by Robert Workman on Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Years ago, Sega released the festive Samba de Amigo for the Dreamcast, a fun party game with its own set of customized maraca controllers. Now you can enjoy the fun on the Nintendo Wii, complete with downloadable content and a slew of new features.
In Samba de Amigo, you wield the Nunchuk and Wii remote like you would maracas. You have six circles on screen, colored red, yellow and green, positioned high, medium and low, with small circular dots passing through them. To score, you shake your hands in the required circles as the dots fly through the circles to keep up with a song's rhythm. On occasion, you'll need to pose for bonus points, holding your arms in certain spots. There are also plenty of wrist-shaking moments, like when you have to fling a maraca over your head or nail a string of dots in one continuous run.
The better you perform on a song, the wilder the festivities get. The screen flashes bright colors, characters jump all over the screen and the game's Samba mascot enters a "party zone," with stars in his eyes and a big, stupid grin on his face. The tempo of the song doesn't change, but the visual boost motivates you to finish the song without screwing up.
Sega did a phenomenal job with the graphics. The animation is fun to watch, whether Samba's bouncing around or his fellow musicians go into a frenzy. The backgrounds are bright and colorful, whether you're partying on a city street or letting loose on stage. In addition, the soundtrack (comprised of covers) is a fun mix of songs from the original Dreamcast game and several new additions, including "Smooth" and "Jump In the Line."
There's also the promise of downloadable content, which should release within the next few weeks for a small fee. Sega hasn't indicated what songs will be available, but the original Dreamcast version features remixes of classic Sega tunes, along with a few extra party favorites. Perhaps we'll see some songs from Nintendo's back catalogue.
Aside from that, there's a lot to do. Two players can go at it in maraca versus maraca competition, and several minigames including a volleyball game and a Power Rush mode will leave your wrists aching. Mainly, though, you'll stick to Career Mode, where you can unlock new instruments, movies, characters and maraca noises with each new stage.
In translating the game from the Dreamcast to the Wii, Sega did away with the super-expensive maraca controllers in favor of the traditional Nunchuk and remote. They work well on the lower difficulties, but there are accuracy problems where the game misreads your movements. This happens more often than we'd like, even with the poses. There is a calibration segment at the beginning of the game, but it's not entirely useful. As a result, getting through the harder stages is like an endurance trial.
Even with the control issues and the inclusion of some older songs (there's not one but two Ricky Martin selections), Samba de Amigo is a party worth checking out. The gameplay, while slightly flawed, still works, and the unique presentation sets it apart from other games. Sure, you'll look ridiculous playing it, but when the party starts, you'll be too busy shaking to care.
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