Hmmm, how does one describe the graphics in Namco’s Taiko: Drum Master? Very Japanese, very wacky, and quite reminiscent of Sanrio. The characters are vibrant and full of life, however odd they may be. There’s a lot going on in the background as your notes parade across the screen, which can be a bit distracting, but it is cute. I would imagine children would really enjoy the look and feel of Taiko: Drum Master, although their parents may tire of endless drumming.

As far as sound goes, Drum Master hits the spot. Taps and booms sound pretty good using the Drum Master controller that comes bundled with the game. There are songs to choose from that will suit every taste, including licensed music, classical and some Namco originals as well, such as ABC, Material Girl, Toxic, My Sharona, Walking on Sunshine, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, William Tell Overture, Ridge Racer, Soul Calibur II: Brave Sword, Braver Soul, and much more.

Taiko: Drum Master is a rhythm game that utilizes a drum controller that comes bundled with the game. Sure, you can purchase the game separately, for use with the analog controller, but it isn’t much fun playing this way (unless you are in a mini-game, but more on this later), so I don’t recommend it.

There are two main modes to choose from: Taiko Mode and Mini-Game Mode. In addition, there is a Tutorial Mode for learning the ropes and a section to view cinematics. Once into Taiko Mode, you select your song and then your difficulty. Little red and blue faces appear rhythmically bouncing across your screen. These are your cues to hit your Taiko. If you connect with the drum at the right moment, you will either get a “Great,” “Good,” or “Bad.” Also, at the bottom of the screen, a character will appear and either the crowd will increase if you are doing well, or disperse if you are doing poorly. When you correctly hit the notes, at the top of the screen you will notice that they either turn into sweet creatures like baby chicks, or little ghosties if you don’t get your timing right. This is related somehow to the wacky storyline, but other than being a visual cue for how you are doing, it doesn’t really matter. You receive a percentage based on your performance, and there is also a meter at the top that you must fill most of the way in order to clear a stage. Yes, you get points for correctly timing your beats, but if you hit the Taiko at the wrong time, the meter at the top decreases. So you can get a really high score by continuously banging on your drum, but you might not pass the level.

Basically, Taiko Mode is the meat and potatoes of the game. Here, you’ll find a good number of songs to choose from, along with several unlockable songs as well. You’ll select a song and decide whether to have one or two players, and then get down to business.

The Mini-Game Mode provided some interesting distractions, but not much more. There is a watermelon-eating contest where you hit the drum to eat the watermelon and then spit out the seeds, all the while trying to dodge the blindfolded Tetsuo and his handy bat. Then there is the Fireworks Festival where you must place bombs for your friend Kame to ignite, watching out not to mistake bombs for fireworks. Then there is Reach the Helicopter, which is a miserable little game where a row of little cats or something stack themselves up in a vain attempt to reach a helicopter flying overhead. You must control the wavering group and jump to reach the chopper, all the while wind is fighting against you. Not fun. The cats always fall. However, an interesting note is that the second player can easily use an analog controller to play with the first player using the Taiko controller in all of the mini-games.

Taiko: Drum Master starts out with three levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, and Hard, but you can unlock Oni mode which clearly means “totally unbeatable hellacious mode” in Japanese. Oni’s little icon is a demon, further reinforcing my ideas on this matter.

The level of difficulty for each level of the song is displayed by the number of stars that are blackened in. In other words, you might have a song that has two stars on Easy and five stars on Hard, then yet another song that is four stars on Easy and six on Hard. Oni is damned near impossible for all songs, for me at least. Do beware of the Hungarian Dances No. 5, where the notes will run across the screen and overtake one another; hard to explain and weird to witness.

The controls for Taiko: Drum Master are pretty simple. Depending on what the song calls for, you will either hit the center of the drum with one or both sticks, or the outer rim of the drum with one or both sticks. The patterns don’t necessarily match up to what you might think you’d be hitting for a particular song, at least once you get off of the Easy level. The controls are easy to pick up and difficult to master, as they say.

I did find that the drum didn’t always register my hits, but that may be because I wasn’t hitting the drum in exactly the right place. This did cause me to throw the sticks a few times, however.

The game is fun for the first run-through of the songs. However, I didn’t find myself driven back to it to complete every song on every level like I am with something like Karaoke Revolution.

Also, the cord could have been a little bit longer as it didn’t quite stretch far enough to be comfortable for me. Plus, you need the drum on carpet or something like that, as it will go sliding across a table as you try to play. Not good.

Taiko: Drum Master is a fun and different game, and if you are into rhythm games, you might dig it a lot. However, with a current price tag of around $70, it might be too big of an investment. But if you are a closet drummer, you will get some enjoyment out of this one.