Due to our followers' requests, April is going to see another double-song peek! This week's protagonist is Mekadon, the symbol of perfection in Taiko games.
Mekadesu. (メカデス。) --- Old ---| Version |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiko PS2 3 | x6 (298) | x7 (390) | x10 (506) | |
| Taiko 6 | x6 (298) | x6 (390) | x10 (506) |
Taiko 6, Taiko PS2 3
160
Heavy Metal -> Namco Original
mdeth Mekadesu. (メカデス。) --- New ---| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiko 7, Taiko PSP 1 | x4 (127) | x6 (270) | x6 (392) | x9 (483) |
| Taiko 9, Taiko PSP2 | x3 (127) | x6 (270) | x6 (392) | x9 (483) |
| Taiko 7, 10 to 14, Taiko Wii 1, Taiko iOS | x4 (127) | x6 (270) | x7 (392) | x9 (483) |
| Taiko 0, Taiko 3DS 1, Taiko Wii U 2 | x4 (127) | x7 (270) | x7 (392) | x7 (483) |
Taiko 7, 9 to 14, Taiko 0, Taiko PSP 1, 2, Taiko Wii 1, Taiko 3DS 1, Taiko Wii U 2, Taiko +, CD 2008 160 none mdethEnding movie
The 3rd PS2 game ends with the creation of Mekadon in a factory, the Taiko robot which appears in all later games as the icon of Autoplay mode. As the symbol of absolute robotic perfection, Mekadesu is a heavy-metal song, the first of its kind on Taiko. The title literally means 'I'm a mecha' with the 'desu' meaning 'to be', but has a double meaning in Romaji making it 'Mechadeath'. Its SongID (mdeth), refers to the American band Megadeth as the source of inspiration. Of course, there's no relation between the two and Megadeth was in no way responsible for making this song.
Loved by generations of fans, Mekadesu. was composed by Masubuchi Yuuji, and the chorus is sung also by Yuri Misumi and Mika Sato, both very familiar names in Namco Originals. Mekadon's voice is Yano Yoshito. Plus, the lyrics are written by LindaAI-Cue, the well-known father of the 2000 songs and, less known, Doom Noiz.
The majority of the openings and endings of console Taiko are not seen in more than one game and thus have no opportunity to be used over and over. Mekadesu. is one of the few lucky ones to survive and so has had one notechart revision; the old version of the song actually had more notes (the difference is in the first stanza and after the long balloon note) which emphasized some harder rhythm, and the current version has less notes and one difficulty star less, with an increase in the number of hits on the balloon note and a much longer, crazier don/kat/don/kat chain right after, flowing with the hysterical 'mechamechamecha' in the background. Even the ending video of the 3rd PS2 game shows how to pass this section, with the masked dolls passing both the giant balloon note and the dkdkdk stream! However, the streams didn't save Mekadesu from a two star decrease in difficulty once it reached Taiko 0, although its lower difficulties actually increased in ratings to create an almost uniform '7,7,7' difficulty.
Mekadesu's 5 and 7 note clusters are also very characteristic of the song, and these can be seen in one of the Go-Go Time zones of Taberuna 2000. Like Kimi ni Touch, this song changed its Japanese name to the English equivalent for the Asia arcade machines, becoming 'I'm Mecha。'. Mekadesu was used in the battle with Kat-chan in the story mode of the first Taiko 3DS title.
Mekadesu. (メカデス。) | Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | - | - | - | x10 (999) |
Taiko N 160 none ???Far away are the times where this first-generation song stood tall with the highest difficulty rating for its most difficult mode, but years went by and at the start of the 4th arcade generation it came to claim that spot back with quite the aggressive Ura Oni spin!
Punctuated with many a scrolling change between the x0.5-x2.0 range, this launched-as-Banapassport-exclusive trial adehers to the music notation charting with lots of charting trends that sit at the current-upper-chain of Taiko charting withinm the technicality/physical prowess balance, from its dense opening/ending portion that calls back to Sanpo (Ura) to 1/24 spikes and 1/16 clusters with both big and small notes. Not only the end result brings the note total up to 999 notes, but its dromroll-less score ceiling also stops exactly at 999.900 points!
Future Lab (フューチャー・ラボ)
| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiko 12.5 to 13, Taiko PSP 2 | x3 (167) | x5 (239) | x8 (482) | x9 (672) |
| Taiko Wii 2 | x3 (170,168,165) | x5 (244,240,238) | x8 (482) | x9 (672) |
| Taiko Wii U 2 | x3 (167) | x5 (239) | x7 (482) | x8 (672) |
Taiko 12.5, 13, Taiko Wii 2, Taiko PSP 2, Taiko Wii U 2, CD Donderful (Extended version) 160 none flaboFirst apearing on Taiko 12.5, Future Lab was given more flavor and character when Mekadon began to use it in Taiko Wii 2 in the boss battle versus him, intended for practice for Dr. Waruru's robots later on in the game. The tune used for the match is futuristic, sung with a robotic voice. Yukiko Yamamoto (山本由貴子) provided her voice to be used in the song.
So...random Namco Original song? There's actually a purpose and meaning behind the lyrics.
青物横丁の駅から見える 変な形の建物
Trapezialにそびえる それは
ちょっと不思議な フューチャー・ラボ
流れる滝で行水できる 変な中身の建物
吹き抜けの2階のカフェ行けば
いつもケーキ 食べられる
The song's lyrics here describe an odd trapezium-shaped building, visible from the Aomono-yokocho train station in Tokyo, with a large waterfall and a café on the atrium of the 2nd floor. This description actually matches the location and the appearance of the Namco Bandai Lab of the Future (バンダイナムコ未来研究所), the development house for Namco Bandai's games, and where the Taiko 10th Anniversary celebrations were held in full swing. Take a look at the actual building here. It does look rather strange, doesn't it? Even the insides of the building are very futuristic. There's even an 'arcade archive' in the building, storing all of Namco's old cabinets from the past, though they are not open to play for the public.
Future Lab's Oni chart is an average 9* song which has an abundance of note clusters, especially during Go-Go time, reminding us of several patterns from the J-POP song Ikenai Taiyō. Despite it being a rather nice song, Future Lab was cut out of the arcades after Taiko 13, being placed at a lowly 41st among the 46 Namco Original songs in Taiko 12.5. The three different notecounts in Taiko Wii 2 is a result of the giant Don note in the Kantan and Futsuu difficulties.
For all its unpopularity in the arcade as a playable song, Future Lab being about Namco's signature headquarters building gets its own full-length song in the Donderful soundtrack CD released in December 2011.
