We're back to the realm of single-game-exclusive songs, with a couple of rare Namco Originals that share their musical birthplace in quite the unusual way!
Fukubukuro Gyōza Jiman Shōten-gai No Uta (福袋餃子自慢商店街の歌) Ikebukuro Gyoza Stadium (池袋餃子スタジアム)| Version |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | x3 (136) | x3 (230) | x4 (328) | x5 (390) |
| All (2P) | x3 (137/137) | x3 (231/231) | x4 (321/321) | - |
Taiko PS2 5
116.3
none
gyoza1 Gyoza Boogie Woogie (餃子ブギウギ) Ikebukuro Gyoza Stadium (池袋餃子スタジアム)| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | x3 (129) | x3 (187) | x4 (268) | x7 (394) |
Taiko PS2 5 180 none gyoza2Taiko Godaime for the PS2 retains to this day one of the highest peaks of Namco Original song exclusives, a feat which is hard to debunk due to selected songs' "on-site" sources being discontinued and thus making it a little bit harder to see future ports of such tracks. Meet the two major offenders of this trend, as well as the real-life amusement park who premiered them!
In Tokyo's Toshima ward, located in the commercial district of Ikebukuro, lies a shopping complex made of four different bildings -the Sunshine City (サンシャインシティ)- lying where once was edificated the historical Sugamo Prison. Alongside the complex's venues and joints, we can even find one amusement park that is made and handled by Namco (now Bandai Namco) itself: the Namco Namja Town (ナムコナンジャータウン). Built in 1996, this amusement park has almost nothing to do with any of the company's related videogames/Anime properties, as it offers a blend of carnival-flavored features that your average Japanese amusement park for families does not fail to miss, from themed dining services to haunted house rides and other carnival-styled attractions. Curiously enough, the Namco Nanja Town also got two videogames on its own, both being JP-exclusives: 2000's Nakavu no Daiboken: My Favorite Namja Town for the PlayStation and Namja Town, released on iOS in the early 2010s.
Among the Namco Nanja Town's dining venues, we could also find the the Ikebukuro Gyoza Stadium (池袋餃子スタジアム), where the traditional Japanese dumplings are the main dish of the menu! The venue was closed down in 2010 on January 11th, but two of the original songs that were made for the Ikebukuro Gyoza Stadium managed to make the jump to the 2004 PS2 Taiko title. Both Fukubukuro Gyōza Jiman Shōten-gai No Uta (lit. 'Song of the Good-Luck-Bag Gyoza Shopping Street') and Gyoza Boogie Woogie never made it to be included in any official Namco-related soundtrack and as suck, both songs' artists are still a mystery to this day.
On the Taiko Oni side of the talk, what we have here at hand is an ondo-styled song that seldon strays away from mono-colored clusters charting and a fast-paced swing piece with 1/12 main-key charting with some 1/16 sections being sprinkled in, with note alternation trend and an average note density that is not that different from the renewal chart of the Off Rock's Oni mode. While both songs share the same SongID root due to their shared connection to gyoza and one of the Namja Park's dining venues, only the first song has custom 2-player charts for the KFM set!
