鼓 - Gu3 - Drum, Rouse

太鼓 - Tai4 Gu3 - Large Drum — Taiko drum

Yay! It’s another word of the day inspired by a Japanese video game: 太鼓の達人 - Taiko no Tatsujin / Taiko Drum Master. It’s the game I first played in Japan two years ago, it’s finally out here, and Walde gave it to Toto for his birthday, which means I get to play it! But the game was actually sort of disappointing.

The taiko drum controller just doesn’t seem to work as well as the bongo drums that come with Donkey Konga: you have to hit the drums really hard, and even then it frequently misses hits. Also, one of the best things I remember about the arcade version of the game is the music. For the US release, they’ve replaced all the great Japanese-flavored songs with mediocre (in comparison) American pop and rock songs. You do get a taste of the original music on some of the menus and the in-between screens. Couldn’t they have left in at least a few original tracks? As much as I like the game’s style, I think of the two drumming games now available here, Donkey Konga wins.