Samba de Amigo
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| Samba de Amigo | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Sonic Team Gearbox Software (Wii) |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Shun Nakamura (Director/Main Planner) Tomohiko Aita (Planner) Satoshi Okano & Hiroyuki Watanabe (Designers) |
| Artist(s) | Yuji Uekawa (Character Designer) |
| Composer(s) | Fumitaka Shibata (Sound Director) Masaru Setsumaru |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Dreamcast, Wii[1] |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Music |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) |
| Input methods | Sega Maracas, Dreamcast controller, Wii Remote and Nunchuk |
Samba de Amigo is a rhythm game originally developed by Sonic Team and released in 1999 by Sega in arcades, 2000 for the Dreamcast video game console, and developed by Gearbox Software in 2008 for the Wii. The player uses controllers shaped like maracas with the goal of matching a series of patterns displayed on-screen. It can be played by one or two players simultaneously.
The music in Samba de Amigo is made of primarily popular Latin music songs rather than common or traditional samba. The game also features non-Latin pop songs.
Contents |
[edit] Gameplay
Samba de Amigo is played with a pair of maracas. As a song plays, the player, guided by on-screen graphics, must shake the maracas at high, middle, or low heights with the beat of the music, or occasionally must strike poses with the maracas held in various positions. The player is represented on-screen by Amigo, a monkey. If the player does well, the scene around the monkey (usually a concert or a dance) will attract more people and become more vividly animated; if the player does poorly, characters leave and eventually all that's left is the monkey alone, looking sad.
In the primary game mode, each player has six spots arranged in a circle on the screen: two red meaning 'shake high,' two yellow meaning 'shake middle,' and two green meaning 'shake low.' Blue dots will appear in the center of this circle and move towards the spots; as soon as the blue dot touches a spot, the player must shake a maraca at that location. For example, if a blue dot touches the upper left spot, the player must shake either maraca above his left shoulder. If both maracas are shaken in that location, the player gets an 'Amigo' bonus. Occasionally a long line of dots will flow into a spot and the word 'Shake' appears, telling the player to continue shaking his maraca rapidly there. Sometimes a stick-figure (named "Pose") appears on the screen holding its maracas in a certain position; the player has a second or two to match the figure's pose for points.
[edit] Game modes
In the original arcade game, the player is given two or three stages to play through, depending on how the options are set. Each stage has three songs to choose from. If the player does well enough on each stage, an additional Special stage is enabled, where three of the more challenging songs are made available.
In the Dreamcast port, this version of the game is playable as Arcade mode. Original mode is the same game, except that instead of being limited to three songs in each stage, the player gets to choose from any song in the game that has been unlocked. Initially, six songs are available in this mode, while more can be unlocked by playing the Arcade or Challenge modes.
The home game also adds a Party mode, with minigames such as Guacamole (pronounced and played much the same as "whack-a-mole"), Strike A Pose (consisting of a long sequence of poses to make), and 1-2-Samba! (where spots must be hit in sequence - the Japanese version's name for this minigame, "Ichi Ni San-ba," is a pun on counting to three in Japanese). Also included in Party mode is the Battle game, where two players compete to score high combos and knock out their opponent, and the Couples game (known as "Love Love" in Japan), where two players play through a song to test their "compatibility". Along with this, the home version has features which can be unlocked, such as alternate sound effects and downloadable songs.
Finally, a Challenge mode has been added, where the player is given specific goals in order to proceed through stages. These goals include having to reach a certain letter grade or to pass a certain score while playing a song. There are 25 challenges total, separated into five stages.
[edit] Maraca controllers
The original arcade game used red maraca controllers modeled after their in-game design. Magnetic sensors were used to determine their position. As this was an expensive process, it had to be reworked for the home version.[2]
In the Dreamcast version, each maraca has a cord which is plugged into to a bar that lies in front of the player's feet. The bar is slightly more than two feet in length and has a sensor at each end, and each maraca has an ultrasonic transmitter mounted on its cord; this allows the system to triangulate the position of each maraca. The rattle part can be unscrewed from the top of each maraca for quieter play [3]. Included in the box is a plastic mat with two brown footprints, which helps players properly position themselves in relation to the sensor bar.
With the exception of the Ver. 2000 sequel, the maracas were never officially used for any other games, though they can be used with Namco's Mr Driller for approximate control of the player's character. A single maraca could also be used to control the SNK produced game Cool Cool Toon.
In the Wii version, players use the Wii Remote, in combination with either the Nunchuk or another Wii Remote. Optional, unlicensed third-party maraca attachments are also available.
[edit] Version 2000
Samba de Amigo: Ver. 2000, a follow-up to this game, was released in Japan for the arcades and the Dreamcast. As the name suggests, it is more of an upgrade than a sequel, and it contains 14 new songs, as well as six new downloadable songs for the home version. Whereas in the original game, there were only three songs to choose in each stage, this version allows the player to choose several. "Love Love/Couples" Mode, originally available only in the home version of Samba de Amigo, is included in the arcade version of Ver.2000. A new character named Amiga joins the cast. She is Amigo's sister, and wields a tambourine. In the home version, a new volleyball game replaces the original minigames. Survival mode was also added, where the player must finish as many songs in a row as they can. In addition, the Challenge mode has new goals, as well as five new secret stages that are quite difficult.
[edit] Hustle Mode
The most significant addition to Ver. 2000 is the new "Hustle Mode". In this mode, the player must still follow the dots and shake the maracas in the appropriate location, but this is done a lot less often. Instead, Pose appears frequently, and in addition to making the player do static poses, he will be shaking his maracas in certain patterns that the player must mimic. These patterns include either shaking one or both maracas back and forth between two of the six positions, doing a full 360° rotation starting from one position, and looping all the way back around,. All the songs in the game, including the ones previously found in the first version, have both Original and Hustle Mode patterns.
Samba de Amigo Ver. 2000 was announced for North American release, under the name Samba de Amigo Ver. 2001, but it was among the games that were canceled when Sega discontinued support for their console.
[edit] After Ver.2000
That same year, Sega released a spiritual successor named Shakatto Tambourine. It was very much the same game as Samba de Amigo, except played with a tambourine controller, and featuring popular J-pop music. Samba de Amigo also made a comeback of sorts in the EyeToy game Sega Superstars, where player movements recorded by the EyeToy camera were recorded in place of the original maracas.
[edit] Wii version
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It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article. (Discuss) |
In mid-2007, veteran developers Gearbox Software came up with the idea to port the game to the Wii console, and upon Sega's approval, began working on the new version with Sonic Team as consultants.[4] The default setting of the game uses the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to simulate the maraca-shaking from the original game, with the option to use two remotes for completely wireless play. Optional maraca-shaped attachments are also available to provide the full experience.[5] Unlike the maraca controls of the Dreamcast version which could detect the height at which they were shaken, the Wii sensor bar is not capable of this. Instead, the angle at which the Wii Remote is being shaken determines if high, mid or low notes are hit. The rotation of the controller also has an effect on note detection, specially when doing cross-over moves.
All the characters and stage designs from the original game return with enhanced graphics. Many of the additions from Ver.2000 that were not available to people outside of Japan are included, such as Hustle Mode and the new character Amiga. A "Career" mode exclusive to the Wii version is included, consisting of challenges in which players must clear songs to earn various unlockables, including maraca effects and additional songs. Unique to the Wii version, new stages based on other Sega games were added, including ones based on Sonic the Hedgehog and Space Channel 5, complete with cameos of Sonic and Ulala respectively. Nearly, but not all the songs from the original game are included. It also includes many of the songs from Ver.2000. 23 Wii-exclusive songs were added, bringing the total to 44. The game supports Miis and displays them next to the player's score. Their expressions change based on performance (Bad, Medium, or Good). Online leaderboards and friends lists let players post their best scores and compare them, but only when an original, player-created Mii is used. This feature cannot be used with the guest Miis.
In addition, downloadable songs are available for an extra charge. These additional songs come in download packs. The first pack includes the songs "I Want Candy (cover version)" by Bow Wow Wow, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" by Jet, and "Mambo Mambo" by Lou Bega [6] (all master tracks), and were available upon the game's release. Download packs come in sets of 3 and cost 500 Wii points. As of December 2008, three download packs have been released.
Samba de Amigo is the first retail Wii title to support the "pay and play" portion of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection; previous such titles were WiiWare titles.
[edit] Characters
- Amigo: The protagonist of the game, a monkey who wields the maracas.
- Amiga: An energetic tambourine player and Amigo's sister.
Introduced in Ver. 1.
- Linda: A beautiful Samba School dancer. She wears a butterfly costume.
- Bingo and Bongo: Two small twin bears that control huge mechanical bears that play bongos.
- Rio: A cat person who seems a cross between a cat and a jaguar. He is never seen without his trademark rose and carries a horn.
- Chumba and Wamba: Two male cheetahs who play mandolin (Chumba) and conga drums (Wamba). They were named for the band Chumbawamba, whose song "Tubthumping" appears in the games.
- Mr. Pose: A stick-figure-like character who tends to only appear as player instructions, although he is a computer opponent in one of the minigames.
[edit] Cameos
Amigo also appears in Sonic Pinball Party, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg and Sega Superstars. He is playable in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Sega Superstars Tennis, and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. He also makes a small cameo appearance on the cover of issue 15 of the Sonic X Comic and in the Sega Carnival track in Sonic Riders.
[edit] Song list
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It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article. (Discuss) |
The original game contained mostly classic Latin songs, while Ver.2000 added a few more contemporary songs from the time. Finally, the Wii version doubled the soundtrack, adding styles from both genres. Covers for the arcade/Dreamcast games were done by Sega's in-house musicians at Wave Master, while the Wii covers were done by WaveGroup Sound, the team known for providing covers and original songs for several modern music games such as Guitar Hero.
Blue rows indicate master tracks featuring the original artist; Green rows indicate original tracks.
| Song Title | Artist | Arcade |
DC |
DC |
Ver. 2000 |
Wii | # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Al Compás Del Mambo" / "Mambo Beat" | Perez Prado |  |
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5 |
| "Arriba Allez" | Bellini | |
1 | ||||
| "Aserejé" / "The Ketchup Song" | Las Ketchup | |
1 | ||||
| "Baila Me" | Gipsy Kings | |
1 | ||||
| "Bamboleo" | Gipsy Kings | |
|
2 | |||
| "Borriquito" | Charo | |
1 | ||||
| "Cha Cha" | Chelo | |
1 | ||||
| "Cha Cha Cuba" | Matt Bianco | |
1 | ||||
| "Como Ves" | Ozomatli | |
1 | ||||
| "Conga" | Miami Sound Machine | |
1 | ||||
| "The Cup of Life" | Ricky Martin | |
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|
|
4 | |
| "Djobi Djoba" | Gipsy Kings | |
1 | ||||
| "Do It Well" | Jennifer Lopez | |
1 | ||||
| "El Mambo" | Solemar | |
|
2 | |||
| "El Ritmo Tropical (El Bimbo)" | Dixie's Gang | |
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|
4 | |
| "Games People Play" | Inner Circle | |
1 | ||||
| "Gonna Fly Now" / "The Theme of Rocky" | Bill Conti | |
|
2 | |||
| "Groove is in the Heart" | Deee-Lite | |
1 | ||||
| "Hot Hot Hot" | Arrow | |
|
2 | |||
| "Jump in the Line" | Harry Belafonte | |
1 | ||||
| "La Bamba" | Ritchie Valens | |
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5 |
| "Livin' la Vida Loca" | Ricky Martin | |
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4 | |
| "Love Lease" | Masao Honda | |
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4 | |
| "Low Rider" | War | |
1 | ||||
| "Macarena" | Los Del Mar | |
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5 |
| "Magalenha" | Bellini and Mondonca Do Rio | |
1 | ||||
| "Mambo de Verano" | Wave Master | |
1 | ||||
| "Mambo No.5" | Lou Bega | |
1 | ||||
| "Mambo No.8" | Perez Prado | |
1 | ||||
| "Mas Que Nada" | Jorge Ben | |
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|
3 | ||
| "Mexican Flyer"* | Ken Woodman | |
1 | ||||
| "Oye Como Va" | Santana | |
1 | ||||
| "Papa Loves Mambo" | Perry Como | |
1 | ||||
| "Pon de Replay" | Rihanna | |
1 | ||||
| "Ran Kan Kan" | Tito Puente | |
1 | ||||
| "S.O.S. (The Tiger Took My Family)" | Dr. Bombay | |
1 | ||||
| "Salome" | Chayanne | |
|
2 | |||
| "Samba de Janeiro" | Bellini | |
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|
5 |
| "Samba de Amigo (Samba de Janeiro 2000)" | Bellini P.K.G. Production (remix) |
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|
4 | |
| "Smooth" | Santana | |
1 | ||||
| "Solo Tu" | WaveGroup | |
1 | ||||
| "Soul Bossa Nova" | Quincy Jones | |
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5 |
| "(Mucho Mambo) Sway" | Shaft | |
a |
2 | |||
| "Take on Me" | Reel Big Fish | |
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5 |
| "Tango With Me" | WaveGroup | |
1 | ||||
| "Tequila" | The Champs | |
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|
5 |
| "The Theme of Inoki" / "Ali Bombaye" | Michael Masser | |
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|
4 | |
| "Tout Tout Pour Ma Chérie" | Michel Polnareff | |
1 | ||||
| "Tubthumping" | Chumbawamba | |
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|
5 |
| "Un Aguardiente" | WaveGroup | |
1 | ||||
| "Vamos a Carnaval" | Wave Master | |
|
2 | |||
| "Volare" | Gipsy Kings | |
|
2 | |||
| "Wedding March" | Felix Mendelssohn | |
|
2 |
*Although listed as such in the game, the track itself is not "Mexican Flyer", but rather "Introducing Ulala!!", which bases its backbeat and melody on Mexican Flyer.
[edit] Downloadable songs
Since the Dreamcast release, the internet connectivity of consoles allowed additional songs to be unlocked or downloaded.
[edit] Dreamcast
In the original Dreamcast games, by selecting the "Internet" option in the menu, the player could visit the Samba de Amigo home page using the game's built-in browser. Here, additional songs are available to unlock, all of which are taken from various games in Sega's library. The songs were not actually downloaded; accessing the internet site simply unlocked hidden songs that were already on the disc.[clarification needed] Some could also be unlocked in the Sega superstars version.
| Song Title | Game | Composer | Vocalist | V.2000 Only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "After Burner" | After Burner | Hiroshi "Hiro" Kawaguchi | ||
| "(Angels With) Burning Hearts" | Burning Rangers | Naofumi Hataya | Dennis St. James | |
| "Can You Become Rent-A-Hero For Mankind's Sake?" | Rent-A-Hero no.1 | Hiroshi Miyauchi | Takenobu Mitsuyoshi & Hironobu Kageyama | |
| "Dreams Dreams" | Nights into Dreams... | Tomoko Sasaki | Curtis King Jr. & Dana Calitri | |
| "It Doesn't Matter" | Sonic Adventure | Jun Senoue | Tony Harnell | |
| "Lazy Days (Livin' in Paradise)" | Sonic Adventure | Jun Senoue | Ted Poley | |
| "Let Mom Sleep" | Jet Set Radio | Hideki Naganuma | |
|
| "Let's Go Away" | Daytona USA | Takenobu Mitsuyoshi | Eric Martin | |
| "Magical Sound Shower" | Out Run | Hiroshi "Hiro" Kawaguchi | ||
| "My Sweet Passion" | Sonic Adventure | Fumie Kumatani | Nikki Gregoroff | |
| "Opa-Opa!" | Fantasy Zone | Hiroshi "Hiro" Kawaguchi | ||
| "Open Your Heart" | Sonic Adventure | Jun Senoue, Kenichi Tokoi | Johnny Gioeli (Crush 40) | |
| "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" | Sonic the Hedgehog CD | Masafumi Ogata | Keiko Utoku | |
| "Super Sonic Racing" | Sonic R | Richard Jacques | T.J. Davis | |
| "We Are Burning Rangers" | Burning Rangers | Naofumi Hataya | Marlon D. Saunders | |
[edit] Wii
Unlike the Dreamcast games, the downloadable content for the Wii version of Samba de Amigo are pay content that includes master tracks of popular songs, available in packs of three. These are true downloads, saved to the Wii internal memory. Since the game's release in September, three packs have been released.
| Song Title | Artist | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" | Jet | September 23, 2008 |
| "I Want Candy" | Bow Wow Wow | September 23, 2008 |
| "Mambo Mambo" | Lou Bega | September 23, 2008 |
| "Love Shack" | The B-52's | November 8, 2008 |
| "Walking On Sunshine" | Katrina and the Waves | November 8, 2008 |
| "Can't Stop" | Ozomatli | November 8, 2008 |
| "Jerk It Out" | Caesars | December 21, 2008 |
| "Mickey" | Toni Basil | December 21, 2008 |
| "The Rockafeller Skank" | Fatboy Slim | December 21, 2008 |
[edit] Reception
The Dreamcast version of Samba de Amigo was met with nearly universal positive reviews, garnering a 89% average at Metacritic.[7] Critics praised it for its unique and addictive gameplay, while the most common criticism was how the game could not be enjoyed without the expensive Maraca controllers.[8]
In addition, Samba de Amigo won the following awards:
- E3 2000 Game Critics Awards: Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game
- GameSpot's Best and Worst of the Year: Best Console Puzzle Game, 2000
- 1st Annual Game Developers Choice Awards: nominated for the Excellence in Audio award and for a Game Spotlight Award.[9]
[edit] Wii version
The game has received mixed reviews overall, ranging from mediocre to positive reception. Eurogamer gave the Wii version 6/10, citing "the imprecise nature of the controls", while admitting that "There's still a decent amount of daft fun to be had out of this joyous little game".[10] Gamespot gave the Wii version 6/10 as well.[11] Other reviews disagreed, with WorthPlaying saying "the controls are spot-on 95 percent of the time" and rating the game an 8.5/10. [12]. Nintendo Power also gave the game high marks, awarding it a 9 out of 10. [13] And Gamepro gave the game a 4 out of 5. [14]
[edit] References
- ^ "Samba de Amigo Page". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/207210/samba-de-amigo-wii/. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
- ^ Jared Matte. "Samba de Amigo "Behind the Screens"". Green Hill Zone. http://www.theghz.com/samba/samba/samba.html#behind. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
- ^ "Samba de Amigo Review". GameGoldies. http://www.gamegoldies.org/samba-de-amigo-sega-dreamcast/. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
- ^ Allison Berryman, Matt Casamassina (2008-11-08). "Samba de Amigo Developer Diary 1". IGN. http://wii.ign.com/articles/897/897866p1.html. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Maracas-Nintendo/dp/B001ELEXPW
- ^ "E3 2008: Samba De Amigo Officially Announces Downloadable Content". IGN. 2004-07-15. http://wii.ign.com/articles/889/889690p1.html. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
- ^ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/drm/sambadeamigo?q=samba%20de%20amigo
- ^ Various. "Samba de Amigo". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/drm/sambadeamigo?q=samba%20de%20amigo. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Eurogamer review
- ^ http://www.gamespot.com/wii/puzzle/sambadeamigo/review.html
- ^ http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=56481
- ^ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/wii/sambadeamigo?q=Samba%20de%20Amigo
- ^ http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/207210/samba-de-amigo-wii/
