Gaming Ring picks up some maracas and shakes the day away with Samba De Amigo on Wii. Sega was one of the pioneers for attachments and accessories in video gaming, while some add-ons became overkill with some bloated attachments like the Sega 32X and Sega CD. The Dreamcast was the first Sega system that really got the attachments right, whether it was the VMU the broadband adapter or even the microphone that was used for Seaman, Sega hit grand slams every time with Dreamcast related accessories. Enter the Dreamcast Maraca’s, this official Sega accessory, coupled with Samba De Amigo on the Dreamcast was on of the first true rhythm games that used accessories on the mainstream level. While we had DDR and Sony’s Parappa the Rapper, Samba De Amigo really introduced the MTV generation into music Games.

Samba and friends are back with a whole new bag chips and bowl of salsa for you to dip your Wii remote and Nunchuk into. Gearbox Software re-introduces us to the bug eyed monkey that plays party host to the Wii version of Samba de Amigo. The Dreamcast version was developed by energetic Sonic Team, this time a developer who may seem foreign to the whole music games takes a shot at the Samba franchise. The original Samba De Amigo game had a certain magic about it, so much magic in fact that you could have sworn it was developed by Disney. Most of the allure and atmosphere that was captured in the original is brought to the Wii version. While your not shaking authentic looking Mexican Musical Instruments, the team was able to capture the feel quite well and yet at a much more attainable price, that users had to pay for the set of Maraca’s on the Dreamcast.

The game play that made the first game magic is brought to life again on the Wii, the core part of the game is remain intact. The general game play in the game is, your Nunchuk is your left Maraca and your Wii remote is your right maraca. Dots scroll the left to right and up and down, the shaking is not only timing based, it is also height based. The closer you get the dot to the middle of the circle, the better score you get from boo to good to perfect. When you shake your maraca’s you have 3 positions - high chest, low chest and arms stretched. Going from all 3 positions is quite seamless, and as you play along you a required to transition from all 3 positions quite quickly. The other element of Samba game play is dancing with poses. Thought songs there will be different dancing moves you will be required to perform such as waving your arms, shaking your legs, doing the robot and more as well during parts of the song you will be required to pose by simply holding a pose with both the Nunchuk and Wii Remote.

The world of Samba returns once again with what we expect to see from the colorful monkey, a vivid world with backdrops that portray the Latin culture and the festival and celebrations that one would come to expect from taking a vacation in places like Puerto Vallarta and Cancun. Levels are decorated with Mexican dancers, confetti, colorful and vivid characters that portray what Samba is really about bringing an energetic celebration atmosphere to your Wii console. While art style really outdoes itself, the winner here is really the audio and the music.

The set list doubles from the Dreamcast version going to the Wii version, plus there will be downloadable content in the future for Samba gamers, in fact there is already a track pack available on Nintendo’s Wifi Pay to Play service and just like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, the track pack are masters done by the artists. You will experience everything from reggae to jungle beats to Latino to modern day classics like Macarena and Mambo # 5. Just playing this game for the first time and you will hear tracks that will bring back memories like Papa Does Mambo and La Bamba. This game truly takes you to the world of Mexico and its celebrations. Gearbox brings all of the content that was available in Dreamcast version and it brings more.

As previously mentioned all of the tracks return from the Dreamcast version, as well as DLC and recent releases that came after the release of the Dreamcast. Samba includes a solid amount of modes and game play types. The game packs a core single player with a career mode that offers 4 difficulties of play and as you go along you unlock more songs on harder difficulties, maraca shake sounds, making of videos, mini games and game types. The single player aside from career is made up of quick play where you play one song, classic where you play 2 and if you do good you get a bonus song , Love Love where you work together as a team and your score if combined, battle where you can fill up a bomb meter which attacks your opponent, survival where you see how many songs you can play before you fail and get a D, mini games, and training.

The mini games gives you a variety of options including such games as guacamole - which is whack - a - mole with maracas, volley ball, Piñata smash and Dance Dance Samba De Amigo. The Training mode is available in 3 levels which start out with basics from selecting and shaking to advanced game play elements like rolling and posing. One amazing feature about this game is practically any mode that can be played in single, can also be playable in Multiplayer as well. Samba De Amigo is also a very competitive game as well not only does it rank you after every song you play, but there is not only offline rankings, but there is online leader boards which truly brings the arcade experience to your Wii console. One thing to mention just like Sega Superstar Tennis, Sega goes the distance with some fan service as well with such stages as Emerald Hill and Space Channel 5.

Samba De Amigo is one of the few returns to form that we have seen from past. While it is not a flawless transition from DC to Wii, it does seem to capture the magic that was once found in the previous game. The main issue that really kept me from pushing this game to a perfect score, while the Wii controls work most of the time, there is times when they just flat out do not work as advertised. The Dreamcast version of SDA was much more forgiving as far as accurate height goes, the Wii version really requires your height positions to be at absolute positions to get perfects constantly in this game.

In the past the core of Samba De Amigo was the single player portion, Gearbox takes what was great about the arcade version, the multiplayer and makes it the star of the show. The Songs are bite sized and the content is massive, and the fun never stops. The art style never stops giving and the overall feel of the title really makes you feel happy and energetic. Without a doubt if your a Rock Band, Guitar Hero or party game fan, its the perfect title to shake up your Wii game collection.

Gameplay – 4
Graphics - 4
Sound – 5
Value – 5
Tilt –5

Final Score

 

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Tags: Samba De Amigo, sega

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 11:56 pm and is filed under PC, Reviews, Wii. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.