Taiko no Tatsujin: Wai Wai Happy Muyome

Purchase at Play-Asia

While the Taiko Drum Master series drifted away in the USA, Taiko no Tatsujin is on its third disc in Japan this year. Out of the three games released this is the one that importers should look out for. Taiko no Tatsujin: Wai Wai Happy Muyome opts for a more diverse music selection rather than mainly anime songs like in Tobikkiri! Anime Special and it isn’t a US to Japan port.

Taiko no Tatsujin: Wai Wai Happy Muyome plays just like any other game in the series. You start out by selecting a song then watch as smiling drum faces scroll from right to left. When a drum icon touches the empty circle on the left hand side of the screen bang the drum in the center if the drum icon is red and hit the edge if it’s light blue. All you have to do is hit the drum on beat to fill the song meter up to clear the stage. If you’ve never played a Taiko no Tatsujin game before, you’ll get hooked quickly. The easy stages are perfect for novices to learn the basics while the difficult stages provide a lasting challenge. Takio no Tatsujin: Wai Wai Happy Muyome doesn’t do much to mess with the formula, it just gives fans more songs.

If you’ve been playing Taiko no Tatsujin 7 in the arcades you’ll recognize a few songs. Borrowed from the J-pop list are No More Cry and Hana from Orange Range. New J-Pop hits in Wai Wai Happy Muyome include My Way and Y.M.C.A. As usual anime themes take a large bulk of the 48 songs. The Naruto ending Speed makes an appearance along with Wai Wai World from Dr. Slump and the Black Jack opening Here I Am. Namco also includes a sizeable classical selection and a hodgepodge variety section. Unfortunately, the Dragon Quest VIII songs from Taiko no Tatsujin 7 didn’t make the home version. There still are plenty of other video game themes like a track from Tekken 5, Katamari on the Swing from Katamari Damacy and a Xevious melody to play with. Namco also has five more songs that unlock as you spend time with the game.

Besides the main rhythm game Taiko no Tatsujin: Wai Wai Happy Muyome comes with a bunch of mini games. Some games, like the chopping firewood game just expect you to hit the drum as fast as possible. The badmittion game does the opposite. Instead of banging on the drum you need to time your hit in sync with the shuttlecock to send it flying back to your cat opponent. If you miss three times the game is over and the cat draws on your face to further humiliate you. The most addictive game out of the bunch is squid cooking. You control a turtle by hitting the drum edge to move him left or right. Hitting in the center makes him pick up a squid and turn it over. The game starts out slow so you learn what color the squid should be before you turn it over, but it quickly speeds up. The result is a cooking frenzy. If you want a challenge try the crush escape game. You play as a little Taiko drum running away from a larger drum who’s in love with you. To increase your running speed you have to pound in the center of the drum, but that won’t get you very far. You have to dodge projectiles by hitting the drum edge left or right. Later on you’ll have to dodge lighting bolts that home on you while rapidly hitting the drum to keep your running speed up. See how far you can get before you arms get tired.

Taiko no Tatsujin: Wai Wai Happy Muyome keeps to the style of other Taiko games. You start out with one dancing cartoon character on the bottom of the screen and more appear as you keep banging the drum on beat. If you get a perfect score the drum turns to a sparkly gold color and even more dancing turtles show up. Taiko no Tatsujin: Wai Wai Happy Muyome does reuse many of the characters and animations from the other games, but if you are actively playing you’ll have little time to stare at anything else than the notes on screen. The only new feature in this version of the Taiko series is expanded multiplayer. Before you could play with a friend if both of you had drums. In Wai Wai Happy Muyome you can play with up to 8 friends if you have two multitaps and eight drums. It’s a nice option to have, but few people will get to experience this due to the sheer amount of equipment required.

If you like Taiko Drum Master or any other Taiko no Tatsujin game Wai Wai Happy Muyome is a worthy successor with one flaw. While there are a couple of different genres of music most of it sticks with a similar lighthearted back beat. There are no real rock songs, hip hop tracks or techno. In game music really falls into two groups pop and classical. It’s not as diverse as other Taiko games, but it’s a better selection than Drum Master or Tobikkiri! Anime Special.

Import Friendly? Literacy Level: 1

The language barrier can be a problem when you’re trying to leaf through to find a song or select “mini games” from the main menu. However, if you’re patient you’ll be able to easily navigate through the menus with a little trial and error.
 

US Bound?

Taiko Drum Master didn’t make a huge splash in the USA and Namco seems to have no plans to release any more Taiko games. Even if they did the J-pop and the anime themes would be axed.

+ Pros: Retro game tunes and some cool mini games make Taiko no Tatsujin: Wai Wai Happy Muyome a worthy pick up.

- Cons: You can play 43 different songs, but this song list is so spread out most gamers will get stuck playing only a handful of songs.

Overall: Taiko no Tatsujin: Wai Wai Happy Muyome is a back to roots expansion disc for the series with a more diverse selection than the anime music Taiko release.

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