Reviewed: February 10, 2005
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Manufacturer
Redoctane

Type: Taiko Drum
System: PS2/PS1

Rating: 9.0

Features

  • 60 Day Warranty

    MSRP: $39.95

    		•
    Last December we had the pleasure of playing and reviewing Namco’s Taiko Drum Master game. Somewhere in that review I mentioned that I had not seen the drum controller being sold separately, something necessary for the two-player game, and RedOctane was quick to inform me that they in fact, did have a Taiko Drum in their growing library of game peripherals.

    A few days later a shiny new drum showed up at the office and I was once again singing, “I…dowanna work…I just want to bang on me drum all day…” Yes, I had just gotten over my addiction of this title and obtained Oni rankings in most all of the songs and now, here comes RedOctane to tempt me back to this rhythmic obsession.

    Since you likely won’t be considering this drum unless you already own Taiko Drum Master the obvious thing to do is to make some direct comparisons of this drum to the one Namco provides with the title. RedOctane has quickly become synonymous with durable and quality controllers and their Taiko Drum is no exception.

    Out of the box, the drum assembles exactly like Namco’s drum with a three-piece base that snaps together then snaps into the drum itself. From a purely cosmetic standpoint I found the Namco drum to be more appealing with the faux rivets around the perimeter of the drumhead. RedOctane’s version is a cleaner design but just doesn’t have that handcrafted flavor.

    Performance-wise the main surface of the drum is a high-quality rubber surface with a definite bounce to it that will give you excellent tactile feedback when you strike the surface. The problem I had with the “dead zone” down the center of Namco’s drum is not an issue with the Taiko Drum. Where I did have a problem was the outer edge of this drum. This section of the drum had to be struck much harder than I was used to on Namco’s drum and even much harder than the main surface of this drum.

    The Start and Select buttons, which were flush mounted into the bottom surface of the Namco drum are now on the bottom vertical edge of this drum. Personally, I had no problem with where they were on Namco’s drum, but I found their new location on this drum slightly awkward.

    The drumsticks that come with RedOctane’s drum are identical to the ones that come with the game. With all four of them lying next to each other it would be impossible to pick out either two.

    So the bottom line is that RedOctane’s drum, while having a few quirks, most of which were personal, is a durable product worthy of purchase if you have need of a second drum or need to replace your original. It’s not like you have a lot of choices when it comes to buying a Taiko Drum so it’s nice to know the one drum you can buy is a good one.