Sega Nerds

SGD08: Samba de Amigo hands on

by George on May 16th, 2008

Samba de Amigo is one of those underrated party games. It’s a great game to make a complete fool of yourself after a few drinks, but guess what? You don’t care, cause you’re having so much fun.

I don’t like the game’s music or the type of music in it, but it really grows on you. I’m glad that Gearbox decided to give this game a second chance. Everyone was afraid that they would screw up. Did they?

Continue reading and find out.

The first thing that I should talk about are the graphics. They are much brighter and crisper than the original. The texture work also looks better. Everything looks like it has enough texture not to look bland. Not that it would need to look like Mario Galaxy, but it looks nice. Much better looking than some recent games (I’m looking at you, No More Heroes).

This game is actually a remake of Samba de Amigo Ver. 2000, just in case that wasn’t specified. It features the Hustle mode, though I didn’t try it out at the event, since I’ve played it before on the Japanese Dreamcast version. Hustle is supposed to have more posing, as well as “hustling,” where you swing your maracas back and forth between the markers on the screen. It’s good to have, since it’s a fun mode and adds a different way of playing the game.

When I asked what songs they had for the pay to play feature, the PR person said it was a rumor. They never officially announced it and isn’t finalized, so there might not be downloadable songs after all. Depends if the feature goes through.

I decided to play battle mode. Battle mode has a bomb for each player, and the objective is to play without making mistakes. The bomb gets bigger and bigger as you play through the song, and if you get enough points it will be thrown at the other player and his life gauge will decrease. I’m sad to announce that I lost the game. Yes, I know. The friend that went with me and didn’t think much of the game won his match. Sometimes life isn’t fair.

The game was set up with two Wii remotes per person, as opposed to the originally announced Wii remote and nunchuck control scheme. I asked why the remote+nunchuck control scheme wasn’t available and the guy said he didn’t know. I asked how different it was and he said it’s not much different, except the way you do poses. Since the nunchuck and Wii remote are connected with a cord, you can’t strike poses. So it tells the game you are using a nunchuck and doesn’t force you to strike the pose, just a small gesture of it instead of the full-blown pose.

The controls felt solid. I forgot they weren’t maracas after a while. I think the speaker and rumble added a lot to the experience. The way to play this game is with both of those options turned on, meaning you’ll need two Wii remotes to play it. It’s ok though, since its still cheaper than maracas!

The song selection shown at the event wasn’t much, but the full tracklist wasn’t available. There is supposed to be 40+ songs in the final game. If you always wanted to give Samba de Amigo a shot but couldn’t because it was too expensive, this is your dream come true. Samba de Amigo with enhanced graphics, widescreen, and in 480p. The game is set for a late summer release, and I personally can’t wait.

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POSTED IN: George, Nintendo Wii