Taiko no Tatsujin

nihongo|Taiko Master|太鼓の達人|Taiko no Tatsujin is a series of rhythm games created by Namco. The series has seen releases for the arcade, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Advanced Pico Beena, and mobile phones.

There have been many releases of the game in Japan, and one North American release under the name "".

Overview

The player uses a simulated taiko drum controller to play the notes of a chosen song's drum part as they are displayed on the screen. The PlayStation 2 and Wii versions can be played with a "TaTaCon", a special controller which looks like a small taiko drum. [ [http://www.destructoid.com/tgs-08-taiko-drum-master-wii-hands-on-106926.phtml TGS 08: Taiko Drum Master Wii hands-on] ] The Nintendo DS version uses the touch screen as an interactive taiko drum.

The Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable versions have the ability to engage in 4 player wireless multiplayer.

Gameplay

Symbols moving horizontally along a timeline show the player what to hit and when. Blue symbols indicate that the drum should be hit on the rim. Red symbols indicate that the face of the drum should be hit. The drum can be hit on the left and/or right side. The symbols can be either large or small. Large symbols indicate that the drum should be struck on both sides simultaneously , and small symbols indicate that the drum should be hit on either side. A large blue symbol thus means that the left and right rim should be hit at the same time.

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).

While its appearance may seem cute, it is actually quite difficult: the player needs to accomplish 75% of the drum chart to pass, and the harder levels (hard and Oni mode) and modifiers (eg: hidden mode) will require much skill and chart recognization.

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

Music

Music in the Japanese version includes J-pop, anime music, western classical music, traditional Japanese festival music, and video game themes.

Releases

;Arcade

* 太鼓の達人 (Taiko no Tatsujin) (February 2001)
* 太鼓の達人2 (Taiko no Tatsujin 2) (August 2001)
* 太鼓の達人3 (Taiko no Tatsujin 3) (March 2002)
* 太鼓の達人4 (Taiko no Tatsujin 4) (December 2002)
* 太鼓の達人5 (Taiko no Tatsujin 5) (October 2003)
* 太鼓の達人6 (Taiko no Tatsujin 6) (September 2004)
* 太鼓の達人7 (Taiko no Tatsujin 7) (September 2005)
* 太鼓の達人8 (Taiko no Tatsujin 8) (March 2006)
* 太鼓の達人9 (Taiko no Tatsujin 9) (December 2006)
* 太鼓の達人10 (Taiko no Tatsujin 10) (September 2007)
* 太鼓の達人11 (Taiko no Tatsujin 11) (March 2008)

;Nintendo DS
* 太鼓の達人 DS タッチでドコドン() (26 July 2007)
* めっちゃ! 太鼓の達人DS 7つの島の大冒険 () (24 April 2008)

;Wii
* 太鼓の達人 WII (Taiko no Tatsujin Wii) (Coming Soon! Release: 2008)

;PlayStation 2
* 太鼓の達人 タタコンでドドンがドン (Taiko no Tatsujin: TATAKON de DODON ga DON) (24 October 2002)
* 太鼓の達人 ドキッ! 新曲だらけの春祭り (Taiko no Tatsujin: DOKI! Shinkyoku Darake no Haru Matsuri) (27 March 2003)
* 太鼓の達人 あっぱれ三代目 (Taiko no Tatsujin: Appare Sandaime) (30 October 2003)
* 太鼓の達人 わくわくアニメ祭り (Taiko no Tatsujin: Waku Waku ANIME Matsuri) (18 December 2003)
* 太鼓の達人 あつまれ! 祭りだ!! 四代目 (Taiko no Tatsujin: Atsumare! Matsuri da!! Yondaime) (22 July 2004)
* 太鼓の達人 ゴー! ゴー! 五代目 (Taiko no Tatsujin: GO! GO! Godaime) (09 December 2004)
* 太鼓の達人 TAIKO DRUM MASTER () (17 March 2005)
* 太鼓の達人 とびっきり! アニメスペシャル (Taiko no Tatsujin: Tobikkiri! ANIME SUPESHARU) (04 August 2005)
* 太鼓の達人 わいわいハッピー! 六代目 (Taiko no Tatsujin: Wai Wai HAPPI- Rokudaime) (08 December 2005)
* 太鼓の達人 ドンカッ！と大盛り 七代目 (Taiko no Tatsujin: DON-KA! to Oomori Nanadaime) (07 December 2006)

;PlayStation Portable
* 太鼓の達人 ぽ～たぶる (Taiko no Tatsujin: Po-taburu) (04 August 2005)
* 太鼓の達人 ぽ～たぶる2 (Taiko no Tatsujin: Po-taburu 2) (07 September 2006)

;Advanced Pico Beena
* 太鼓の達人 (Taiko no Tatsujin) (2005)

;Mobile Phone
* 太鼓の達人 Mobile (Taiko no Tatsujin Mobile) (?)

pin-offs

Started April 2005, Kids Station, a Japanese cable TV channel, broadcast 3-minute shorts of the "Taiko no Tatsujin" characters in claymation animation. A manga version of the series was also serialized in "Comic Bom Bom".

Mini versions of the game appear in the Namco game "" when the main characters is equipped with a costume resembling a drum, and in the Nintendo DS game "Nodame Cantabile".

Trivia

* The "Kamen Rider Hibiki" video game can use the TaTaCon controller.
* The arcade version of the game is featured in the films "Lost in Translation" and "Wasabi".
* The ninth arcade version of the game is also featured in episode 2 of the anime "Lucky Star". Obs.: The music is Hare Hare Yukai from "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya". In response, NAMCO added Lucky Star's opening theme "Motteke! Sailor Fuku" into the 10th edition.

References

External links

* [http://www.namco-ch.net/taiko/index.php Namco page] (in Japanese)
* [http://www.bandainamcogames.co.jp/donderpage/ Namco Donder Page] (in Japanese)
* [http://taiko.namco-ch.net/product/list.html Table of music tracks by version of the game] (in Japanese)