With today's feature, we're closing up a circle of themed features that started two years ago, culminating on somewhat of an obscure way to play a really iconic tune...
Saitama 2000
さいたま2000
| Game | Genre |  |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile (4) |  | ★? ??? | - | ★5 499 | - | - |
| Mobile (Issho ni Asobo) | | - | ★2 ??? | ★5 ??? | ★5 574 | - |
200Taiko 4 Muzukashii (mobile) / Issho ni Asobo / Regular chart comparison video
At the beginning of the month of May, we've seen some unique ways in SotW shores to enjoy Taiko no Tatsujin in unconventional but still official ways, making the process either ridiculously hard or incredibly easy when compared to the gameplay styles we've been used to across the years. What about this, then- today we're having an easier way to play songs but in some of the most difficult ways to be approached, be with the controls or even fetching the very game at hand. It's the perfect middle ground!
With the 'Taiko no Tatsujin Mobile' term, we're collectively referring to a number of mobile applications for J2ME that have been active alongside the first two arcade generations, each available with a mobile phone subscription with one of three Japanese providers: Docomo with iMode (iモード), au with EzWEB and Softbank via Yahoo! Mobile (Yahoo!ケータイ). Outside the different names across the years, each of those Java-based applications used to house a couple of new licensed tunes per week, allowing subscribers to download up to 10 tracks to play for each month of subscription, outside a few minigames and drum customization options between ideas from the PS2 games and a few phone-exclusive ones, like 2-player Taiko-themed Reversi and Hearts. All these apps have their own precursor in an even-more-elusive release that was an exclusive download via the dedicated download stations -the J-Phone terminals-, just known as 'Taiko no Tatsujin' and credited to an October 17th, 2001 release, as attested in the few surviving news outlets on the subject matter (link).
Ever since we've penned our own Taiko Mobile page based on the (at the time) active official websites, much has emerged online around the ever-so-elusive world of pre-Taiko-Plus mobile phone gaming (even though, saving those image dead links is another matter altogether...). Once deemed to have no tracklist difference between the three mobile operators, nowadays we know each have their own share of exclusive and missing songs via their respective monthly subscription plan, with the iMode version being the most complete of the three operators despite lacking a few Originals like Nijiiro Yumeiro Taikoiro and Lovely-X (official song listings for iMode, EzWEB and Yahoo!Mobile, archived). Later Taiko mobile versions for all three carriers, however, were compatible with a handful of interlinking features with the Taiko Dojo mobile service for most Gen2 arcades, which allowed users to upload their scores and nicknamed online in a global ranking, through QR codes that were displayed at the end of a play from Taiko 9 to 14 arcades. Each Taiko version also tallied the overall plays as points for mobile users, which could be used to unlock a bunch of elements for phone customization (wallpapers, audio clips and so on), some being even exclusive to a given arcade version's tenure. The claimed ringtones and truetones via the Taiko Dojo could be playable on the installed mobile Taiko version, too! It's also been reported online how a few versions of the Taiko no Tatsujin subscription mobile games were also released in Korea (via NEXON Mobile) and Taiwan (via Taiwan Mobile), each with their own exclusive licenses to boot.
The life of a song in any of the pre-iOs mobile games has had a very curious and troubled management for such a porting, even with all the digital-only factors to preserve game and music being a daunting task to this day. Right off the bat, it's easy to hear how the MIDI-fication of the source song harkens things on the audio side, but the mobile games even had drum keysounds for every button press causing heavy lag on older phone models, hence why I picked an hitsound-less video for the header (for those who are curious, here's a mobile play of Tenjiku 2000 with hitsounds on!). Not only that, you can see how each kind of note -Don and Kat, big and small- has their own key to be pressed to perform that hit on the old phones' numeric pad! It's a relief big notes can also be hit with the small-note input of the same color (and vice-versa). Earlier mobile Taikos only had Kantan and Muzukashii modes on all songs, but later mobile versions like the one on display on top -Issho ni Asobo! Taiko no Tatsujin (遊ぼう！ 太鼓の達人), active around the series' 10th anniversary- could have up to three modes, including the Oni setting! Charts, however, were almost never a 1/1 fit from their regular selves, as you can see from the infamous series kickstarter up here...
Aside a few minor Don and Katsu alignment change before the ending portion, limitations on the charting side were still in play for the oldest-implemented tunes, accounting elements like smaller hitballoons and missing visual flairs like Go-Go Time zones and related scoring changes. The Don-Katsu Chitai changes are the most evident: gone is the forked-play gimmick and the 7-note clusters are now broke down in triplets. Curiously enough, ths Issho ni Asobo Oni chart of Saitama 2000 actually ends up with the higher Max Combo count of all version, topping even the Master route of the 'official' version available everywhere else! This is mostly owed to tharting a greater deal of the beginning portion, due to the cut length of the hitballoon window for this phone version conversion. Some of Saitama 2000's older mobile charts would even have the added "perk" of slower scrolling speed and no note cluster in accounting, in line with the more strict phone limitations of the time (it's the top chart on the comparison video, linked below the top one).
Alas, documentation for mobile games remains as sparce as ever, but if you're in the mood of hearing original MIDIs for some of the Namco Original/Game Music tracks featured across the years, the same YouTube user recording the videos on top also released a video with almost two dozens of original recordings from the mobile games. Party like it's (just a few years after) 1999!
