This week we're driving you bananas, as we have a double song feature with tunes available on both Taiko no Tatsujin and Donkey Konga!
Clarinet o Kowashichata (クラリネットをこわしちゃった)| Version |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | x1 (99) | x1 (129) | x1 (221) | x2 (267) |
Taiko 6, Taiko PS2 4
108
Children (Children/Folk) -> Variety
krariDonkey Kong has always been one of Nintendo's biggest trademarks, spanning the old arcades to a full 2D platforming series to other experimental stuff like the rhythm game series Donkey Konga. Since Donkey Konga has a connection with Taiko and the big ape himself has had a major release just this week in the US and Europe for Wii U (Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze), I think it's time to delve a little bit into Namco's very first console attempt for an international rhythm game.
Developed by the Taiko no Tatsujin team for most of the PS2's releases (such as Taiko Drum Master), Donkey Konga was released on December 2003 in Japan and about a year later in the rest of the world, predating the US release of Taiko Drum Master by a month (September 2004). Much like Taiko, these games feature the use of a peripheral to play: the DK Bongos (TaruKonga in Japan), which -as the name suggests- consists in a couple of linked bongo drums with a Start button and a built-in microphone at the center.
Donkey Konga's gameplay consists of hitting notes scrolling to the player horizontally to the left, just like Taiko, by either hitting one of the bongos (sometimes both) or clapping next to the mike. As you can see from many gameplay videos (like this one, with Clarinet o Kowashichata), a lot of visual and gameplay features from Taiko are used here, ranging from dancers/note/overall layout styles to drumrolls and even Go-Go Time zones!
Speaking about the song itself, Clarinet o Kowashichata (lit. 'I Broke the Clarinet') is the Japanese version of a French nursery rhyme called J'ai perdu le do de ma clarinette (lit. 'I Lost my Clarinet'). The original one's origins (yay, alliterations) are still surrounded by mystery, as it's not known yet who contributed in its creation. Nowadays it's widely accepted that its creation was lead by the inspiration brought by other popular songs from the French folklore, such as J'ai perdu le do and the 19th century-dated Le Chant d l'Oignon, which many stories and tales recall as the march tune sung by Napoleon Bonaparte during the battle of Marengo in order to raise his troop's moral.
Many variations of the traditional French nursery rhyme have been made in several languages such as Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Japanese, which is of course the one used on Taiko. The Japanese version was made for the NHK television show Minna no Uta, airing for the first time on February 1963. It's sung by the duet team called Dark Ducks (ダークダックス), with the lyrics being rewritten by Yoshiko Ishii (石井好子). Many other cover versions of Clarinet o Kowashichata have been made, but the Dark Ducks cover remains by far the most popular.
While the Donkey Konga take on this folklore-driven song features a wide variety of notes and a generally-lively gameplay style, on Taiko games the song turns into another staple for Oni beginners, mostly featuring simple clusters and a low speed.
Monkey Magic (モンキー・マジック) Godiego| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiko 8, 9, 11 Asian, Taiko PS2 7 | x3 (95) | x3 (135) | x4 (216) | x6 (375) |
| Taiko 3DS2 | x3 (95) | x3 (135) | x5 (216) | x7 (375) |
Taiko 8, 9, 11 Asian, Taiko PS2 7, Taiko 3DS2 115 none monkyOne year after Donkey Konga's debut in Japan, a sequel was released in Japan on July 2004 (marketed as Donkey Konga 2: Hit Song Parade!) and a year later in the rest of the world, featuring new songs and bongo-based minigames. For the Japanese market, it curiously needed a sequel to the original game to feature a J-Pop song about monkeys in a rhythm game franchise which is literally filled with apes!
Released on December 25, 1978, Monkey Magic is the 8th single for the Japanese rock band Godiego, the same one behind the Galaxy Express 999 movie theme we already featured in this corner some years ago. Founded in 1975, the band currently consists of five members who both sing and play an instrument for their songs: band leader Mickie Yoshino (ミッキー吉野) and Yukihide Takekawa (武川 行秀) at the keyboard, Takami Asano (浅野孝已) at the guitars, Steve Fox with the bass and Tommy Snyder on the drums. Through its over-35 years of lifespan, Godiego faced both member changes and huge hiatus periods in-between, despite some of their earliest tracks's success.
Monkey Magic is a song which made Godiego popular for a while in the West as well, as it was initially made as the main theme of the 1978 drama series Saiyuki (西遊記), known as Monkey in the United Kingdom. After hitting high spots on the Oricon charts (#2 for Top Song and #4 for 'The Best Ten'), Monkey Magic became sort of an underground hit in Japanese popular culture, ranging from quirky references in TV shows (like for the Anime series Excel Saga and Lucky Star) to multiple cover versions, such as the cover by Korean pop singer E-Paksa and the ones by American and Canadian bands (Cobra Starship and Monkey Majik, whose name was directly inspired by the original song!). Godiego themselves made an 'updated version' of their song in 2006, year of their second return after a 6-year long hiatus.
Among the general rhythm gaming community, Monkey Magic's most known cover is the one made by the 5-man Japanese rock band Orange Range, which was later used in Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan's sequel as one of its hidden songs. Like for the game's other songs, a mini-storyline follows the cheering bands' supported people; in this case, a toy monkey was accidentally left behind with some other toys by its young owner for the family's moving into a new house. Miraculously brought to life by one of the game's cheering bands, the fluffy ape is now determined to reach its owner back a-la Toy Story, supported by its newly-found strength.
On Taiko, the slow-paced scrolling makes room for different combinations of small clusters, making for a fresh and low-rated Oni experience, even for today's rating standards. Taiko beginners who want to approach hand-switching skills without too worries will most likely find their training wheels in Monkey Magic's 6-starred song in some of the past generation's arcades. On Taiko 11 Asian, the song appears in the songlist with the title in English instead of the Japanese one.
After a long hiatus, Monkey Magic returns as a 3DS2 DLC, at which point both Muzukashii and Oni got a star up in the ratings, likely to reflect the complexity of the patterns.
