Tapping The Wii’s Plastic Taiko Drum, Hands-On Taiko No Tatsujin Wii

The Tokyo Game Show demo of Taiko no Tatsujin Wii didn’t pull any surprises. Sticking to the series’ roots players tap a toy taiko drum in the center to hit red notes and on the side to hit blue notes. The drum itself is solid and feels pretty much the same as the PlayStation 2 drum, except you need to plug the drum into a Wii remote. Yeah, it’s wireless, but the drum also drains batteries. In Japan, Taiko no Tatsujin Wii only be bought in a bundle with one drum, a sturdy plastic stand, and two hollow drumsticks. I wish I could have removed the drum to see if Taiko no Tatsujin Wii could be played just a remote and buttons too.

Namco Bandai included basic Mii support like having your Mii represent your drum line and replacing dancing sharks with dancing Miis. But, nobody is going to  buy Taiko no Tatsujin Wii just to see their Mii jiggle. The sixty plus songs are the lure. I glanced through the song list to see a healthy mix of anime music, j-pop, Namco originals, kids’ songs, and a handful of video game songs. the usual Taiko blend. Notable songs include Jungle P from One Piece, Blue Bird from Naruto, Soba Ni Iru Ne, Shuuchishin, a Ridge Racer melody, and the Super Mario Brothers theme. Right now Taiko no Tatsujin Wii is only scheduled for a release in Japan on December 11. Even if it comes out in North America, and this is a gigantic unlikely to happen because Taiko Drum Master tanked if, the song list will be different.

Photo Spencer/Siliconera. Images courtesy of Namco Bandai.