Taiko: Drum Master - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

Taiko: Drum Master (English title), also known as Taiko no Tatsujin (太鼓の達人) in Japan is a drumming game made by Namco for the Sony PlayStation 2 and mobile phones based on the popular Japanese arcade game. A drum simulating the taiko is played in time with music.

Gameplay

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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.

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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.

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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).

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Despite the game's appearance, players may find the game quite difficult to master. Players need to accomplish at least a 65% clearance of a song which is determined by the tamashi gauge to pass, which could be very challenging on harder difficulties as players progress.

Pop and rock

"ABC" by The Jackson Five
"American Girls" - by Counting Crows
"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" - by Jet
"Girls and Boys" - by Good Charlotte
"I'm a Believer" - by Smash Mouth
"Killer Queen" - by Queen
"Lady Marmalade" - by Labelle
"Love Shack" - by The B-52s
"Material Girl" - by Madonna
"My Sharona" - by The Knack
"Slide" - by The Goo Goo Dolls
"That's the Way (I Like It)" - by KC and the Sunshine Band
"The Impression That I Get" - by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
"Toxic" - by Britney Spears
"Tubthumping" - by Chumbawamba
"Walking on Sunshine" - by Katrina and the Waves.

Anime/TV

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

Classical

"Symphony No. 5" (Beethoven)
"Carmen Prelude" (Bizet)
"Foster's Medley" (A medley of songs by Foster including Oh! Susannah, Kentucky Home, and Camptown Races)
"Hungarian Dances No. 5" (Brahms)
"Symphony No. 25 in G Minor" (Mozart)
"William Tell Overture" (Rossini)

Namco original

"Don Rangers" (heard in a small portion from a cutscene in Katamari Damacy) (10 crowns to unlock)

"Brave Sword, Braver Soul" (from the arcade fighting game Soul Calibur II)

"Dragon Spirit" (from the Namco arcade game of the same name)

"Katamari on the Rocks" (theme song from the PlayStation 2 game Katamari Damacy)

"Ridge Racer" (from the Namco racing game of the same name) (15 crowns to unlock)

"Taiko March" (combination of several songs from Namco titles including Sky Kid, The Tower of Druaga, and The Legend of Valkyrie) (5 crowns to unlock)

"The Genji and the Heike Clans" (from the Japanese arcade game Genpei Tōma Den) (20 crowns to unlock)