Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum ‘N’ Fun

Genre: Music-Rhythm

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

(Note: This is an outdated review. You can find the updated review here.)

Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum ‘N’ Fun is the latest Music-Rhythm in Namco’s Taiko drum series, which has numerous releases in Japan, but only three in the US (the others being Taiko Drum Master on the PlayStation 2, and Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session on the PlayStation 4). Like those games, Drum ‘N’ Fun supports a drum accessory that will set you back $50-$100, depending on which version you get, but the game does tout motion control support as well.

While Taiko Drum Master on the PlayStation 2 was released with a Western-targeted song list, Drum ‘N’ Fun goes all-in on its Japanese roots, including a library of J-Pop, anime themes (including songs from a few super-popular animes), the Japanese versions of some Disney themes… for those who want absolutely nothing Japanese, there are a few classical songs and Nintendo themes as well, but I’d argue that if you don’t want anything Japanese, this is probably the wrong game for you.

On that note, the game’s presentation is very Japanese-y. Cutesy Japanese-style cartoon characters and odd animals fill this game to the brim, and the saccharine level is extraordinarily high. For some, this will be a part of the game’s charm, but for others, it will be something to tolerate to get to the gameplay.

As for the gameplay itself, I didn’t have the drum accessory to test the game with, as I suspect will be the case with most – dropping $50 on an accessory that only works with one game is a bit of a tall ask, especially when said accessory doesn’t really mesh well with the Switch’s portable nature. Still, if you play your Switch at home and don’t mind dropping the extra cash, this might be worth your while – I can only assume it plays like the PS2 version of the game (which I do have the drum accessory for), and that was a blast.

As for the game’s motion controls… honestly, they’re pretty terrible. Each Joycon is has two types of strikes they can make on the imaginary drum you’re playing on – one from above, and one from the side. However, the Joycons have a lot of difficulty detecting which type of strike you’re going for, or when you’re making it. This will make for a lot of missed drum strikes, as well as a lot of false positives.

Players do have one other option here, and that’s to play using just regular button inputs, but even here the game has issues. Players can select multiple control schemes, but the game won’t let you simply choose what each button input does to set up your own control scheme. And in any case, tapping buttons to play this game… while it works, it’s clearly not how this game was meant to be played.

In the end, Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum ‘N’ Fun is still really enjoyable if you’re in the very, very, very narrow target audience that buys both the game and the expensive drum accessory, only wants to play the game in docked mode, and enjoys a very Japan-centrick tracklist. If any of these things doesn’t describe you, you’re probably better off skipping it.

tl;dr – Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum ‘N’ Fun is the latest Music-Rhythm game in Namco’s Japanese Taiko drumming series, and if you’re willing to pay for the drum accessory and enjoy a very Japan-centric soundtrack, there’s a lot of fun to be had here. But the game’s motion controls are terrible, and using button inputs feels like it’s missing the whole point. If you have a passion for Japanese music and drumming, this game may be worth your money, but otherwise it’s probably not going to be worth your while.

Grade: C+

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