IINE Professional Taiko Drum Controller Pro Max

Hardware Type: Controller

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Review:

(Note: This product was received at no cost for review via the Amazon Vine program.)

Over the years I have reviewed numerous games in the Taiko No Tatsujin franchise, which started back in 2001 in Arcades and saw its first home release in the West on PlayStation 2 in 2004’s Taiko Drum Master. And while they’re excellent Music-Rhythm games, their gameplay is also somewhat reliant on a fairly unique drum controller that’s not really the sort of thing you would use for any other game.

This makes it harder to invest in one of these controllers, because you’re spending $40 or more on something you will be using for at most only a small handful of games – on Nintendo Switch, as of this writing, there are a grand total of four Taiko No Tatsujin games – Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum ‘N’ Fun!, Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival, Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 1, and Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 2. I suppose you could argue that a drum controller like this could potentially work with other games, (Patapon 1 + 2 Replay, recently announced for Nintendo Switch, comes to mind), but the Taiko No Tatsujin games are really the only ones where such a controller feels essential to the core experience.

The Taiko No Tatsujin series has tried to adapt to this reality, adding in controller support, motion-sensing support, and touchscreen support into its games on platforms that include those features, but there’s just nothing like banging on an actual drum.

As it happens, I’ve found myself with the interesting opportunity to test out taiko drum controllers for the Nintendo Switch, both at the very low end of the pricing spectrum, and at the absolute high end. Let’s see how they compare!

At the high end, we have the IINE Professional Taiko Drum Controller Pro Max. Depending on where and when you get this controller, I have seen it priced anywhere between $175 and $600, making this as of this moment the most expensive controller I have ever acquired, not counting vintage controllers that have increased in value since I got them. At such a premium price, I hope you can forgive me for having high expectations for this controller.

In addition to the drum itself, this set comes with two thick wooden taiko drum sticks, as well as a fairly easy-to-assemble plastic stand that attaches to the backside of the drum and includes storage compartments for the drumsticks. However, here we encounter my first (relatively minor) complaint about this drum set – unlike the much cheaper Armor3 Taiko Drum Controller, the backside and stand of this controller doesn’t really have a convenient place to store the attached cord – there’s a hollow circular area, but this doesn’t seem like an ideal storage spot. Though on the bright side, the back does have a nice indent that works as a handle.

However, if we’re comparing IINE’s drum with Armor3’s drum, the first and most obvious contrast is size – while Armor3’s drum is 9″ wide, IINE’s drum absolutely dwarfs it at roughly 13.75″ wide. This difference in size makes IINE’s drum much easier to hit on target with your drumsticks, and also makes it comparable to the size of an actual taiko drum, albeit the smallest sized taiko drum (1 shaku, roughly 12″).

The drum is constructed of plastic with a silicone face at the front to give it a more rubbery feel. For those unfamiliar with the Taiko No Tatsujin games, depending on the song and difficulty level, the drum has four inputs – left and right on the inside of the drum (“don”), and left and right on the rim (“ka”). And using this drum, these notes are pretty accurately detected by the drum, and this is by far the most accurate way I’ve found to control the Taiko No Tatsujin games.

Unlike Armor3’s Taiko drum, which had a controller attached via the included cord, IINE’s controller is built into the face of the drum itself, which I find to be far more convenient. This controller includes many of the functions of a standard Nintendo Switch controller but lacks analog sticks or ZL and ZR buttons. This controller is mainly intended for navigating menus, and works well enough for that.

The entire thing connects to a Nintendo Switch dock via a 9’3″ cord leads directly to a USB plug to attach the controller to a Nintendo Switch dock. While some may find this cumbersome and disappointing, that the controller is wired and not wireless, I do feel like this is a sensible choice, as having a wired controller will reduce input delay, which is absolutely vital in a Music-Rhythm game.

However, I should note that this controller does not only connect to the Nintendo Switch – it is also capable of connecting to a PC, PlayStation 4, or PlayStation 5. Giving this a lot more utility… in theory. In practice, this utility is wasted on the fact that the only game currently available on Steam and on PlayStation 4 is Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival, a game that is also on Nintendo Switch (there are currently no Taiko No Tatsujin games on PlayStation 5, save for backwards-compatibility with the PlayStation 4 game). I suppose you could ideally see this as forward-compatible with all of the above platforms, but as it stands, even with cross-platform support this controller is still only really usable with four Taiko No Tatsujin games. Well, unless you plan on emulating older games in the series on PC, but I’m not opening that legally-murky can of worms.

On the bright side of things, unlike Armor3’s drum, IINE’s taiko drum didn’t move around much while I was hammering away at it, likely due to a combination of a much heavier build and far more substantial rubber footpads. This kinda’ rounds out an experience with this drum that is overall quite excellent compared to the alternative.

Overall, I do think that the IINE Professional Taiko Drum Controller Pro Max is by far the absolute best way to play the Taiko No Tatsujin games on Nintendo Switch (and, for what it’s worth, on PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5). The larger size, sturdier build, better-quality drumsticks, and built-in controller all make this preferable to alternatives I’ve used, though it’s not without flaws, like the lack of a good way to store the USB cord.

Having said that, while this may be the best way to play these games, I find myself having a difficult time justifying this controller’s massive price tag. Again, there are a grand total of four games this controller can really work with, and unless you are a massive Taiko No Tatsujin fan, I simply cannot see you dropping enough on this one controller that you could spend just a little bit more to get an entire Nintendo Switch Lite handheld. And that’s if you’re buying this controller at its lowest price!

This massive price tag means that this is truly only a controller for the most absolute crazed diehard of Taiko enthusiasts, and if you don’t feel that describes you, you’re probably better off getting something cheaper like the Armor3 Taiko Drum Controller, which isn’t anywhere near as good as this controller, but it won’t be such a massive hit on your wallet either.

tl;dr – The IINE Professional Taiko Drum Controller Pro Max is a wired Taiko Drum controller for use with the (as of this writing, four) Taiko No Tatsujin games on Nintendo Switch, as well as the (currently one) Taiko No Tatsujin game on PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. It is unquestionably the best way I’ve found to play these games, but this hardly matters when the price tag is so jaw-droppingly astronomical. Unless you are such a diehard fan of this series that you’d describe yourself as “fanatical”, this simply is not worth the expense, and you’re better off going with a worse (but surely much more reasonably-priced) drum controller.

Grade: C+

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