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Friday, July 18, 2014

From Time To Time! Taiko 3DS 2 Boss Battles

Taiko no Tatsujin 3DS 2 box art

Spoiler warning ahead.

As the game's title states, the story mode this time around is about the time travels of the two drum siblings Don and Katsu, on a journey with their rabbit friend Takkun in order to rescue the pocket clock Tikkun from the Professor Timedine and his helpers, who intend to use Tikkun's powers and mold the world to their will.

While both the random enemy encounters and boss battles work in the same way of the previous Taiko portable games in terms of visual distractions and harmful Bomb notes, the big change this time around lies in Don and Katsu's party members. Up to 4 allies gathered from the game's time eras are used in order to deal damage to the enemies, also granting a special attack boost for a few seconds while a special bar on the lower screen is fully charged.

Through the extra Story Mode chapters being delivered by the Popular Song DLC packs, seven of the main story's boss characters make their comeback in a particular Ura variant. Overall, their presence in the extra Story Mode scenarios is being justified by the space-time alterations caused by Professor Timedine and his gang, appearing in form of space-time swirls that cause havoc in different locations and characters from the previous Taiko no Tatsujin games. In battle, Ura bosses are stronger than their regular counterparts and present many new features, such as a color palette swap, a different song for the fight and new notechart/visual distraction gimmicks for the fight.

Taiko 3DS's Story mode has 10 boss battles. Ura versions of said boss fights will be noted right below the original boss fight description, marking in red the song being used for the Ura fight.

Boss 1 - Pietro (ピエトロ)
Song used: Funiculi Funicula (フニクリ・フニクラ)


During the Story mode's prologue, Don and Katsu already have a fight against Pietro, a fashionable cross-dresser and also one of the Professor Timedine's henchmen. Taiko games' rendition of Luigi Denza's Funiculì Funiculà is being played, while the enemy throws kisses in order to block the vision of the patterns.

Boss 2 - Ashihara Douji (アシハラ童子)
Song used: Lightning Passion (らいとにんぐ ぱっしょん) / Kurenai (紅)




During the Sengoku period story arc, Don-chan and his friends have to deal with the Ashihara Douji, a mythological figure which is said to be used to kidnap children and take them to the Ashihara mountain. The song being used for this boss fight definitely matches the Ashihara Douji's distractive attacks, as he uses lightnings of any kind of shape in order to obstruct the player's view.

After the Taiko battle, the abducted Takechiyo interferes with the showdown. It was revealed that Ashihara Douji is just desperate for friendship and means no harm, which resonates with the similarly feeling Takechiyo. Ashihara Douji makes peace with Nobunaga and everyone become friends.

This boss fight is also featured as the final battle for the short Taiko 3DS 2's eShop Demo version. But that Ashihara Douji turns out to be nothing than a disguise from another recurring foe, who is fought in the very next time period...

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The first extra DLC chapter reunites Don-chan's gang with Ponko in the old Japan pictured in the third Taiko DS videogame's Story mode. Here, a powered-up version of the Ashihara Douji awaits our heroes with a fight based on one of Taiko's most popular J-Pop songs. a first for boss fights in Taiko games! There's even more to that: since this particular fight is played on the highest difficulty notechart scheduled for the chosen Story Mode overall difficulty setting, this is the first Taiko battle that can be played with the Oni mode chart.

Boss 3 - Helga (ヘルガ)
Song used: Reviver (リバイバー) / Black Rose Apostle




In the Renaissance Europe period, there is a fight against Helga, a clumsy scientist from the Timedine Gang whose specialties lie in machinery and disguises. After being cornered from yet another disguise machination, she is forced to fight the drum brothers and their friends, with the help of a bomb-tossing clown machine of her invention.

At the nick of time, Louie has rescued the real Elize and brought in armies surrounding the church, escorting Marie and the gang out of further danger. Louie has made up his mind to marrying Marie. But with Marie joining Don-chan, this leaves Elize some more time to seduce her way in.

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The Ura version of Helga awaits in the Harmony Castle from the previous Taiko 3DS videogame, where her space-time swirl is responsible for the disappearance of the dragon Raruko. The major difference for this fight lies on Ura Helga's bombs, which now cover larger portions of the screen and for a longer time.

Boss 4 - Giganto Rex (ギガントレックス)
Song used: Metal Police (めたるぽりす) / Kessen!! (決戦!!)




Back in the Dinosaur period, the team has to stop the rage of a Tyrannosaurus Rex which is being controlled by Professor Timedine with a metal helmet. The savage beast will pound its tail in order to cover the stream with both lava bursts and falling rocks from the surrounding volcanic lare, where the fight takes place.

After battle and destruction of the controller, Giganto Rex reverts to the friendly and (surprisingly) herbivorous self. It later accompanies Rakkio which gives a great boost to the power of special attacks.

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Another slice of the ancient Japan is being featured in the 4th DLC Story chapter, as Don-chan and friends reunite with Miko, from the third PSP Taiko game. Her yellow Chibi-Taiko friends have gone missing, and -once again- it's because of a space-time swirl, boasted by the Ura version of the Tyrannosaurus Rex fought in the main Story. Once again, the really short length of the song used for the fight and volcanic eruptions are the major threats for this fated re-match.

Boss 5 - Pharaoh Chimera (ファラオキメラ)
Song used: Zastohl no Madousho (ザストゥールの魔導書)


The Ancient Egypt period is the fighting place for yet another legendary creature, in the guise of the legendary Pharaoh Chimera, awaken from the ruckus of yet another Timedine encounter. Its attacks are some of the most distracting in the entire game, including wide sand tornadoes being blown on the scrolling bar and even covering the notes entirely with sand, making impossible to recognize where to hit unless the indications below the scrolling bar are not read, just like using the Doron modifier.

Calming the pyramid guardian after a battle, Cleopatra called upon the power of of the God of Royalty. As the girls ask about the legendary Secret to Eternal Beauty, the God reveals it actually means for buff muscles, leading to the girls running away in fear! (We have some Muscle March leaked in here, don't we)

For the purposes of the plot, the first battle against Pharaoh Chimera requires you to use Cleopatra in your team.

Boss 6 - Andrea (アンドリア)
Song used: Oresama Pirates (オレサマパイレーツ) / dance storm




After some misunderstanding with both the ally gang and the Timedine Team, the feline pirate captain Andrea from the Pirates period decides to stop Don and Katsu's journey. The song being used is a sequel/remake of yet another tune introduced on Taiko games for a boss fight, no less! Andrea's visual distractions include tossing a giant anchor in the middle of the screen and his pirate crew, which occasionally jumps in the foreground.

The rough Andrea has a turn of heart once he heard Chris and Rose were seeking the money to care for Chris's sick mother. Andrea, impressed by Chris, goes on to teach the young adventurer the way of manhood and piracy.

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The third DLC chapter is also set in a faraway island, where Taiko Wii 4 characters Fuuga and Mirai have been training their Taiko skills under Kodama's recommendations. However, another space-time anomaly ruins their training in the shape of captain Andrea's Ura form. As the battleground is a sandy island this time around, his anchor swings will also rise the wind up to covering the color of the notes with the sand, in the same guise of the Pharaoh Chimera's distracting schemes.

Boss 7 - Darnum (ダーナム)
Song used: Nightmare Survivor (ナイトメア・サバイバー) / X-DAY2000



The hot-headed Darnum from the Timedine Team is fought during the Airplanes period story arc. Among the main villains of the game, this one is surely the most violent one, as his main weapon is an heavy machine gun of a left arm! Darnum can shoot both the scrolling bar and the ceiling, causing gears and bombs to fall, ever permanently blowing off pieces of the bar.

Rescuing the young Catherine, Orville and Wilbur reflects on the differences between the brothers and made peace.

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The Ura version of Darnum can be spotted in the 5th DLC chapter of the game, where yet another space-time distortion has made most of Dr.Waruru's machines completely berserk! Luckily for the Taiko brothers' team, he can count on the help of Arumi, also from the second Wii game. Aside from featuring X-DAY2000 in yet another boss battle after Taiko PSP DX, this Ura battle also features double visual distractions, as Darnum's attacks will be followed by aggressive scroll-ups.

Boss 8 - Timedine Team (タイムダインチーム)
Song used: The Carnivorous Carnival / DESERT STORM




The Story mode's final location is the Future, the time of Professor Timedine and his lackeys. After having discovered some shocking revelations about the Professor's life and plans, the trio Pietro-Helga-Darnum join the forces one last time for trying to stop the drum siblings's gang. For this fight, the only special attack is a giant laser cannon, which is used to block the scrolling bar from an angle, covering even more parts than before.

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The 6th DLC extra Story scenario features the Dokon Gang from the second Taiko DS game. Even during a cold night in the desert, they want to celebrate Christmas together, but a nasty sandstorm scattered Dokon's minions far away from their camp. After rescuing the trio (and having a face-off against the whole Dokon Gang), the culprits of the sandstorm appear, in form of the Timedine gang's Ura variants, gathering all together! Now the beams from their laser cannon is even bigger and brighter, mostly aiming towards the left half of the screen for the fight.

Boss 9 - Professor Timedine (タイムダイン教授)
Song used: Time to dine / Yozakura Ryouran Kanshasai (夜桜繚乱感謝祭)




Shortly after the previous fight, the mastermind behind Tikkun's kidnapping steps in, strong of the power granted from space/time manipulation in form of two crystal shards. The shards can both partially cover the scrolling bar, and suck in several notes then launch them later under a much-higher scrolling speed. All of this by using a never-heard-before song!

With two Time Crystals in hand, the Professor is of course not easily defeated by just one battle. At three multicolored flashes from the crystals, our protagonists now have to face off an even bigger threat...

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The final DLC chapter is set in the aftermath of the main Story mode, with many recurring Taiko characters and some real-life members of the Taiko Team finally enjoying their Matsuri. However, Takkun soon realized that there's something fishy around this celebration... and in fact, there is! The Ura version of Professor Timedine is constantly rewinding the time, trapping everyone in its loop to celebrate in this Matsuri forever! That is, until someone breaks the circle by fixing the space-time anomaly once and for all.

For the final extra fight, there's a unique song mashup which features a pre-existing mashup song (Yozakura Shanikusai) with one of the songs originally used for said mashup (Hyakka Ryouran)! The result is another boss-exclusive track which the Professor can exploit for his mischievous tactics, featuring attacks from both his forms from the main Story mode's boss fights.

Boss 10 - Professor Timedine (タイムダイン教授)
Song used: Time to dine II


Even upon defeat, the Professor doesn't give up his ambitions and decides to fuse himself with the crystals and his machinery, becoming a fearsome space/time entity! His newly-acquired powers include -yet again- a lot of space-time trickery, including speeding up the BPM, rewinding the battle altogether (while only replenishing his HP), and tears up the scrolling bar with portals.

Back to Taiko 3DS 2 song list