Matsuken Samba II
マツケンサンバⅡ
| Game | Genre |
|
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC 8-9 PS2 5 PSP 1 |
 |
★5 (123) |
★4 (183) |
★5 (282) |
★8 (385) |
- |
| AC 7 |
 |
★5 (123) |
★4 (183) |
★5 (282) |
★8 (385) |
- |
| 3DS2 (DLC) Plus STH |
 |
★5 (123) |
★5 (183) |
★6 (282) |
★8 (385) |
- |
| NS2 (MP) |
 |
★5 (123) |
★5 (183) |
★6 (282) |
★8 (385) |
- |
| All (2P) |
★5 (120/124) |
★4/★5 (171/173) |
- |
★8 (378/385) |
- |
127.15
samba (Matsuken Samba II)Matsuken Samba III
マツケンサンバⅢ
| Game | Genre |
|
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS2 6 |
|
★3 (126) |
★4 (178) |
★5 (303) |
★8 (654) |
- |
| All (2P) |
★3 (126/126) |
★4 (174/174) |
- | - | - |
126.6 mken3 (Matsuken Samba III)A series of songs sharing similar names/themes is not a concept that unique to music gaming, you know?! One of these from Japan has even originated as part of a choreographed theathers performance for years, rather than just for the tunes' releases per-se: the Matsuken Samba songs, named as a combined portmanteau for its singer/live performer Ken Matsudaira (松平健), of taiga drama acting fame. All songs are performed on stage by the same Matsudaira in the garb of a commoner from Japan's Edo period, donning a Japanese-enriched samba performance with fancy moves and backup dancers to boot!
The hallmark point of popularity among Matsuken Samba songs has been with the second one, also starring the same couple of talents behind all other Matsuken Sambas' creation: composer Akira Miyagawa (宮川彬良) and lyricist Akiko Yoshihime (宮川彬良) of the OSK Nippon Revue Company. The song had regular performances on theaters since 1994, but the true popularity stride for Matsuken Samba II manifested itself at the wake of the third millennium when Ken Matsudaira, already strong of years of popularity for the Feudal-Japan TV drama Abarenbo Shogun (also Taiko-related, but more on that here), started to perform the song on television. For many non-theatre-goers in Japan, seeing this actor performing in such jolly ways after leaving his mark on the silverscreen for his serious interpretation of shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune in the aforementioned drama was quite a whiplash for many, contributing to the general acclaim received by the song.
Ultimately, Matsuken Samba II's popularity peaks mirrored by the 2004 single release's high charting venues (peaking 3rd place weekly and 31st place overall at Oricon) resulted into a couple more "series entries" in 2005 and 2014, as well as a "collaboration" Matsuken Samba crossover with Kamen Rider for its 2011 movie (Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful: The Shogun and the 21 Core Medals), also integrating bits of BGM from the Abarenbo Shogun drama, of all sources! As revealed by former Taiko Team leader Takahashi over Twitter (link), the big splash that a playable Matsuken Samba II has generated in the early arcade 2nd-gen era was what lead to the sequel song Matsuken Samba III to be adopted at all for the 6th PS2 Taiko game (just the home console game after II's debut, mind you!); however, this last one wasn't recepted as warmly as its precursor and thus has been dropped from the series ever since.
Quite a different story is told for Matsuken Samba II, seeing as it's currently enjoying a 2nd life on more modern series entries as part of download/subscription-dependent diffusion channels, from the 2nd 3DS games to the currently-running Plus STH and the Switch's Dokodon/Rhythm Festival. Both songs on Oni sport Kat-leading 1/16 charts whose handswitching skills made the jump to the ongoing rating standards with even star rating rankups across the gens for Futsuu and Muzukashii, while also bringing back the 2-player-only charts to the multiplayer-compatible Taikos at hand, for the lucky II who managed to pass the Taiko test of time.
