The first and only English language Taiko no Tatsujin game, released on October 2004 in the US and then later released on March the following year in Japan, also in full English. The difference was that the Japanese version has a few new songs the US version didn't have. Otherwise, it's a bare-bones Taiko game with all the usual menus and modes, and a lot of English pop songs.
Taiko Drum Master performed poorly in the US, and no subsequent versions of Taiko was ever released in English, which is regrettable. Partly to blame was the low level of difficulty in the popular English songs (which was rectified in the Japanese release), and the mediocre song choice. Especially weak was the anime song selection in the US version, which did nothing to attract anime or TV show fans in the West.
The Japanese release fared better, being in its homeland, but also because of higher difficulty and a few better songs (yes, there are exclusive English songs in the Japanese version that the US version didn't have. Oh, the irony.)
Though the opening song is Kyou wa Taiko-youbi, the exact same song used for Sandaime's opening movie, this song is nowhere in both US and JP song lists, and is therefore not playable. It retains the Japanese vocals, but adds English subtitles. Not playable as well is the English version of Onpu no Uta, the song traditionally used for the tutorial mode on PS2 since Yondaime.
~ Opening song ~
Kyou wa Taiko-youbi (きょうはたいこ曜日)
Kyou wa Taiko-youbi (きょうはたいこ曜日)
No. of songs | 31 (US), 33 (JP) |
No. of secret songs | 4 (both) |
-Exclusive song difference:
US-exclusive songs | JP-exclusive songs |
---|---|
Toxic | The Loco-Motion |
I'm A Believer | You Can't Hurry Love |
Are You Gonna Be My Girl | September |
My Sharona | I'm A Slave 4 U |
Rock The Dragon | I Was Born To Love You |
Jimmy Neutron Theme | We Will Rock You |
Katamari On The Rocks | Alphabet Song |
Mojipittan Medley | |
Saitama 2000 |
-The following songs have different Oni notecharts on the Japanese release (usually harder)
- That's The Way (I Like It)
- The Impression That I Get
- Tubthumping
- Walking on Sunshine
- Material Girl
- Love Shack
- Lady Marmalade
- Slide
- American Girls
- Killer Queen
US songlist
JP songlist
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