Taiko no Tatsujin: Tatakon de Dodon ga Don

"Become a master of traditional Japanese festival drums, in the comfort of your own living room."

Ah, music games. Sometimes called ''rhythm action games,'' these strange little diversions are at the height of their popularity right now, all over the world. And while it's certainly no big secret that Konami definitely has a monopoly on the genre, other companies have been struggling to get a piece of the action too. Some, such as Nana-on-Sha, Koei, and Sega, have had reasonable luck in this regard, giving us wonderful controller-only games such as PaRappa the Rapper, UmJammer Lammy, Vib Ribbon, Gitaroo Man, and Space Channel 5, as well as accessory-based games such as Samba de Amigo. Others -- primarily those who attempt to create cheap knock-offs of Konami's fantastic BeMani series -- have basically failed, mostly due to lack of innovation. Namco, actually, has always historically fallen into the latter category, having made several pathetic attempts in the past at duplicating Konami's games (the most notably awful of which is Namco's ill-advised guitar game, a far worse version of Konami's already terrible Guitar Freaks).

But Namco, like so many other companies these days, seems to have begun rethinking its strategies, and has recently been pumping out quality titles left and right. And amazingly enough, they managed to cut through the ''Konami's already thought of everything'' mentality plaguing the accessory-based music game industry, creating a new, original, genuinely fun music game.

I guess the key to thinking of something new in an already saturated genre was, remember your heritage... because that's exactly what Namco did. While Konami seems to generally focus on Americanizing their games (since that's the fad in Japan right now), Namco decided to counter this by releasing a title so distinctly Japanese as to unfortunately impede any chance it may have had of being ported overseas. Nonetheless, the game has been a gigantic success for them, and currently stands out as the single most popular non-Konami music game in the country. And it's pretty dang cool, to boot!

I'm speaking, of course, of Taiko no Tatsujin, the only music game in existence that attempts to simulate the experience of playing taiko, or traditional Japanese festival-style kettle drums. Loosely translated as ''Taiko Master'' (the unofficial name ''Drum Expert'' makes me cringe), the game began its life in Japanese arcades country-wide, easily standing out amongst its competitors due to the red festival lanterns, colorful character standees, and enormous kettle drums adorning every machine. The game has already reached Konami-esque heights of popularity, with 4 arcade versions in existence and Namco's PS2 home version of it selling in such unexpectedly high proportions that, during the month of February, the game and PS2 taiko set had become a more difficult rarity to track down than even the limited edition Xenosaga box.

And it's the PS2 home version of Taiko no Tatsujin that this review will address -- and as the tone of my above descriptions may suggest, it's a very good game indeed.

Taiko no Tatsujin functions like any other music game, for all intents and purposes. First you choose a song, then you attempt to drum along with a set of symbols representing certain beats as they scroll along the screen. If you manage to hit enough of these, then congratulations, you passed the song. If you don't, you failed, and the game will be forced to, quite literally, rain on your parade (or, in this case, festival). And really, that's basically it.

What sets Taiko no Tatsujin apart from Dance Dance Revolution and other similar titles, however, is its attempt to be as simple and straight-forward as possible. DDR often confuses newbies by having four different arrows to keep track of; four different streams of information constantly rising to the top of the screen. TnT, on the other hand, condenses everything into one stream of rhythmic symbols, progressing from the right side of the screen to the left. As these symbols line up with an open circle on the left-hand side of the screen, the player is expected to perform whatever actions they represent. Among these symbols are red faces (which indicate a single hit of the taiko drum), blue faces (which indicate a single hit on the rim of the taiko drum, to produce a ''clack'' sound), and yellow trails (which indicate that you should wail on the drum with all your might, solely to rack up as many points as possible before the trail ends). There are also larger versions of these symbols (indicating that you should hit the drum with both sticks at once to produce a much deeper sound), red faces with balloons attached to them (hit the drum repeatedly to fill the balloon until it pops), and faces which are ''connected'' between the first and second player streams (indicating that both players must perfectly synchronize their timing). The symbols chosen somehow do a great job of making their meanings obvious, and even someone who's never played a music game before should be able to get a feel for Taiko no Tatsujin after just one song.

But as with all music games, Taiko no Tatsujin's apparent simplicity is deceptive, as the game itself really has quite a lot to offer -- more, some might argue, than your average Konami release. Though TnT unfortunately lacks any form of edit mode (a DDR home-version staple), it makes up for this oversight by including a variety of customization options and two rather unique mini-games. Needless to say, many of the options are hidden, and are unlockable either by performing well in the game proper, or by performing well in the mini-games. Certainly the most amusing customization option is the ability to change the sound of the taiko drum itself. Both the regular kettle-drum sound and the ''clack'' of the rim can be changed to voices, dog barks and cat meows, farts, a regular drum and hihat combo, and other assorted instruments and sounds.

The mini-games include a sprint and a marathon, which pit TnT's red and blue drum ''characters'' against a variety of souped-up drums (drums on wheels, drums with rockets attached to them, etc.), in addition to various animals common to Japanese folklore. Racing is performed by -- you guessed it -- wailing on the taiko as fast as you can. The marathon's gameplay is a bit more intricate, and involves hitting certain combinations of drum and rim at a certain pace, without exceeding it. If you don't quite ''run'' fast enough, you obviously won't win; however, if you push yourself too hard and run at too fast a pace, your drum and rim patterns may suddenly change, or your character may become tired and thirsty and begin tripping over its own feet. Though these mini-games would never be able to stand on their own, they do offer pleasant diversions when you've had your fill of festival drumming.

And it may be a while before that happens, as this is a truly enjoyable game. Although there are a mere 24 songs available for play at the game's onset, almost every one of them seems to pair surprisingly well with the sounds of taiko. DDR classics are nowhere to be found, but Namco did manage to put together an interesting assortment of Japanese folk songs, festival music (including the infamous ''Natsu Matsuri,'' which anyone who's been to Japan recently is almost guaranteed to know), j-pop, anime themes (with Lupin III present and accounted for!), and even a few classics from some of their other games (such as the Klonoa 2 snowboard theme, the Mr. Driller G vocal theme ''Susume Driller,'' and my personal favorite, the ''Moji Pittan Medley''). The in-game interface, too, is laden with adorable (and sometimes baffling) images of an incredibly Japanese nature, accompanied by happy festival music, and even containing a full anime-style opening FMV that's guaranteed to make the sides of any avid anime watcher split (and whose accompanying vocal theme just happens to be one of the game's playable songs!).

The PS2 ''tatacon'' taiko drum, too, is a deceptively sturdy and well-made piece of equipment -- especially since it adds nothing whatsoever to the purchase price of the game. It may look like cheap plastic, and it may fool you into being ''gentle'' for the first few songs, but trust me when I say that the thing can take quite a beating and emerge perfectly unscathed. If it has any flaws, it's that the sound of the disturbingly phallic taiko sticks hitting the plastic drum is extremely loud -- sometimes moreso than its accompanying sound on-screen. If the game isn't played at a fairly high volume, this could potentially hurt its enjoyment value. Also, as with virtually any music game accessory, the drum tends to move around quite a bit (especially when playing songs that require you to repeatedly hit the rim), though not nearly as much as the DDR dance pad -- and if you build a makeshift construct to hold the taiko in place (a few sturdy paperweights or bricks should do the trick), this problem will disappear altogether.

Presumably, Taiko no Tatsujin's target audience is children (judging by the colorful graphics and silly voices, if nothing else), which is actually a wonderful thing for those of you who, shall we say, have no rhythm. Make no mistake, Taiko no Tatsujin is the easiest rhythm action game I've ever played -- and I'm a genre fan who's tried just about everything. It would take an almost inhuman degree of rhythmlessness to be unable to complete the first few songs on TnT's easiest mode, and the game definitely seems to operate on a very gradually sliding curve, getting ever-so-slightly more difficult with each song and with each skill level. There's certainly a fair share of challenges to be had, as the game boasts four separate modes (including a hidden ''oni mode''), but DDR veterans -- or DrumMania veterans especially -- will find this game an absolute cinch to master. That doesn't mean they won't have fun doing it, though, and for beginners, TnT may very well be the most accessible music game ever made, regardless of the language barrier.

And yes, there is a language barrier. Aside from three or four songs with English names, and the words ''Now Loading,'' every single piece of text in this entire game is in Japanese. Fear not, though, as anyone who's ever played a music game before should have no trouble whatsoever navigating these menus. And even those who've had no experience with the genre should be able to learn all that's needed solely through experimentation. A FAQ, too, would solve this problem completely -- which is why I plan on writing one in the near future.

So spread the word! Konami may be the master of music games, but Namco's definitely progressing in its apprenticeship, and Taiko no Tatsujin is one of the most enjoyable music games in recent memory. With the taiko drum and game available together for less than the price of a new PS2 RPG, importers hungering for a taste of Japanese culture, or even just for a chance to thwack things, should definitely snag this one a.s.a.p. It's entertaining, it's addictive, it's affordable, and it's everything you've come to expect from Japan's rhythm action genre, but without all the pandering to a western audience.

See if you have what it takes to become a true taiko master!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/06/03, Updated 03/06/03