Gaming Target - Dreamcast: Samba de Amigo

Written by Nick Schmidt on January 08, 2001

Review: Are you ready for some monkey lovin'?

Samba de Amigo is one of those not so rare cases of a great game gone completely unnoticed. Most often it's because many of these titles lack mainstream appeal or cost too much for the general masses to consume like the next Tomb Raider 12: Lara's Panty Raid. And Samba certainly does not have mainstream appeal.

This is obviously apparent with friends and family members who have played my copy of the game. While they would watch me play it, proceed to laugh at how ridiculous I looked, and tap their feet to the rhythm of the songs, I knew that deep down inside, each and everyone of the people who watched me play wanted a turn at Sega's maraca shaking masterpiece. So of course like the gentleman I am, I let them have a go at it, and boy did they suck!

I couldn't believe at how bad each and every one of them was. And at that instant, when I saw them play unsuccessfully, I realized that Samba would never be a hit with Americans. Unlike Japan where fruity games are encouraged heavily, Americans just don't seem to want to make an ass of themselves publicly, or can't even play these games correctly. But why is that? Why is it that our culture sucks? Perhaps we will never know, but it's a real shame to see a game of such caliber fall so short in sales.

Of the miniscule amount of 40,000 copies of the game produced, Sega opted to only make 10,000 maracas. And like the lucky bastard I am, I happened to get a pair all for my greedy little self. Even though they clock in at a monstrous $80 a pop, and the game will run about cool $40, Samba is well worth the ludicrous amount of dough: But only if you're a lunatic with a decent overall sense of rhythm, otherwise, don't even bother with this one.

But for those who aren't musically challenged, Samba is the ultimate game for you and you're friends. With the game nestled safely within a Dreamcast and maracas in tow, a party will break out almost as instantaneously as a song and dance number in Grease. And it will be just as crazy!

The object of the game is almost too simple for its own good. All you have to do is merely shake the maracas in relation to the on screen cues. There are six designated areas on the screen at all times, two high areas, two mid areas, and two lower areas; and they're arranged in a nice hexagonal manner. Inside this hexagon of sorts, lies a point in the middle where blue rhythm balls slowly come out of and make their way to one of the six designated points. When the ball reaches one of the selected areas, all you have to do is shake the maraca in relation to the nominated height. While that may have sounded too confusing, it is rather hard to explain properly.

Trust me though, if you ever get the chance to play it, you'll instantaneously fall in love. I really can't explain why though, it just has that same fanatical addictiveness found in Crazy Taxi. Plus it has that certain interactive feeling not found in Crazy Taxi because of the maracas. They really do an excellent job of conveying the arcade game at home, simply because they're just so awesome.

The maraca set itself includes a floor mat to stand on, the base piece that has the sensors on them and it attaches to the Dreamcast, plus the maracas themselves which attach to the base. About an inch below the each maraca is a sensor attached to the cord that senses how high you're holding the "shakers." There is one problem that I found with the sensors. Since they are attached to the cords, they seem to get caught on my legs all the time whenever I have to quickly shake on the other side. And since the base has to pick up the signal to register the height on screen, my leg blocks the signal and I mess up in the game. But this is mostly due to human error, however it is hard to not do it though.

And then there's the music. Ah yes, a music game without good tunes in an utter tragedy, but I'm glad to report that the jingles found in Samba are perfectly fitting for the game itself. Songs like "Cup of Life," "Tub-thumping," and Reel Big Fish's ska remix of "Take on Me" round out the licensed titles nicely. Keep in mind however, that most of the songs are either made up by Sega, like "Samba de Janeiro," or are just old, re-done tunes like "La Bamba" and "Tequila." Plus you can always download new ones off the internet.

Graphically speaking, Samba is crammed with style. The game uses colors and vibrancy to the next level with all sorts of crazy animals hopping about in the background to the music. While the polygon models are rather low, the smoothness more than makes up for it as Samba runs at a perfect 60-fps at all times. But all this graphical goodness really doesn't matter, due to the fact that you'll be watching the rhythm balls at all times. However, the visuals certainly don't hurt.

Just like Parappa (did I spell that right?), the background graphics vary depending on how well you're doing. If you find yourself falling to an E rating and miss many of the beats, things will get dark, Amigo (the monkey) will grow tiresome, and things generally aren't too appealing. However, if you're really kicking ass and find yourself with an A rating, it's a completely different story. Amigo's maracas turn golden and his eyes become stars as he convulsively shakes about as if suffering from a major stroke. Plus, the background becomes a psychedelic and tripped out color induced drug trip. It's all great stuff folks.

What really surprised me about the game though, is the surprising amount of replay value. Most arcade ports nowadays get a bunch of extra modes that are usually either spin off's of one mode, or worthless. That's not the case with Samba. Of course you've got the regular arcade mode, but there's also an original mode that lets you play any songs you've unlocked, plus you can always open more songs in the challenge mode (which can get insanely hard). Then there's the party mode, which contains many mini-games that utilize the maraca. Within the party mode there is also a love mode that judges how well you and the other player are compatible by seeing if your timing is the same. Plus there's a battle mode that's similar to a fighting game... only with maracas. Very strange, but very fun as well.

Well, as you can see, Samba de Amigo is one hell of a package. With tons of replay value, a kicking soundtrack, graphics that rival Jet Grind Radio artistically, and just an overall sense of craziness, this game is definitely one of Sonic Team's best yet. If you can find a pair of maracas, I would highly recommend it for anyone who likes having fun.

Samba De Amigo

Review: Are you ready for some monkey lovin'?