What Is Taiko no Tatsujin, and Why Should You Be Excited for the New One?

In a Nintendo Direct on February 9, 2022, Nintendo announced and showed off many new things coming to the Switch in the near future, but for many, one of the most confusing reveals was that of Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival. However, fans of rhythm-based games are in for a treat. Allow me to explain.

The first time I went to Japan, in 2016, my friend showed me around one of Japan’s many glorious arcades. He ushered me in front of a machine with two large, plastic taiko drums in front of it, with sets of bachi (drum sticks) tucked into a net beside each drum. “Ooh, Taiko no Tatsujin!” he said. “A true Japan experience.”

Something about hitting a giant plastic taiko drum along to J-Pop hits, all while adorable taikos-with-faces cheered me on with heartbreaking earnestness, immediately enthralled me. Ever since, I have made it one of my many missions to introduce the unacquainted to the magic of Taiko no Tatsujin, thereby spreading joy into the land.

Taiko no Tatsujin, which translates to English as “Taiko Master,” is a rhythm game. Think of Guitar Hero, except instead of a controller that barely passes for a guitar (I’m not sorry), you have a plastic imitation taiko drum. And instead of mostly American and British rock songs, you’re playing a mix of J-Pop, anime, vocaloid, game, “variety,” and Western classical music, as well as banger originals. (Do not write off the Western classic section. For example, please enjoy “Still a Duckling,” which is a J-Pop reimagining of Swan Lake.)

All the while, you are accompanied by Don-Chan and his wonderful friends.

Just as one might argue Guitar Hero is very American, Taiko no Tatsujin is very Japanese. No version of the game I’ve played has translated its voiceovers into English, and the matsuri (Japanese summer festival) theming is baked deeply into the game. Your playing will be accompanied by an ever-increasing cast of dancing takoyaki (delicious fried octopus balls) and children in kimono (quintessential matsuri fare). Again: delightful.

As you may have guessed, it’s incredibly difficult to find a Taiko no Tatsujin arcade machine in the US. There may still be one at the Round One near L.A., and a now-defunct arcade called Akiba in Columbus, OH had one. If you know of one, sound off in the comments, my taiko-loving friends.

Fortunately, you can buy a taiko controller for the Nintendo Switch or PS4 / PS5, and wield them to play console versions of the game. While it’s not quite as magical as a giant taiko drum, the console taiko controller is still incredibly fun. Even without a controller, both the PS4 and Nintendo Switch versions of the game are a blast. There’s also a new touchscreen version for iOS, which is—you guessed it—very, very fun.

Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival on Nintendo Switch

Currently, the Nintendo Switch holds the distinct honor of having the most Taiko no Tatsujin games. The arcade-style game Drum ‘n’ Fun! is different than the PlayStation’s Drum Session!—each offers separate libraries and features, and each has their own strengths. There’s also the Rhythmic Adventure Pack, which contains a smaller library of arcade-style songs, but bolsters it with, yes, a rhythm adventure game. However, Drum ‘n’ Fun! is almost four years old, which is why it’s so exciting that Nintendo announced a new game, Rhythm Festival, will be coming to the Switch in 2022.

Rhythm Festival will come with 76 songs at launch, with is about the same as Drum ‘n’ Fun!‘s 74. But Rhythm Festival will also offer an in-game subscription service, which will give players a whopping 500 extra songs at launch. The price of the subscription service has yet to be announced, but if you’re in Taiko no Tatsujin‘s diehard community, you’re freaking out. And, yes, that community is quite small, at least Stateside. But we’re very happy.

Additionally, Rhythm Festival has some new modes, which seem to throw some much-needed spice into the game’s multiplayer. You can team up with four other players to give a full-on “performance,” with each player contributing unique parts. There will also be the Great Drum Toy War, which involves sending a battalion of rubber ducks to obscure your opponent’s screen.

In conclusion, Taiko no Tatsujin will bring nothing but the pure joy of childhood into your life—watching my partner’s sixty-something-year-old mother continuously giggle while attempting to hit a plastic taiko drum proved this to me. Rhythm Festival will be an excellent opportunity to jump into the franchise, especially since it will contain so much opportunity for library expansion if you get really into it. Even if you’re not 500-more-songs-level into it, I believe we all deserve this nice thing in our lives.

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)