Reviews for Taiko Drum Master w/ Drum

Taiko Drum Master

Strengths: Non-DDR rhythm game, decent mix of songs

Weakness: Drum has some dead spots, no apparent sequel

Taiko Drum Master is a drum-based rhythm game for the PS2. Unlike DDR with its dance mat, or Donkey Konga, with the bongo drums, this game uses a traditional Japanese taiko drum and two drum sticks. The drum is divided in two sides, with an area to hit on either side, as well as hits along the edge of the drum. The drum does have some dead spots along the center, though their locations can be quickly learned.

The song mix has some video game themes such as Soul Calibur II and Katamari Damacy, as well as some pop song picks. There's about 30 in all, some of which are unlockable through the game. A few minigames round out the mix.

Unfortunately, there's a sequel in Japan which doesn't appear to be coming to the US. With the decent assortment of songs, it's a worthwhile pick up for people who want a rhythm game on the PS2 that isn't DDR.

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Taiko Drum Master

Strengths: fun for a short time

Weakness: unless you hit the drums in a certain place won't register the beat

It's fun for a while. It's annoying that there are dead spots on the drum which won't register the drum beat which messes up your score. Limited amount of songs to choose from. Too bad there's no content download.

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You don't have to William Tell me twice! *groan*

Strengths: Addictive yet simple gameplay style, easy to pick-up and fun to watch, good song selection

Weakness: Drum has a "dead" spot in the middle, it's not clear in the instructions that hitting the side of the drum means hitting the rim, not the actual side.

Simplistic yet great rhythm title. When I first plugged it in, not only did I play it, but my sister, and even my mom, who usually sticks to puzzle games. We had a great time, and over the next few days egged other family members into playing it a few times. It's easy to teach and understand, and you're less likely to get lost quickly as you would in a game like DDR. That's a major plus, and the song selection is quite good, with songs from Katamari Damacy, Soul Calibur II, Dragon Ball Z, and many other licensed and classical songs. Much better than most of the Donkey Konga offerings in the US. The peripheral can make this game a bit expensive, but I highly recommend it, it's really a lot of fun.

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Taiko Drum Master w/ Drum

Strengths: Its fun, 2-player, mini-games, and comes with a drum.

Weakness: Drum has a deadzone in the middle, song selection is small, and probably won't be a sequel.

Taiko Drum Master w/Drum is a drum rhythm game for PS2. The great thing about Taiko Drum Master is that it comes with a Taiko drum controller. Gives a little more authenticity to that arcade feeling. The only major gripe is that the controller is unresponsive straight down the middle of the drum.

Give the game 4 stars if you are looking for an interesting Rhythm game for your PS2.

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Taiko Drum Master w/ Drum

Strengths: Fun, unique, drums are great to use, a great party game.

Weakness: Not enough tracks included, blue disc (may not work in older PS2s),.

Taiko Drum Master is actually an old game from Japan that only recently has been released in the states. Japan already has several sequels and expansion packs while we've just begun (hopefully Namco will decide to import more music to support the drums). While at its heart it is still a rhythm game, Taiko is very unique since it gives you a drum and a pair of sticks. There are a few spots on the drum you can hit (including the rim) and I found the drums to be quite responsive. The graphics are okay but you won't be paying much attention to them since you'll be trying to keep up with the music. There's quite a nice variety of songs that should suit most people (mostly pop and a few songs from Namco games). I find that this game is quite addictive because it is so different from other rhythm based games. Plus, it's a great party game. Too bad it doesn't support 4-players like Donkey Konga. I recommend this game.

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A Different Drummer

Strengths: Easy to start playing, some classic music, some contemporary music, verfy fun.

Weakness: Sometimes the drum responsiveness around the edges is a bit dodgy.

I really love this game. I have been playing it for a while now, and it is extremely addictive. The animations that accompany this game are cute, and the level of interactivity is nice. The song selections are great! I just cannot recommend it enough - definitely pick up this game!

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Taiko Drum Master w/ Drum

Strengths: Overall Fun, Unique Soundtrack

Weakness: Small Soundtrack, Drum is off kinda

I like to play all music games that come out, and I liked Taiko Drum master. I loved the soundtrack, especially the Theme to Katamari Damacy (Katamari on the Rocks), and Brittany Spear's Toxic. The Drum at times doesn't register, and that sucks. Overall I it's a pretty good game that is better with many friends. Maybe half drunk. But that's just me.

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Taiko Drum Master w/ Drum

Strengths: good presentation, challenging

Weakness: drums are unreliable, needs better soundtrack

Taiko Drum Master is a good game for the music genre and not very complicated to pick up. The game comes with a drum and a pair of sticks. The drums are not required to play the game as it allows you to use the PS2 controller, but it's pointless without the drums. The on screen display in the game shows you when and where to hit the drums. It's very easy to play and it is pretty fun if you play with family and friends. While the game is easy to pick up, the drums are very unreliable, which siginicantly destroys the fun out of this game. The drums seem very cheap because there is a dead beat in the center of the drum. This means that if you accidently hit the center of the drum, the game won't recognize the hit and you will get penalized for missing a note. This becomes very frustrating, especially when you play in the harder difficulty levels. The soundtrack for the game isn't my cup of tea either. It consists mostly of pop song such as "Toxic" and "Lady Mermalade". It also contains some classical and original Namco tunes, featuring "Katamari on the Rocks" from the game "Katamary Damacy". In the end, this game isn't really worth the full retail price because of the drum issue. But music games like these rarely come out in the United States. If you have the cash, try it out. But be warned about the drums

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Taiko Drum Master w/ Drum

Strengths: Lots of fun. Great drum, with excellent control.

Weakness: Some of the songs, especially the Namco ones, are weak.

"Taiko Drum Master" is a lot like "Donkey Konga", but is not the same game. It delivers a similar experience, but one that is its own. The drum has four places where it can be hit -- inside left and right, and on the outside rims left and right. Sometimes you have to hit both inside or both outside at once.

The game is intuitive -- it's not difficult to play, and once you get used to the drum, you'll know exactly where to hit it. The control is precise -- unlike many other music games, I don't often have flubs. I didn't have any problem with the drum moving -- it stayed put by itself on the carpet, or on a chair.

It's very nice that the drum disassembles for storage. Everything fits nicely in the box.

There's a nice variety of songs, and four different difficulty levels. This adds up to a lot of playtime. On the downside, there are a bunch of songs from Namco games that I didn't recognize or care about. Some are weird or forgettable. The one exception is the song from "Katamari Damacy". Now why couldn't they have replaced the rest of the Namco songs with Katamari songs?

The design is fun. It's *very* Japanese, but this is a Taiko game, after all. There are dancing squids and cats and all sorts of stuff going on. When you're actually playing, it's hard to notice (or you miss your notes). But, it's much more entertaining than Donkey Konga.

I like Taiko Drum Master a lot. Both it and Donkey Konga are worthwhile, and while they're very similar, they end up giving different experiences. Donkey Konga is perhaps a little more visceral, since you get to pound the drums with your hands. But, while it's nowhere near a real Taiko, feels more like real drumming. If you like one, you'll like the other and won't feel like it's a waste or the same thing.

Anyone who likes music games, or likes whacking things with a stick can't go wrong with Taiko.

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Taiko Drum Master w/ Drum

Strengths: multiple difficulties, 2 player mode, mini games

Weakness: Could have used more extras

Taiko Drum Master is a Rhythm game that uses a Drum Controller to beat out the patterns that move across the screen much like a game like Dance Dance Revolution but on a drum controller. The Drum is split in two half with a sensor on both sides & can also detect rims shots. so at times you can hit either side to get a beat or at times a bigger note will move across the screen which will require you to hit both sides of the drum or both rims at the same time, almost like a flam for anyone familiar with drum rudiments. You can also play the game with a controller if you like which also can be handy for playing two player if you only got one drum. The game has about 30 songs some of which are unlockable by mastering some stages. Taiko Drum Master also has afew mini games which are alot of fun but would have been better if they had afew more to unlock or open from the get go. You also have multiple difficulties which get progressively harder & the highest setting is very challenging to say the least. I would recommend Taiko Drum Master to anyone that enjoys rhythm games.

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Taiko Drum Master w/ Drum

Strengths: Excellent variety of songs

Weakness: Why couldn’t they let you download more songs with the network adapter?

Taiko Drum Master comes packaged with an included drum set. The object of this game is to time the beating of the drum to your onscreen indicators while the music is playing. With approximately 30 different songs to choose from, this game is incredibly fun and exciting, especially on some of the harder difficulty levels when you are frantically trying to keep pace with the drum beats. Your score depends on how well you keep rhythm with the onscreen indicators in the song. The graphics are decent, but are more or less not important. However, they resemble a more Japanese style, similar to Hello Kitty. The sound is terrific and the gameplay is fantastic as this game will keep you engaged as you try to stay on beat. The variety of songs is also tremendous, with everything from classic hits (ABC, Love Shack) to TV themes (Dragon Ball Z Theme).

The only drawback is I wish they would have included the ability to download more songs to play. Although 30+ songs with 3 different difficulty settings seem like a lot, it actually leaves you yearning for more. Sure there are hidden songs, but there is not a whole lot of material to unlock. With the Playstation 2’s network adapter, it would have been nice if they included downloadable songs for the game, even if it would cost a small fee. But since it is not included, hopefully they will release an add-on pack in the near future.

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Taiko Drum Master w/ Drum

Strengths: Decent music game. Some music you know. Simple enough for anyone to understand.

Weakness: Perhaps too simple. Drum controller isn't adequate.

Taiko Drum Master is all the rage in Japan. Because music games are finally starting to catch on here, it makes sense for Namco to try bringing their flagship music game here, but unfortunately, a bad controller prevents it from being great.

The game's songs are a mix of stuff you know and classic Namco tunes. Control is pretty simple; there are only two types of hits: the middle of the drum and the rims. Sometimes, they'll mix it up and make you hit the middle or rims with both sticks at once, but that's about as complicated as it gets. Some songs are hard as all get out, throwing hits at you at an alarming rate, and that would be lots of fun to get into, if the controller weren't so bad.

The main problem with the included drum is that it slides around. You have to hit it pretty hard to register a hit, and as you might guess, that makes it slide pretty far. You don't have any time to recenter the thing while you're playing, and so you'll start to miss it entirely, if it doesn't just fall right off the table. I had to tape it down to the table while playing; hardly something your parents/roommates/spouse will want you to leave there. And even if you cement the thing down, there's the issue that sometimes, rim shots just don't register. You swear you hit it just right, but apparently, you didn't.

If this had an amazing controller, it would still be a simple game, but it would be fun. As it is, it gets unplayable pretty quick for all but the easiest songs.

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Taiko Drum Master w/ Drum

Strengths: fun gameplay, varied song selection

Weakness: hardly any unlockables

this game is very good to pick up and bang the drum a little. The easy difficulty is an easy play through while the other difficulty will have you practicing into the wee hours of the morning to beat it. The songs are great including me personel favorite "Katamari on the Rocks", but there is only a measly 5 unlockables which one is a difficulty setting.

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Taiko Drum Master w/ Drum

Strengths: Extremely fun, good song selection, and many difficulty levels.

Weakness: Not enough unlockables and mini games.

Taiko Drum Master is an excellent game and a must have for those who like musical rhythm games such as DDR and Donkey Konga. Overall, this game is much better than Donkey Konga and offers lasting replay value. Beating Soul Caliber on Oni difficulty level will keep even the most masterful busy for quite a while.

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Taiko Drum Master

Taiko Drum Master receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS rating of 3.17 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #1,827 game of all time, #68 game of 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and #374 PlayStation 2 game of all time. The rating and ranking is based on an average of 47 critic scores, awards and other criteria. To see a breakdown of the game ranking, read individual critic reviews, or see how other games ranked,...

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