so much the rebel) registers immediately, whether you use the taiko controller or a standard controller. Yes, the game will work with a standard controller, although it isn$B!G(Bt nearly as much fun that way. After all, the joy of this game is to beat on something as best you can with two sticks. And it responds to the thrashing quite well, even holding up to extremely rapid pummeling quite nicely.
The game does also come with three mini-games, but these are much less interesting than the main game. I could go into specifics, but suffice to say that each one balances needing to hit the drum rapidly in the proper sequence. They don$B!G(Bt last particularly long, and it$B!G(Bs all just a question of timing when you rapidly hit on parts of the drum. It$B!G(Bs an interesting diversion if you need a break from the music. But overall, I$B!G(Bd probably prefer removing the mini games and adding another song or two.
Graphically, this probably could have been done on the Playstation, had the original game been made before the PS2$B!G(Bs creation. The graphics are simple and flat, but their motion is very smooth. The colors are quite bright, but the game is constructed so that there isn$B!G(Bt anything too loud during play (but the rainbows that appear during the load times$B!D(B okay, those are excessively vivid). It$B!G(Bs quite easy to just focus on the song and the beats, while any onlookers can appreciate the odd characters that appear on the screen.
Of course, as I$B!G(Bve repeated until I$B!G(Bm blue in the face, the true test of a rhythm game is the music it contains. Well, it what might be a sad development, this game easily has the best lineup of songs of any rhythm game released for the PS2. This isn$B!G(Bt sad for Namco; this is sad for Konami who jammed over twice as many songs onto their various rhythm games and still can$B!G(Bt produce one with a song list that can rival Taiko Drum Master. It mixes in several pop songs like Chumbawumba$B!G(Bs $B!H(BTubthumping$B!I(B as well as rock songs like The Knack$B!G(Bs $B!H(BMy Sharona.$B!I(B Of course, they throw in some original tunes, including $B!H(BDom Rangers$B!I(B and $B!H(BKatamari On The Rocks$B!I(B from Katamari Damacy. But the best is the classical tunes thrown in. You don$B!G(Bt know fun until you hammer away at the William Tell Overture or the Carmen Prelude. One can only hope that future iterations of the game have the 1812 Overture.
And in terms of the amount of music, you actually get as much from this as Konami$B!G(Bs recent works give you. Many of the songs are a full version, and several are quite long ($B!H(BKatamari On The Rocks$B!I(B is somewhere around 4 or 5 minutes). So while you might not have the breadth of styles that you have in DDR, you get much more length. So instead of having 70 songs in a dozen genres, of which a dozen are playable, Taiko Drum Master gives you 30 songs in about 6 genres, almost all of which are playable ($B!H(BToxic$B!I(B being the most obvious exception).
Also, as an added, bonus, I must give you the update on one of my favorite trends, editing songs for rhythm games. In Taiko Drum Master, there$B!G(Bs only one real offender: in $B!H(BTubthumping,$B!I(B the bridge uses the phrase $B!H(Bkissing the night away.$B!I(B This would be the old problem of dialects: the original $B!H(Bpissing the night away$B!I(B meant that the singer was getting sloshed in England, Chumbawumba$B!G(Bs home. This would be why the line is progressed by the different kinds of alcohol the singer proceeds to attack his liver with. The song loses a bit of its meaning when you Americanize it – and given that the song still glorifies binge drinking, it$B!G(Bs not much better for little ears.
Presuming that you can get past the controller$B!G(Bs obvious design flaws, Taiko Drum Master is without a doubt the best rhythm game available for the PS2. Part of this arises from the sheer simplicity of the concept. But even more important, which Namco realized, is that a rhythm game lives and dies by its music. Taiko Drum Master is packed with songs that you can find yourself playing for hours, and get a decent upper-body workout from too (hey, you try pounding through Oni mode for a couple hours without burning some calories). Given that the game is only a hair more than a normal new game, including the drum controller, it$B!G(Bs probably the best pickup for anyone who wants to enjoy a rhythm game. All I can hope for now is that Namco decides to make their own dance pad game, puts in the same amount of dedication as they did here, and make a million seller. Hey, if taiko drumming can finally make it here, then it$B!G(Bs not that far from being possible.
