Tikivoy
Smashing idol~
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2014
- Messages
- 890
- Location
- Locked in Wii Fit Gym since 2014.
- Switch FC
- SW-4447-4606-8984
Don-chan drums into battle!
Who?
Don-chan (full name: Wada Don) is the main hero of the Taiko no Tatsujin (Taiko Master) series, a Namco game series very popular in Japan. Normally alongside his brother Katsu-chan, he often goes off on world saving adventures, all of which are usually solved with music.
Oh, and if you haven't noticed, he happens to be a Taiko drum. Isn't that sugoi, Smashboards-chan?
I've never heard of this series. What is it and how is it important?
Taiko Master is a music game series that has mostly been exclusive to Asia. As you would expect from a Japanese music game, it includes music from popular Japanese artist, along with an impressive amount of music from video games and anime. Due to its soundtrack and various difficulty levels, it appeals to players both young and old, and gamers both casual and hardcore.
The series itself is among the most well known music games in Japan, and is definitely seen as a big series by Namco. Every game since the first has had a "Namco genre", featuring music from just about every Namco series you could think of, such as Pac-Man, Tales, Tekken, iDOLM@STER(2 full games dedicated to it actually), Soul Calibur, etc...
Furthermore, its well known for having guest songs and character appearances by gaming and anime icons: Mario, Kirby, Ace Attorney, Yakuza, Vocaloid, Tohou, Assassination Classroom, Sonic, Dragon Quest, Yo-Kai Watch, Monster Hunter…just to name a portion. That’s not even including the countless anime and video game songs they’ve included without guest appearances, from Evangelion, to Totoro, to Dragon Ball, to Frozen and Jimmy Neutron. See this link for a list of every collaboration song in the series, be warned it’s a lot.
They even collaborated with Mcdonalds Japan for kids meals and included papamamamac as an unlockable song.
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But as for popularity, if the amount of guest hasn't displayed it, there's not much to say besides really, really popular in Japan, enough for Namco to create over 50 titles between console, mobile and arcade releases in the past 15 years. If you go to a Japanese arcade, its almost a guarantee you'll see a version of Taiko at it.
If you want somewhat of a sales example, the mobile version of the game is very popular. The game released back in 2010, yet has rarely left Japan's top 100 iOS games list, and only left the top iOS 10 music games genre once.
How often has the series/character had international releases?
Not much. Namco's Donkey Konga 1 & 2 are unarguably Taiko with DK, Bongos, and a more western soundtrack in oversea's versions. So far, the actual Taiko series has had one video game releases over here, being Taiko Drum Master on PS2. Aside from that, the only sort of "game" we had was the Taiko mini-game in 2016's Yakuza 5.
Don-chan himself has appeared in a ton of recent games that released overseas, including Tales of Grace f, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, idolm@ster Shiny Festa, Yakuza 5, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Yo-kai Watch 2, and, pretty important, Super Smash Bros for Wii U/3DS, being the only "modern" Namco character seen in Pac-Man's up taunt.
Why would he be chosen for a future Smash Bros title?
Series popularity for starters, as mentioned Don-chan is the face of a very popular series over there.
We also have the possibility of Namco working on a future Smash title and considering Don as a playable character. Being from a rhythm game, and being a fighter himself in his games, he has great potential to be a unique fighter. As Heihachi was briefly considered as a playable character, Namco may bring up Don as a playable character, which Sakurai or a future director may take into consideration.Or, perhaps he was already considered, and the taunt cameo came from that?
Another good reason is his association with Nintendo. Of the 30 console games, 14 of them have released on Nintendo consoles. While that doesn't sound too special, one must consider 10 of them were on PS2, and at that time Gamecube had Namco's Donkey Konga instead. Since the 7th generation, the main home console releases (the ones with an actual drum peripheral) have only released on Nintendo home consoles, skipping PS3 and PS4 for Wii and Wii U, a trend continuing with the Taiko game planned for Switch. There's a ton of DS and 3DS Taiko games as well, and many of them feature songs from Nintendo series in them, alongside the Arcade games.
July 28th update: Since the original post, Japan has seen the release of 2 new Taiko games on PS4 and Switch.
Yesterday, these two games were confirmed for localization!
Additionally, Don-chan has not been seen in Pac-Man's Namco Roulette taunt. While its possible he just hasn't been sighted in the Ultimate demo, it does brings hope he has a greater role in the game.
Chances in short:
+Very popular in Japan, having over 50 games between Arcade, console and mobile, and very associated with Nintendo, having the home console releases exclusive to Nintendo since the 7th generationuntil very recently.
+Mentioned games almost always have Nintendo music in them, and occasional appearances from their characters as well, such as Mario and Kirby.
+Possibility of being considered due to being a Namco series. Could be considered important to Namco's history as he was the only modern Namco character that appears in Pac-Man's Smash 4 taunt.
+Has good potential as a character due to the focus of rhythm in his games. Demonstrates also being a fighter in his own games.
-Pac-man already represents Namco, Don indirectly competes with other potential Namco characters such as Lloyd or Heihachi should there be only one more Namco fighter. If his moveset is rhythm based, he may even compete with characters from Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven.
-Still not well known overseas due to Taiko only now seeing its first worldwide release since 2005.
+- His recent games are seeing localization, may or may not affect Smash depending on how long Namco planned the release.
+- Don-chan has not yet been sighted in Pac-Man's Taunt, which may indicate he has a different role in Ultimate...or not.
Moveset:
Coming eventually...
Costume room (costumes):
Giving him recolors are very easy to do since he’s often customizable. If they wanted to go for more popular color swaps or actual costumes, his sibling Katsu-chan is an obvious choice, Strawberry and Knight costumes made an appearance in Mario Kart Arcade 3, and Haruka Don-chan would be funny and work well since iDOLM@STER is another popular Namco series in Japan.
It's a music game, so here is some of the music!
The Taiko no Tatsujin's (supporters)
Who?
Don-chan (full name: Wada Don) is the main hero of the Taiko no Tatsujin (Taiko Master) series, a Namco game series very popular in Japan. Normally alongside his brother Katsu-chan, he often goes off on world saving adventures, all of which are usually solved with music.
Oh, and if you haven't noticed, he happens to be a Taiko drum. Isn't that sugoi, Smashboards-chan?
I've never heard of this series. What is it and how is it important?
Taiko Master is a music game series that has mostly been exclusive to Asia. As you would expect from a Japanese music game, it includes music from popular Japanese artist, along with an impressive amount of music from video games and anime. Due to its soundtrack and various difficulty levels, it appeals to players both young and old, and gamers both casual and hardcore.
The series itself is among the most well known music games in Japan, and is definitely seen as a big series by Namco. Every game since the first has had a "Namco genre", featuring music from just about every Namco series you could think of, such as Pac-Man, Tales, Tekken, iDOLM@STER(2 full games dedicated to it actually), Soul Calibur, etc...
Furthermore, its well known for having guest songs and character appearances by gaming and anime icons: Mario, Kirby, Ace Attorney, Yakuza, Vocaloid, Tohou, Assassination Classroom, Sonic, Dragon Quest, Yo-Kai Watch, Monster Hunter…just to name a portion. That’s not even including the countless anime and video game songs they’ve included without guest appearances, from Evangelion, to Totoro, to Dragon Ball, to Frozen and Jimmy Neutron. See this link for a list of every collaboration song in the series, be warned it’s a lot.
They even collaborated with Mcdonalds Japan for kids meals and included papamamamac as an unlockable song.
But as for popularity, if the amount of guest hasn't displayed it, there's not much to say besides really, really popular in Japan, enough for Namco to create over 50 titles between console, mobile and arcade releases in the past 15 years. If you go to a Japanese arcade, its almost a guarantee you'll see a version of Taiko at it.
If you want somewhat of a sales example, the mobile version of the game is very popular. The game released back in 2010, yet has rarely left Japan's top 100 iOS games list, and only left the top iOS 10 music games genre once.
How often has the series/character had international releases?
Not much. Namco's Donkey Konga 1 & 2 are unarguably Taiko with DK, Bongos, and a more western soundtrack in oversea's versions. So far, the actual Taiko series has had one video game releases over here, being Taiko Drum Master on PS2. Aside from that, the only sort of "game" we had was the Taiko mini-game in 2016's Yakuza 5.
Don-chan himself has appeared in a ton of recent games that released overseas, including Tales of Grace f, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, idolm@ster Shiny Festa, Yakuza 5, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Yo-kai Watch 2, and, pretty important, Super Smash Bros for Wii U/3DS, being the only "modern" Namco character seen in Pac-Man's up taunt.
Why would he be chosen for a future Smash Bros title?
Series popularity for starters, as mentioned Don-chan is the face of a very popular series over there.
We also have the possibility of Namco working on a future Smash title and considering Don as a playable character. Being from a rhythm game, and being a fighter himself in his games, he has great potential to be a unique fighter. As Heihachi was briefly considered as a playable character, Namco may bring up Don as a playable character, which Sakurai or a future director may take into consideration.Or, perhaps he was already considered, and the taunt cameo came from that?
Another good reason is his association with Nintendo. Of the 30 console games, 14 of them have released on Nintendo consoles. While that doesn't sound too special, one must consider 10 of them were on PS2, and at that time Gamecube had Namco's Donkey Konga instead. Since the 7th generation, the main home console releases (the ones with an actual drum peripheral) have only released on Nintendo home consoles, skipping PS3 and PS4 for Wii and Wii U, a trend continuing with the Taiko game planned for Switch. There's a ton of DS and 3DS Taiko games as well, and many of them feature songs from Nintendo series in them, alongside the Arcade games.
July 28th update: Since the original post, Japan has seen the release of 2 new Taiko games on PS4 and Switch.
Yesterday, these two games were confirmed for localization!
Additionally, Don-chan has not been seen in Pac-Man's Namco Roulette taunt. While its possible he just hasn't been sighted in the Ultimate demo, it does brings hope he has a greater role in the game.
Chances in short:
+Very popular in Japan, having over 50 games between Arcade, console and mobile, and very associated with Nintendo, having the home console releases exclusive to Nintendo since the 7th generation
+Mentioned games almost always have Nintendo music in them, and occasional appearances from their characters as well, such as Mario and Kirby.
+Possibility of being considered due to being a Namco series. Could be considered important to Namco's history as he was the only modern Namco character that appears in Pac-Man's Smash 4 taunt.
+Has good potential as a character due to the focus of rhythm in his games. Demonstrates also being a fighter in his own games.
-Pac-man already represents Namco, Don indirectly competes with other potential Namco characters such as Lloyd or Heihachi should there be only one more Namco fighter. If his moveset is rhythm based, he may even compete with characters from Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven.
-Still not well known overseas due to Taiko only now seeing its first worldwide release since 2005.
+- His recent games are seeing localization, may or may not affect Smash depending on how long Namco planned the release.
+- Don-chan has not yet been sighted in Pac-Man's Taunt, which may indicate he has a different role in Ultimate...or not.
Moveset:
Coming eventually...
Costume room (costumes):
Giving him recolors are very easy to do since he’s often customizable. If they wanted to go for more popular color swaps or actual costumes, his sibling Katsu-chan is an obvious choice, Strawberry and Knight costumes made an appearance in Mario Kart Arcade 3, and Haruka Don-chan would be funny and work well since iDOLM@STER is another popular Namco series in Japan.
It's a music game, so here is some of the music!
Breath of the Wild melody.
Calimari Democracy (Splatoon)
Hatsune Miku no Shou****su -Gekijouban- (Trivia: A "movie cut" version of "Disappearance of Hatsune Miku" made for Taiko games.)
Saitama 2000
Papamamamac (Mcdonalds)
Pokemon X/Y Battle theme/melody.
Advance Adventure (Pokemon)
Let it Go (Frozen)
Calimari Democracy (Splatoon)
Hatsune Miku no Shou****su -Gekijouban- (Trivia: A "movie cut" version of "Disappearance of Hatsune Miku" made for Taiko games.)
Saitama 2000
Papamamamac (Mcdonalds)
Pokemon X/Y Battle theme/melody.
Advance Adventure (Pokemon)
Let it Go (Frozen)
Tikivoy
fogbadge
smashkirby
Famicomdisk
SegaGameBoy
I Never Felt It Before
JazzaDawg
smash puffle
fogbadge
smashkirby
Famicomdisk
SegaGameBoy
I Never Felt It Before
JazzaDawg
smash puffle
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