Random: Pokken Tournament was going to be a Taiko no Tatsujin game

Imagine way more Pokemon songs, and Pikachus instead of Lantern Eels here, perhaps.

If you have a Wii U, in addition to playing the three Wii U Taiko no Tatsujin games on it, probably you also have Pokken Tournament, the Pokemon game that have Pokemon actually fighting instead of just menu controls.

Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada (原田勝弘) told The Verge in an interview that what would have become Pokken Tournament was initially going to be a Pokemon-themed Taiko no Tatsujin game (imagine im@s Must Songs). However President and CEO of The Pokemon Company Tsunekazu Ishihara (石原恒和) spoke out in a BNEI corporate meeting that he would rather see a Tekken collaboration instead, hence birthed the idea.

That probably wouldn't stop Pokemon content to continue appearing regularly in Taiko. Having "just caught up" with the newest games in the Pokemon (game) medley front with ORAS Medley, there is some chance that something will come up when Pokemon Sun and Moon is out... somehow.

Source:
Webster, Andrew (2016-02-17). How the minds behind Tekken and Soulcalibur transformed Pokemon into a fighting game. The Verge. Retrieved 2016-04-17.

Game Music Showcase: Pokemon Medleys

Pokemon is an esteemed series of RPG games and the brainchild of Satoshi Tajiri, spanning all the way back to 1995, when the first two games, Pokemon Red and Green, were released in Japan on the Nintendo Game Boy. Featuring addictive 'catch 'em all' monster raising and battling gameplay, the series caught fire and grew at a breakneck pace all over the world, especially after its first movie turned out to be a massive hit. Many people would be familiar with the 'Pokemon craze' in the late 90s and early 00s. Though it is past that frenzied global phenomenon phase, Pokemon continues to enjoy worldwide popularity; with everyone enjoying the franchise in different ways, be it collecting Pokemon in the games, building strong competitive teams to battle, keeping up with the gigantic pile of Pokemon merchandise released regularly (which spans trading cards to plushies, figurines, even daily items like stationery and food!), or just simply adoring their favorite Pokemon, whether they like cute ones, cool ones, or everything in between!

Delving into the long history of Pokemon would be way too much for this blog, so let's look at it from Taiko's perspective. While Taiko no Tatsujin has been no stranger to opening and ending themes of the Pokemon anime series, the franchise has for the most time never tapped into anything from source materials; the actual Pokemon games that started it all. Then Namco struck gold when they managed to negotiate with Nintendo/Game Freak to allow them to use Pokemon game BGM as playable tracks for the Taiko games. The first one was released on Sorairo (Pokemon Black 2/White 2), and since then, at least one medley has been made for every game.