Samba de Amigo review (Wii)

This reviewer was so excited by the release of Samba De Amigo on the Wii that I found myself dancing around the living room of my flat playing the Sega title in my underwear.

The curtains were open and, living in London, I’m sure pedestrians going about their weekend ritual were gazing in wonder / bewilderment at what I was doing.

I remember the game from my days as a young Dreamcast owner and how my friends and I played it so enthusiastically back in 2001, so its release on the Wii in 2008 is like a pleasant trip down memory lane.

The premise of the game is simple - you dance, shake and swing your ‘maracas’ in time with the music to rack up points and complete levels.

Six coloured on-screen circles show whether to move you maraca up, down or to the left or right, essentially matching your movements to the rhythm of the song in the vein of Dance Dance Revolution or the immensely popular Guitar Hero.

To make sure things don’t get stale fast, sometimes you are instructed to shake the maracas more quickly or strike a pose as shown by your avatar in order to rack up points.

Again like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero, the game is simple to pick up but incredibly difficult to master.

You play a colourful, and wonderfully camp, little monkey called Amigo, who you have to guide through a number of different game types, including a frustratingly difficult career mode.

With the range of options available, including mini games, the title has a surprisingly long shelf-life, but where this title really comes into its own, of course, is in multi-player mode.

Two players can battle against each other, or play together, to score points and reach the high-score leaderboard.

What’s more, playing the game with a Samba newbie will renew your love affair with the title, even if you think you it might be getting tedious.

The concept of the game is ideal for the Nintendo Wii. The motion-sensitive controller allows you move your hands in time with the music and still feel as is you are dancing to the Latin rhythms.

However, it is here that the only problem with the game lies. While the controls allow for entertaining gameplay, they are, at times, a touch too sensitive, meaning that a subtle flick of the wrist registers as a shake and you can lose points.

This is not too much of a problem on the easier levels, but when the game becomes more challenging, this sort of thing becomes more than a tad irritating.

Additionally, for those who remember the game in its Dreamcast incarnation, using the Wiimote and the nunchuck can be quite different from the more ergonomic maraca controllers of the original version.

Little quibbles aside, the graphics are adorable and vibrant and the soundtrack is full of foot-tapping Latin classics from Santana’s Oye Como Va to Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca via Harry Belafonte’s Jump In The Line.

In addition to the new songs that can be unlocked, more tunes can also be purchased via the Wii Shop. The first add-on pack includes Mambo Mambo by Lou Bega, with many more songs likely to follow.

Much like its dancing and guitar-playing rivals, it may take courage for some of the more self-conscious games to ‘get’ Samba de Amigo. Once they do, it will be hard to wrestle the controllers away from them.

8.5/10

Leigh Jackson