Review: TAIKO NO TATSUJIN RHYTHMIC ADVENTURE PACK Marches To Its Own Beat
The last generation of games didn’t see as much in the rhythm genre as in the era of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. But we are currently seeing a resurgence of the rhythm game genre with a number of unique and high-quality entries. Taiko no Tatsujin: Rythmic Adventure Pack has now come to the Nintendo Switch and offers a surprisingly fun experience with a bit more depth than expected. Even though there are some major performance issues with certain parts and the main campaign feeling sluggish, the actual moment to moment gameplay allows players to jump into a hyper-stylized Japanese culture drumline.
This game is best played on an actual Taiko drum, these can be purchased from a number of different places and they aren’t terribly expensive. Otherwise, the standard buttons can be used and the joy-cons can be removed from the Switch and swung like the drumsticks in the game. Having an electric Taiko drum with sticks won’t feel authentic, but it gives a satisfying experience using the classic Japanese drum style. On the actual Switch, the buttons work just fine, even though it is a little difficult to get used to the button layout when playing harder songs, but it’s reasonable playing the game like that (probably the most common and easiest for most players). I was most excited to try using the joy-cons to swing up, down, left, and right to hit the top or sides of the drum. I feel like this function should’ve been pretty easy and simple for the joy-cons to perform, but after many tests in a variety of levels, adjustments, and movements, the joy-cons rarely picked up hitting the sides of the drum, which more or less alienated half of the notes. Even then, striking down on the drum for normal beats didn’t register as well as I wanted and felt clunky at best.
The main campaign for both games, known as Story Mode, is sluggish but still somewhat engaging. Both games take a player through a cute and simple adventure with various little battles and encounters where the player uses their drums as a way to encourage their allies to fight enemies. It’s a great little mechanic and a fun way to do combat. However, the numerous cutscenes and unskippable dialogue slow any progress or actual gameplay down so much that it becomes much more of a chore than a storyline. The RPG elements add a bit of extra depth, but it isn’t original or terribly well thought out, it is mostly just there as a small layer of extra time added to the gameplay.
The song selection is surprisingly varied but stays mostly in a narrow lane of Japanese pop. Between original songs for the games, video game music, iconic anime themes, classical, and other genres, there is a lot to enjoy. I just found the number of tracks to be a little slim, especially being between the two games. It also seems unfortunately slim because of the simplicity of the game, just having to play the beat of the song not worrying about instrumental sections or vocals. There is enough to stay well entertained for a long time, but I think it is still lacking a little bit for being two games and it being such a well-established franchise.
Overall, this game has a lot of potential for those who really enjoy cartoony, Japanese style and culture. Rhythm game lovers can appreciate the new challenges and unique, yet simple gameplay, but it doesn’t offer enough to purchase it only for its rhythm game aspect. It is a nice little experience even though the experience is flawed, short, and basic.
