The Japanese arcade classic Taiko No Tatsujin is coming to the Nintendo Switch and is finally making its western debut.
Created by Bandai Namco in 2001, Taiko No Tatsujin is a Japanese exclusive arcade game similar to games like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero, where you bang a Taiko drum in sync with the music and beats on screen. You complete a song by filling up a spirit gauge whilst playing through the full song.
It became an instant hit in Japan, especially with children, and has had a fair share of exposure in the west on consoles, even having its own drum kit controller come with some console releases. However many games in the series did not get a localisation that includes the Rhythmic Adventure series. Until now.
Now that you have a basic understanding of Taiko No Tatsujin, let’s go over the newest game in this series: Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack. As previously mentioned, Rhythmic Adventure is something a little different with the series, as it’s bring RPG gameplay. Let’s go over the games in this bundle.
First of all is Rhythmic Adventure 1. You play as the series protagonist Don-chan, a walking Taiko drum who must save Ticky the Clock, who is the protector of history. To save Ticky from kidnappers, you must travel through time in order to save him. This means you will travel to different eras of time in order to stop the villainous forces from destroying history.
Now for Rhythmic Adventure 2’s story. Similar to the last game, you play as Don-chan, who has to save the OOPArts who have been taken away by an evil society. This society is called Sorcery Society Hexagria (or SSH). Now Don-chan and new friends Tia and Popo Kaka must travel around the world to save the OOPArts.
The combat system is similar to Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, where by pressing the right button in rhythm with the song will allow you to deal more damage to your enemies as your party attacks automatically.
There is one more exciting thing to mention: enemies you defeat in battle can become friends and members of your party. Some being more powerful than others and with 250 monsters to collect, you have an almost unlimited amount of team combinations to try.
Finally, we have the versus mode, staple in all Tatsujin games. You can play against your friends to see who is the best drummer. There are also 6 brand new songs being added to the original lineup of songs, including the opening song from the massively successful anime Demon Slayer, “Gurenge” by LiSa. There are over 130 songs in total, you will drum ‘til you drop.
Wanna feel like you’re banging drums? No worries. Use the Switch’s motion controls to get that experience if you wish, though you prefer buttons then that option is there as well.
Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure pack will arrive exclusively to the Nintendo Switch Eshop in Winter 2020. I hope you future drummers have fun with these cute characters.
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