The Switch is no stranger to ports of older titles. Following hot on the heels of the delightful Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun! in 2018, Don and Katsu are back with a pair of beefed up 3DS titles never before released in the West: Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 1 and Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 2. Smushed together in one handy package, both games feature immediately familiar gameplay for fans of the series, in addition to an offering of two surprisingly charming, accomplished RPG story modes.
Much like Drum ‘n’ Fun!, Rhythmic Adventure Pack offers players several control options. Obviously, if you happen to own one of the taiko drum accessories, then that’s the clear way to go (although it's unfortunately not an option in Story Mode). For everyone else, you’ve got the choice of using the Switch’s face buttons, the touch screen, or motion controls with the Joy-Con. Sadly, the motion controls are once again lacking in reliability, and switching between the red notes and blue notes (the head and rim of the drum respectively) yields poor results. Thankfully, the other control methods available are all reliable and easy to use.
The main draw for Rhythmic Adventure Pack is undoubtedly its two story modes. You’ll be getting a fairly similar experience across both titles; by directly controlling Don, you’ll venture across a range of various locales across continents and time periods, conversing with townsfolk and battling a multitude of beasts. The narrative for both titles is suitably bonkers, and the characters are endearingly charming, whether they’re part of your team or one of the antagonists. The only drawback to the dialogue sections is the inability to skip through lines of dialogue that are verbally spoken via voiceover.
Battles during the story mode add a nice twist to the rhythmic action associated with the Taiko no Tatsujin series; you’ll need to follow the beat of the music, hitting red and blue notes with your preferred control method as usual. Successful combos allow your team members to attack their foes, but if you miss notes or consistently fail to keep to the beat, you can just as easily be attacked yourself. It’s a neat way to control the flow of the battle, and anyone fatigued with turn-based RPGs will undoubtedly find this a welcome change of pace.
One the flip side, Rhythmic Adventure 1 features fully randomised battles. Much like earlier Pokémon or Final Fantasy titles, you can run into enemies at any point whilst roaming the land. This is fine for a while, but after your ninth or tenth time thumping along to the same piece of music, it definitely starts to feel a tad repetitive. Rhythmic Adventure 2 goes a long way to alleviate this by showing your enemies on-screen, giving you the opportunity to either avoid them, or fend them off with ‘R’, hurling Katsu in a kamikaze style attack. Battling has some clear advantages, like boosting your stats, but with an abundance of long, winding routes to explore, being able to avoid enemies is a blessing.
Aside from the story modes, both titles also feature the familiar Taiko Mode, in which you can choose any song you wish from a generous selection, with themes including game music, classical, anime, and more. Despite the strength of the story modes, it’s likely you’ll spend the majority of your time in Taiko Mode; it just works, and even if you’re not into some of the more upbeat, J-pop driven music that features here, there’s something immediately gratifying about nailing a difficult song, and it makes you want to go back again and again.
In short, there’s an awful lot to be getting on with here. Even if you manage to see everything in the story modes (which should take roughly five or six hours each), there’s a tonne of incentive to keep playing Taiko Mode purely for the sake of beating your high score. There’s also a fairly comprehensive stamp system (which basically acts as achievements) along with a decent character customisation feature, letting you change the colour scheme of Don and try out a variety of ridiculous looking costumes.
In terms of performance, Rhythmic Adventure Pack improves massively on the original 3DS titles, bumping the visuals up dramatically across the board, with not a single noticeable drop in frame rate. What’s particularly impressive is the load times, which are essentially non-existent; you can go from the main menu right into a song of your choice within seconds, it’s remarkable (so that fireworks loading screen from Drum ‘n’ Fun..? Yeah, that’s gone now). And of course, the real star of the show is the music, with each game boasting a huge variety, all of which sound great on your TV and directly through the Switch’s speakers.
Conclusion
Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack is an incredibly comprehensive experience that both fans of the series and newcomers will love. The story modes boast fun characters and engaging battles, though the random encounter feature from Rhythmic Adventure 1 can get a little tiring after a while. The real meat of the experience once again lies with Taiko Mode, which features a generous selection of song across various genres, and the accessible nature of the gameplay makes it immediately gratifying and addictive. It’s a shame the motion control scheme remains unreliable, and you really should invest in a taiko drum for the full experience, but thankfully the touch screen and face button controls are more than capable.
Comments 40
Just waiting on my physical copy to arrive in the next week or two. Looking forward to it. The drum not working in story mode is a pretty big bummer though considering the story mode is the main reason I'm getting it.
Full song list, please.
Can't wait for my copy to arrive!
So glad that this game is pretty banging.
The drum doesn’t work in story mode which is really annoying, honestly... can’t be that hard for them to program that it, so I really hope they fix it.. (the red notes work, but the blue notes aren’t registered, which is really odd)
You also can’t use touch controls in story mode, which is the only other way I like to play the game.
Fix it pls Bamco, or I just wasted money on this stuff..
More Taiko no Tatsujin on Switch is great, but I don't think I'll buy it straight away.
Glad that it's decent though
Only thing I'm missing is a western physical release
@Anti-Matter
You can find the song list here:
https://taiko.fandom.com/wiki/Taiko_no_Tatsujin:_Rhythmic_Adventure_Pack
Not much rock'n roll in there... as in nothing.
Including Led Zeppelin's Moby Dick would have been the best move for a drum game ever made.
I felt overwhelmed by the songlist.
There are a few songs that i really like like Yokai Taisho no 1,Koisuru Fortune Cookies, etc but there are also some songs that i really hate and pissed off when i saw another of them were from rated 18+ games / anime / movies. It just contaminating a kiddie game with tiny droplet of cyanide, everything become poisoinous.
I can't consider newer Taiko games as some of their songs especially licensed and anime songs were from rated 18+ things.
Hard pass from me, sorry.
@Anti-Matter That’s a bit extreme mate, but okay?
They’re literally just songs, it’s not as if they’re full of bad language.
I have both on 3DS so probably will pass on switch version
@Mushvision
They don't have bad languages but i refuse to listen their songs. I will never accepting any songs that created from rated 18+ games /anime. They are sin and always be evil. I don't even want to see or know their existences.
@Anti-Matter Your loss, my friend. Your loss.
Was hyped for the pack until I saw the price of the digital version with no physical release in the west. I'll either wait for it to go down in price or show up in Europe on cartridge.
@Anti-Matter Incredibly tolerant and accepting of you. I'm happy you're so open-minded.
The drum game.
2 story adventures.
And you cant use the drum IN story mode.
Wtf🤷♂️
The youngest and I are enjoying it so far.
Ok now this comment section is getting interesting, can someone tell me what are the "18+" games and anime that are in the songlist?
I can't find them on my own from the songlist.
@neufel, he's probably most definitely referring to Attack on Titan when it comes to anime representation (maybe Assassination Classroom & Demon Slayer as well, but as I haven't seen those two I don't know how gorey they are).
As for games, I'm not sure. Maybe the Monster Hunter songs? I know they're not M/18+ titles, but I believe I've heard him say he doesn't like the series in the past.
Either way, I doubt there's anything in the songs themselves that is objectionable, even if that's something you're worried about.
@RR529 ha! Thanks, I had spotted Assassination Classroom (mainly because of its title) but I see a lot of teens reading it, so I guess all of those are far from "18+".
Thank you for replying !
Anyone know if the song lost is different between the Japanese and western versions?
I want it, but still playing the first Taiko game... so do I really need this yet?? 🤔
@Anti-Matter you are crazy
On one hand: grateful for one less reason to dig out my 3ds.
On the other: why not chibi dragon?
Either way happy l have it even though I won’t get to it in a while.
@SpacemanSpiff @kobashi100 @Anti-Matter Anti-Matter is just speaking his personal opinion. He isn’t calling for a boycott from others.
sounds like a great time. i bought drum n fun on discount to get a taste of the series on switch, and ive always loved the RPG and Rhythm genre. definite grab for me
I prefer the straight up rhythm game layout of the original, not sure how this adventure layout would enhance the game. That said good for people who like it I suppose, but this is very niche.
I miss IIDX. Such a good rhythm game. It's a shame it's locked in Japanese arcades/PS store. Whenever I see articles like this it reminds me of all my days of arcade hopping for DDR and IIDX. Good times!
Really looking forward to this, even if I’m absolutely pants at Taiko games. I can murder Guitar Hero on expert, the Persona rhythm games on All Night, KH and FF on Critical difficulty but Taiko completely eludes me.
The Asian release that I have has all-English packaging (no rating on the package either), so fans can import with confidence. The Japanese release is also identical but has Japanese-language packaging (the cartridges are identical between both releases).
@JayJ : You can ignore story mode entirely and just play Taiko mode like the last release. I don't know if Story Mode unlocks any new songs (the default song lists are about the same length as the previous game) and this package is substantially better value for money as both games have unique song lists (I noticed a few from the "Classical" genre were also in the last game, but I don't recall any others) so this offers far, far one bang for one's buck.
@Anti-Matter Dance Dance Revolution is not much better.
@JoeyTS
I have played DDR for 17 years and i can tell DDR songs by majority are much better than Taiko no Tatsujin.
Let's not forget Naoki Maeda as DDR sound director used to be with his signature songs such as Afronova, Dynamite Rave, MAX 300, Fascination MAXX, Pluto the First, Red Zone,
Are DDR songs challenging enough ?
Try to play Paranoia Revolution, Over the Period, Valkyrie Dimension, Endymion, Egoism 440 on Challenge (Oni) difficulty. They are level 19 songs.
I can pass some of level 18 DDR songs, depend on the songs and they are extremely insane.
@Anti-Matter Naoki doesn't make songs for the game anymore. The songs are becoming a lot more anime focused as of recent would you agree? Look into the recent anime songs in the game. They really aren't much better than Taiko
-Noushou Sakuretsu Girl is about a girl who goes to night clubs to have a "good time"
-Apparently There's a Cheat Code to Happiness is about suicide and depression
-The Losts Ones Weeping can also regard to depression and suicidal thoughts
-SEXY Planet
And many more that are anime focused that I'm sure have inappropriate meanings! All in DDR! If you play rhythm games, you have played more suggestive songs. My point though is that you shouldn't worry about which songs are 18+ necessarily or not. You don't want to listen to the song itself, you just want to play the game and so since you only play the song for the purpose of playing the game, there is no sin!
I never mentioned difficulty or challenge. But yes, I can pass level 18s. The most notable one was Valkrie Dimension on Extreme.
Anyone importing the physical copy?
@JoeyTS
I don't really like some of licensed songs on DDR 2014, DDR A, DDR A20 especially the songs that also on MaiMai (like you mentioned before, they were like SEGA style songs). The Western licensed songs started from DDR A and DDR A20 are the worst part (but some of them have really great stepcharts). But TOHO Eurobeat songs on DDR A20+ are the best part, Eurobeat revivals.
Even on MaiMai Arcade, i still refuse to play nor even listen and saw the rated 18+ anime / video game songs. I know what songs are they (they are same rated 18+ anime / video game songs on Taiko no Tatsujin too) and i really hate them. I always close my ears and stay away for a while whenever i heard those songs being played as a Demo or someone else played those songs.
But.... I don't mind at all by E-ROTIC songs on DDR 3rd Mix until DDR 5th Mix + DDR Extreme 2 PS2 USA as two songs from them are Not erotic at all (Cat's Eye Ventura Mix, In the Heat of the Night)
Oh, i can play Sexy Planet, AM-3P and AFRONOVA in Expert with blindfold (without seeing any arrows) 😎
@Goat_FromBOTW
I am 36 years old.
I don't need theraphy.
Just let my traumatized experiences become a guardian angel for me to filter which contents that i only want to enjoy.
Yeah, its a bummer you can't use the Drums or Touchscreen in Adventure mode... what the hell?
But speaking of rhythm games... I think they shoul release a new Daigasso Band Brothers, Pop n Music and DDR. i would also be very happy about new guitar hero games...
How come they don't make them any more? I really hope they'll bring them out this gen.
@Tandy255 Apart from stating the painfully obvious, whats your point?
I am very familiar with the guy having been on this site for quite some time. Stating your utter intolerance and referring to things others might like as evil is uncalled for when talking anout personal opinions. It's rude, unnecessary, and hateful. His remarks come from a place of hateful intolerance and i dont like it.
@SpacemanSpiff I didn’t want to see a dog pile on him just for stating reasons why he wasn’t going to buy it. No other point than that.
I heard taiko mode couldn't be played in this game without the drum. Is that true?
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