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Taiko no Tatsujin 1, 2, 3, for the PS2 Retrospective Talk


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 It was the early 2000's. A booming sensation in Japan was happening in the world of rhythm games. Arcade cabinets with two larges drums to beat to the rymthn on came onto the stage. With Bachi Drum Sticks in hands, players felt a new and interesting way to play. Hit the inward part of the drum, a sound of don! would appear. Hit the sides a katsu! sound would be heard. With the two sounds, two mascots were born for this game. This game would be Namco's Taiko no Tatsujin; Master of the Taiko Drums. And boy would this game one of Namco's greats. After releasing 3 arcade cabinets in the span of a year, Namco would put the series on the PS2 on October 24, with the first game named  Taiko no Tatsujin: Tatacon de Dodon ga Don.

 

 

 Hello this is Kirbymeister2 and, in celebration for Taiko no Tatsujin's 20th anniversary, I will be going back to the past and reviewing the series' forefront on the consoles starting with the first three console games. 

 

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 Those that were able to get the game in its first run were able to get Tatacons that were smaller portable versions of the arcade ones. Like with the Guitar Hero games, players were still able to use the PS2 controllers. Unfortunately, the arcade games relied on the fidelity of the PS1-grade Namco System board; which would be use not only for this first game but others down the line. This meant the game looked like a PS1-game with longer loading times at a time when the console was already two years old for Japan. Despite the limitations, the intro with Nijiiro Yumeiro Taikoiro playing would be one of the most memorable in the series. For the same reason to have the atmosphere of the arcades, the game also had an arcade mode. Unlocking hidden songs required players to play a sequence of select songs in the arcade mode then playing those songs without fail. If they did fail, they would have to repeat the process all over again. 

 

 

 At the time, three song difficulties came with Easy, Normal, and Hard. An even more of a rating of each song's beat would appear next to the song. Unlike in future games that had the songs organized by genre, the songs would be organized by the difficulty of the beats as shown by stars. This format in showing the songs' difficulty would be a staple that would continue on to this day. As for the songs themselves, there were 30 with 6 hidden to unlock. Some notable songs are Hamtaro Tottokou Uta,  Stepping Wind from Klonoa 2, and Lupin III Theme '78. 

 

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 While the game had an arcade and free play mode, there was the Survival and Minigame modes to keep the game even more addictive. One of the minigames was the 100 Meter Run that was about hitting notes rapidly while making sure Don didn't spin out. The other minigame was the Boston Marathon which had player hit notes at a steady pace before drumrolling. 

 

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 With the simple but cute character designs that Namco brought from the arcades, the series would continue to grow on the PS2. There would be more adventures Don, Katsu, and friends.

 

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 The next game- Doki! Shinkyoku Dareke no Haru Matsuri- came only a few months after Dondon ga Don in March 2003. It was apparent how almost rushed this game was with the same graphics and modes borrowed from the first Taiko game. Backgrounds from the first game would also appear. Even backgrounds with Namco's other game mascots would happen despite none of their songs showing up. Despite that, the intro with Taiko Love! in the background was good; and the modes were slightly tweaks with a more full-fledged Minigame mode and a more forgivable Survival Mode. 

 

 

 

 

 The minigames this time around were Fusen, Jaken, and Galladon. Fusen required players to hit notes rapidly to inflate multiple water balloons. Jaken is rock-paper-scissors to the extreme in that losing requires the player to quickly defend themselves before they get smacked by a fan. Galladon is this game's version of Galaxiga in that Donchan has to shoot down alien ships to save his friends. 

 

 

 

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 While the tweaks seemed enough, Namco had to make sure players were more satisfied with new and even more songs. Doki! had 34 songs; 5 which were unlocked. Doraemon no Uta, Anpanman no March, Wedding Song, Taiko Love!, Dodododo-Donderful!, Tobe! Gundam, TRAIN-TRAIN, Taiko March, and Saturday Taiko Fever were most of the notable songs from the game. 

 

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 Another rushed out game was Appare! Sandadaime coming out in October in the same year. Despite nothing changing this time around with the modes, the intro with Kyou wa Taiko-youbi  was still good. Relying on something for too long would be a problem for this game; and again, to please the fans, there had to be more and new songs.

 

 

 

 

 There were 39 songs this time; 5 to be unlocked. Favorite songs this time around would be Classic Medley, Mekadesu, One Night Carnival, CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA, Galaga '88, Sports Digestdon, Baroque Hoedown, Soul Calibur II's ~Brave Sword, Braver Soul~, and Kagekiyo. This would be the first time the legendary 2000's series would be born with Saitama 2000. There was a song called .

 

 As for the minigames there are four this time. The first one is players controlling Wada Inu with a red and white flag in a way that Don wants them to be raised or lowered. During this minigame, there will be times when the dog companion needs to do a pose for more points. The second game is a Simon Sez in that players have to hit precisely where Donko was hit as the tempo and number of things to memorize increases. The third game is a hit-the-note-rapidly game in that this time it's for eating plates of curry. When the fire gauge is full from eating curry, players can unleash a breath of fire to the enemy or defend themselves when the enemy strikes back. The last game is whack-a-mekadon in that mekadons will appear from four holes that need to be whacked with a fan. Players have to be careful not to hit anything else or lose points. 

 

 Following the success of the third game and noticing a spark that came from Wakaido Sentai Don-Ranger, Namco put into gears the series' first anime compilation and the series' first blunder. That would be Waku Waku Anime Matsuri. On the next line of reviews I will be talking about that game and how the series' came back better than ever with Atsumere! Matsuri da!!! and Go! Go! Godaime. 

Edited by "Casual Trash" Kirbys
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