Play Taiko No Tatsujin DS - Dororon! Yokai Daikessen!! (J) Online

Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Dororon! Yokai Daikessen!! came out for the Nintendo DS in 2008, developed and published by Bandai Namco. It was part of that great era of quirky, stylus-heavy DS games that really tried to do something different with the hardware. This one stands out because it wraps its rhythm gameplay in a full-on adventure with a bunch of Japanese folklore monsters causing trouble.

You control a young taiko drummer who has to travel across a map, clearing stages by completing rhythm songs. The main objective is to restore peace by playing well enough to defeat the yokai causing mischief in each area. Signature mechanics include tapping and dragging the stylus on the lower screen to hit drum notes in time with the music, while the yokai themselves will sometimes pop up and throw visual distractions or change the timing of the notes to trip you up. The pacing is generally upbeat, though the difficulty can spike sharply in later songs, demanding real precision. It feels like a cheerful, slightly chaotic party where you are both the musician and the exorcist.