Ok, since your requests are getting more and more overwhelming, it's time for another double pick (Always in the revival mood, indeed)! The first song is suggested by kookono:
Lovely-X (ラブリーX) --- Old ---
Taiko 2 to 6, Medal 1, 2, Taiko PS2 1, Taiko PSP 1, 2, CD Blue
134
Namco -> Game Music -> Namco Original -> Game Music
lvx
Lovely-X (ラブリーX) --- Old ---| Version |  |  |  |  / |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiko 2 | x7 (489/459/402) | x10 (489/459/402) | ||
| Taiko 3 | x10 (489/459/402) | |||
| Taiko PS2 1 | x6 (402) | x6 (483/459/402) | x9 (489) | |
| Taiko 4 to 6 | x6 (402) | x6 (485/456/402) | x8 (489) | |
| Taiko 7, Taiko PSP 1, 2 | x5 (208) | x6 (402) | x6 (483/456/402) | x7 (489) |
Taiko 2 to 6, Medal 1, 2, Taiko PS2 1, Taiko PSP 1, 2, CD Blue 134 Namco -> Game Music -> Namco Original -> Game Music lvx Lovely-X (ラブリーX) --- New ---| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | x4 (144) | x5 (215) | x6 (394/358/326) | x7 (509) |
Taiko DS 3, Taiko Wii U 3 134 Game Music -> Namco Original -> Game Music lvxDid you know that Lovely-X was once considered as the hardest song in Taiko? It's true- when Donderful difficulty was introduced back in Taiko 2, Lovely-X was the kingpin on that machine and the song to beat. The high difficulty level for the time ensured it a spot in the arcade for some time until the revamp on Taiko 7. The situation has changed drastically since then and the difficulty stars kept on dropping until it leveled out at 7*. The song's lyrics are inexplicably about girls, cars and tyres. Lovely-X is composed by Yuri Misumi and sung by Yano Yoshito, the duo which would later go on to compose the boss songs for Taiko DS2 and DS3 (Yami no Tamashii and Jigoku no Daiou respectively)
The name is a play on Namco's old arcade game Rally-X, released in 1980 under the Namco Pac-Man hardware. In the game, the player controls a blue car through a maze, chased by other red cars. The object is to "capture" all of the flags scattered in the field before the other racers hit the player, or the car's fuel runs out. Rally-X was the first videogame to feature background music during play. A year after Rally-X's release, its sequel, named New Rally-X, was released with slightly enhanced graphics, easier gameplay, new power-ups and a new soundtrack.
This soundtrack is the one used by Lovely-X (listen to it, it's very easy to pick out), along with a few other sounds from the game. Lovely-X being a remix of the New Rally-X soundtrack also explains why it was in Taiko 5, 6 and PSP 2's Game Music genre instead of its mainstay in Namco Original. However, it was moved back to Namco Original on its revival in Taiko DS3.
Namco love having their old 8-bit symbols being used in their newer games (much like Nintendo's own classic series), including Taiko. And so, after the special flagship featured in Galaxian (which was used as a symbol of songs being unlocked in Taiko 12), the S-flag which players had to capture in Rally-X was also utilized for Taiko, this time to mark unlockable songs on the selection screen for easy viewing. When a player clears a song unlockable in arcade games without secret codes (the list is here), an S-flag will appear on the score results screen to indicate success.
The notechart of the old Donderful difficulty of Lovely-X, while infamous in Taiko 2 as a mad and difficult song, offers intuitive beat patterns and a medium-range BPM. 3-note clusters often appear, and also large gaps within notes after the Go-Go Time zone. The slightly rejigged notechart of Taiko DS3's version (it wasn't a full makeover unlike a few other revived songs) has more notes and a second Go-Go Time zone, near the song's end. This song was used in the first boss battle with Wanyudo in Taiko DS3, which was a perfect fit as Wanyudo was shaped like a wheel.
Lovely-X (ラブリーX)| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | x8 (662) |
Taiko Wii U 3 134 None ???While the previous 10-star hurdle is unlikely to be able to reclaim the "throne" after all these years, this iconic track at least was given the Ura notechart treatment with a suitable amount of long streams and 24th clusters, now that those are beginning to become the norm.
Ta.ko.Ta.i.ko (タ・コ・タ・イ・コ)| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | x5 (182) | x6 (292) | x6 (411) | x7 (497/477/409) |
| All (2P) | x5 (185/184) | x6 (288/288) | x6 (406/406) | x7 (489/489) (video) |
Taiko PS2 5, Taiko PSP 2, CD Anime 150 none takoToday's second pick, chosen by betawatcher, lead us to another collaboration by some of the most active members of the Taiko team! Ta.ko.ta.i.ko is sung by the duo Narahashi Miki / Mika Sato; the first one is the modern voice actress for Don-chan, while the 2nd one - you can hear her in the chorus - is well known for an entire series of Namco Original songs (you must have heard of the Mika series by now). The composer is Oogami Masako (大上昌子), creator of the ac. series and several Taiko opening themes (Densetsu no Matsuri and Nanairo Harmony to name two).
As the song's title suggests, Ta.ko.Ta.i.ko plays on the pun within Taiko and takoyaki, or fried octopus ball on a batter. It is typically filled with diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion. The song's lyrics tells about a squid which is making takoyaki at the seaside, during a Japanese traditional festival. In tone with the song's atmosphere, the custom dancers of Ta.ko.ta.i.ko in the PS2 game are ALWAYS blue squids!
With a BPM slightly higher than Lovely-X, Ta.ko.Ta.i.ko is another average challenge with its three different forked routes. On the 2-player mode, the note patterns during Go-Go Time have small changes between the two players, and have no forked paths. Despite the changes, both players have the exact same total number of notes (well, except on Kantan).
