At E3 2004 Nintendo unleashed Donkey Konga on the predominantly American masses, but it was pushed aside by Namco's Taiko Drum Master. The popular drum-bashing game is a huge hit in Japan (where it's on something like its sixth version), and its arrival in the U.S. is a very welcome sight, as it's a fantastic rhythm game that's a must have for all music fans.

When you open up the rather large Taiko package you'll find the game, a very well made drum, and two sticks to beat it with. Like Donkey Konga, the game requires you to hit the drum in certain areas when different colored objects reach a certain point on screen. If you see a tiny red circle you strike the drum's surface, and if you see a tiny blue circle you tap the drum's side. Of course, it's not that simple. Giant red and blue circles require you to use both sticks, and if you see a burst note you need to repeatedly strike the controller to pop a balloon. It's certainly not a complicated concept, but Namco's handling of it results in a game that can actually kick your butt if you're not careful. Unlike Donkey Konga, Taiko Drum Master can at times be ridiculously difficult but in a good way.

The time it'll take you to master all of the songs means you'll definitely get your money's worth. On the easy difficulty, you're just calmly hitting the drum without a care in the world, but bump up the same song to normal or hard and it's a whole new ballgame. That's when those circles get grouped together several at a time and require you to quickly alternate between surface and edge strikes. If you're like me, and have zero rhythm, you'll get housed very quickly.

The soul behind any music game is its soundtrack, and Namco's done an admirable job making sure that Taiko includes many well-known songs. There are 31 tracks, so there's bound to be something for everyone, though you may find that most of them are pretty disposable. "Love Shack", "Toxic", "Walking on Sunshine", "Beethoven's Symphony No. 5", and "Material Girl" are fine (or not, depending on your taste), but "My Sharona", "Lady Marmalade", and the theme to Jimmy Neutron don't need to be here. Oh, and someone please stop including "Tubthumping" in music games!

While the list of mainstream songs is pretty good, Namco included some surprises from its impressive game library. The theme to Katamari Damacy is probably one of, if not the best song on the disc, but there's also a track from Ridge Racer as well as "Brave Sword, Braver Soul" from Soul Calibur 2. It's good stuff, and the more I played them, the more I wished that the entire game included videogame music! There are definitely plenty of game tunes that would work with this type of game.

Complimenting Taiko's soundtrack are sharp and colorful 2D graphics that are crisp and beautiful to look at. Of course, you're probably not going to understand what you're watching. Basically, the game's about two drums (Don and Katsu) that created Taiko Drum Master and feel that it's their mission to promote the beauty of Taiko all over the world. Little do they tell you that this beauty will cost you $59.99, but the price matters little when you take into consideration what you're getting: an amazing game that features one of the best peripherals ever made.

Taiko features many other characters, and while you don't necessarily need to know who they are, the game manual includes blurbs for each. I recommend you read them so you're not always looking at the TV wondering what the heck is going on. Trust me, the sooner you know what Tamashi are, the better.

If you have a spare Taiko drum (or even a Dual Shock 2), you can play two-player. The screen is horizontally split, and both players try to get more points than the other. There are also three mini games, though they're really an appetizer to the main course, and therefore not very filling.

As for negatives, there really isn't much to complain about, other than the music selection. If anything, the drum is sometimes unresponsive, but that's because during surface strikes, you need to hit it in certain spots. It's annoying, especially during the harder songs where you need quick reactions. Also, the drum tends to move around, so you either need to move with it, or quickly adjust it before the notes fly across the screen.

Donkey Konga was a huge disappointment because it was too easy. Not so with Taiko Drum Master. Namco's drum game is a quality rhythm game that's great to play at parties or by yourself, and the decent selection of songs and various difficulties mean you'll be playing for a very long time. Wacky-looking and tons of fun, Taiko's a must-have.