History VideoGame / TaikoNoTatsujin

!!! Sony [=PlayStation=] 2

!!! Sony [=PlayStation=] Portable

!!! Nintendo Wii

!!! Nintendo Wii U

!!! Sony [=PlayStation=] Vita

!!! Sony [=PlayStation=] 4

''Taiko no Tatsujin''[[labelnote:*]]lit. "Expert of Taiko"[[/labelnote]] (also known as ''[[MarketBasedTitle Taiko Drum Master]]'' for a while) is a series of rhythm games created by Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment. The series started in 2001 as an UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame; eventually console versions were released for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable, UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}, UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS, UsefulNotes/WiiU, UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows, as well as for mobile, Apple iOS and Android.

** ''Taiko no Tatsujin: Pop Tap Beat'' (2020) - Released exclusively for the UsefulNotes/AppleArcade subscription service. The (as of writing) only mobile ''Taiko'' game to receive an international release, as well as the first mobile installment to feature online play.

** ''Anime/TaikoNoTatsujinClayAnime'' (April 4, 2005 - 2006. 26 episodes) - A clay animation based on the series. Formerly [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes notoriously difficult to find]], the [[https://www.youtube.com/@taikonotatsujin official YouTube channel]] began releasing remastered episodes in 2022.

** ''Anime/TaikoNoTatsujinClayAnime'' (April 4, 2005 - 2006. 26 episodes) - A clay animation based on the series.
** ''Taiko no Tatsujin Anime Version'' (November 16, 2021 - On-going) - A flash-based web animated series. It can be watched on the [[https://www.youtube.com/@taikonotatsujin series's Youtube channel]].

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: It took a while for the characterizations for the various mascot characters to fully solidify, so earlier games have things like the Wada twins having more immature temperaments and Mecha-Don scheming nefarious plans to TakeOverTheWorld. (At one point, one game even tried to claim that Katsu wasn't Don's twin but "[[ColorCodedMultiplayer a mysterious drum that appears when there's a second player]]", a claim that received so much fan backlash that it was [[CanonDiscontinuity quietly forgotten about]] in games after that.) The difference can especially be seen with the characters' portrayals in the 2005 clay anime vs. the 2021 [=YouTube=] series.

** ''Taiko no Tatsujin: Clay Anime'' (April 4, 2005 - 2006. 26 episodes) - A clay animation based on the series.

** Both Don and Katsu use "don" in place of their emphasis particles (which would usually be "-yo" or "-zo" in standard Japanese), and all of their sentences that would normally end with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrogative_word interrogative]] particle "-ka" have it pronounced with extra emphasis and written as "kat" instead.

** Both Don and Katsu end most of their sentences with "-don", and all of their sentences that would normally end with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrogative_word interrogative]] particle "-ka" have it pronounced with extra emphasis and written as "kat" instead.

** Don and Katsu Wada add "-don" and "-kat" to their respective sentences.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: This series won't relent from [[JustForPun drumming]] the importance of having friends into your head! It's a Japanese spirit.

** ''Taiko no Tatsujin: Pop Tap Beat'' - Released in 2020 exclusively for the UsefulNotes/AppleArcade subscription service. The (as of writing) only mobile ''Taiko'' game to receive an international release, as well as the first mobile installment to feature online play.

** ''Taiko no Tatsujin Plus: Shinkyoku Tori Houdai!'' - A port of ''Taiko no Tatsujin Plus'' for Android, but lacks the one-time paid song packs the iOS version has and relies on subscription-based service.

** ''Taiko no Tatsujin: V Version'' (2015). The first Taiko game on Sony platform to have 3rd generation graphics, scoring and navigation. Introduced the Spartan modifier.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: It took a while for the characterizations for the various mascot characters to fully solidify, so earlier games have things like the Wada twins having more immature temperaments and Mecha-Don scheming nefarious plans to TakeOverTheWorld. (At one point, one game even tried to claim that Katsu wasn't Don's twin but "[[ColorCodedMultiplayer a mysterious drum that appears when there's a second player]]", a claim that received so much fan backlash that it was quietly dialed back in games after that as an AuthorsSavingThrow.) The difference can especially be seen with the characters' portrayals in the 2005 clay anime vs. the 2021 [=YouTube=] series.

* InconsistentDub: Don's name has been translated as "Don", "DON-CHAN", "DON-chan", and "Don Chan". In Japan, he's "Don-chan".

* NonIndicativeDifficulty: The star difficulty can be somewhat off sometimes. For example, Bolero is 5* on Normal and 7* on Oni/Extreme, although those difficulties are too high (Bolero is about 3* on Normal and on 2x speed is arguably one of the easiest Oni/Extreme songs in the DS version, arguably as easy as a typical 2-4* song) and Tonari no Totoro is 5* on Oni/Extreme when it is really like a 5* on Hard. On the other hand, some songs should have more stars, such as Go Go Kitchen on Normal (it is 5*, but is more like 7*) and Alps Ichimanjaku (it is 2* on Oni, but it is more like 6*).

* WidgetSeries: Absolutely everything that appears in the game is deeply-entrenched in Japanese culture, in both classic and modern sense.

* LongTitle: The second DS installment is named ''Meccha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS: 7-tsu no Shima no Daibouken''

** ''Taiko no Tatsujin: Drumming at the 4-Panel Festival!'' (June 21, 2018 - Ongoing) - A manga by Maeda-kun and serialized on ''Magazine/CoroCoroComic'' magazine. 3 volumes.

Games in the series include:

** ''Taiko no Tatsujin: Time Travel to the 3 Era da-don!'' - A novel by Keiji Maeda and published by Kadokawa Shoten. Sequel to ''Don to Katsu no Jikuu Daibouken''.

[[folder:List of games in Taiko no Tatsujin]]

* AnimateInanimateObject: Don and Katsu Wada are living ''taiko'' drums.

* NonIndicativeDifficulty: The star difficulty can be somewhat off sometimes. For example, Bolero is 5* on Normal and 7* on Oni/Extreme, although those difficulties are too high (Bolero on 2x speed is arguably one of the easiest Oni/Extreme songs in the DS version, arguably as easy as a typical 2-4* song) and Tonari no Totoro is 5* on Oni/Extreme when it is really like a 5* on Hard. On the other hand, some songs should have more stars, such as Go Go Kitchen on normal (it is 5*, but is more like 7*).

* FlawlessVictory: Games typically acknowledge Full Combos (Perfect Combos in Drum Master) via a voice line and a golden crown (instead of the normal silver crown). UpToEleven in Arcade 2020, which added a Donderful Combo callout for clearing with all Good ratings, marked with a rainbow crown.

** Earlier versions of the game had the theme song from Anime/{{Hamtaro}} as one of the selectable charts. The song has not appeared since ''Taiko 7''.