Taiko Drum Master

A game that you can't help but have fun with, but which might be best rented for parties and suchlike given its bundled-with-a-peripheral price tag and somewhat limited single-player appeal.

A lot of fun, offers great music but could use a more sensitive, less frustrating controller.

The game, while fully localized, is rich with Japanese iconography that gives it a decidedly Asian feel. The dog/watermelon/drum characters that dominate the on-screen activity are so bizarre that they cannot help but be endearing. The rest of the game's cast of characters is just as off-the-wall, and it is this offbeat cast that helps to further separate it from the competition.

The skill levels are very well balanced, meaning you'll probably beat the easy songs and then get destroyed when you switch to the hardest difficulties, but that's definitely a good thing.

Like "Donkey Konga," Taiko Drum Master ultimately suffers from being a one-trick pony that grows a bit boring after playing the included songs enough times.

The selection of 30+ songs is a bit uneven, but the game is still a blast, and even has a few off-kilter, non-musical mini-games. [Holiday 2004, p.98]

One of those games that's good, but it suffers from being too niche to ensure it broad acceptance from gamers. Couple that with the fact that the Taiko Drum is yet another specialized controller that'll probably never see use again.

A rhythmically sound game, Taiko Drum Master doesn't break the same ground Donkey Konga did, but it is fun in its own right.

Play the pounding ''My Sharona'' on the Taiko peripheral and you may feel as though you are doing more than just beating a gimmicky peripheral in time with the music. You may feel as if you are grooving with the band, achieving oneness with your video game.