Away from the promised future console Taiko game for a day, I've appeared on our newly-joined Discord group about Taiko no Tatsujin (link here) in order to gather some suggestions about this week's Saturday song features.
First come, first served! Here's the first couple of suggestions I've gathered this way...
Heaven's Rider| Version |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | x5 (163) | x6 (212) | x8 (465) | x9 (714) |
Taiko 0 W, Taiko 3DS 3
150
none
hvrideFollowing up Taku Inoue's Ten Bin-za Kyuko Yoru o Iku, Heaven's Rider has been one of the three Namco Originals to have been introduced by arcade event means, through the Taikai mini tournament of early 2016. At this point in time, the track is heavily speculated to be related (if not a sequel song) to Codename KATSU-DON's Phantom Rider, its final Don Points unlock; much like Phantom Rider, however, the creator's identity of both songs lies in mystery to this day...
What's not a mystery, however, is the charting shenanigans enacted by Taiko Team charter Yamaguchi (ヤマグチ) to unleash a modern-time 9* Oni trial without the need of extra difficulties! With no scrolling trickery being sighted, the real kicker for Heaven's Rider is the intrusive presence of 4-note 1/24 note clusters being spliced in alongside the average 1/16 note charting, which can easily lead to errors if being handled incorrectly.
Heaven's Rider also counted a boss-enriched console debut in the third Taiko videogame for 3DS, being played for the battle against a freshly-awaken Dragonewt.
Papa Mama Mc (パパマママック) McDonald's Collaboration Song| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | x4 (118) | x4 (152) | x5 (277) | x7 (430) |
Taiko 14, Taiko DS 3 112 none mcdnldPromo version
Taiko no Tatsujin as a series often had many different inputs from external companies in different fields, granting the rights to the series to feature iconic tracks from different kinds of Japan-related popular media. When it comes to actual collaboration operations, though, the first major event that tied in both the arcade and console scene at the same time has occurred during the latter end of 2010, with McDonald's first Taiko-themed campaign.
As reported by us in one of this blog's most ancient pages (
During the promo period, the song was aired in Japanese restaurants of the chain together with its dedicated music video (which can be seen here), while the song itself became playable in the two most recent Taiko titles of the time: the 14th main arcade game and the final Nintendo DS title. For Taiko 14's debut month, each credit play was also ended with a prompt that let players try a shorter version of Papa Mama Mc, while the full version could be selectable in the main songlist regardless of the promotional period's ending. In the case of Dororon! Youkai Dai Kessen!, however, it had to be unlocked by either inserting a specific password or by playing the appropriate audio cue from the specific Taiko Happy Meal toy really close to the gaming system's microphone.
Notechart-wise, the closest comparison that we can draw among 2nd-generation Taiko charts is with Crayon Shin-Chan's Happy Happy and its many single/couples note successions, with the major difference of Papa Mama Mc not relying on either scrolling change trickery or different note markers than the regular small/big Don and Kat notes. Each time the song is played on Taiko 14, a set of custom animations with Taiko lore characters in your typical McDonald's building is paired with Don-Chan himself sporting a clerk outfit inspired by the one of the Japanese branch of the fast food chain. On its console porting, the outfit change isn't forced, but the costume is unlockable as well!
