Sega Nerds

Samba De Amigo (Wii) hands-on impressions

Posted by Graham. Filed under G, Nintendo Wii, Preview, Video. Tagged with Music, Samba De Amigo.

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~To help show off the way the game is played Sega asked us to record our footage showing both the screen and people playing - which is something they have said to every other site.   So apologies of the angle is bit weird, we had no one else to hold the camera - so had to prop it up on a cupboard, with my jumper… and some cake~

~And yes, I am the one with the stupid hat on~

Last Friday I was invited up to the Sega Europe offices for a decent hands-on play of Samba De Amigo.  Now, I should stress that the build of the game I played was not the latest version.  Apparently there has been a newer version released recently - so new that it had not actually landed at the SoE offices I visited.

So, with that in mind, you should all be aware that Sega/GearBox is still currently in the process of fine tuning elements to the game.

I should also hasten to add that I was never able to play on the Dreamcast version of the game.  Yeah, it sucks, but I don’t even recall seeing the game on any store shelves when it was released in the UK, it’s not like I ignored it - I really wanted the game!

But, really Sega is hoping that the Wii version of the game will hit gamers who never played the original, so my not playing the original could be beneficial.

So how is the game shaping up so far?

While it would have been great to play on every mode, and try out a large selection of songs, that was not possible, because the build of the game that I played, had quite a lot of options locked and also had only about 4 or 5 different songs to choose from.

So we (the Sega rep and I) took it in turns to play on the single player, and also three of the 2-player modes.

The single player is fairly standard, just shake the Wii controls to the music, score high, try not to mess up.  The standard 2 player mode is just like single player, except you have to try and get a higher score than the other player.

We also played on “Battle” and “Love Love” modes.  Battle, each have a health bar, and missing notes will cause you to lose some health.  Also by doing really well, you are given a chance to throw a bomb at the opposition.  This causes them to lose a big chunk of health.  Naturally the winner is the person who doesn’t die.

Love Love is a much more interesting affair.  It is a co-operative mode, and involves players trying to keep in time with each other, as they hit the notes.  You are each given different notes to hit - but it’s all about keeping the same rhythm, also pulling off poses together.  At the end of two rounds you are given a “Love Rating” - which determines how compatible you are as a couple.  So possibly best not to play this mode with any young, impressionable stalker-type friends.

There is also two varieties of play mode.  One is “normal” - where you just shake to the funky beats.  The other is “Shuffle” (which I believe was present in the 2nd version of the game on the Dreamcast) - where you shake to the beat, and are also asked to perform poses at various points.

Well no doubt lots of you have played the game already and know what it’s about.  If not, the game is basically a rhythm game, where you shake maracas in different positions, high, middle or low, and pull off poses when told to.  It’s all very simple.

From what I hear, the original Dreamcast Maracas were great for the game, and the sensitivity was really good.  From other early impressions of the Wii game, I have heard complaints about the controls - how the Wiimote just isn’t sensitive enough for the game.

I’m not going to lie I did have some troubles when controlling the game.  The game would occasionally confuse the positions you hold the Nunchuck or Wiimote, so that you would miss-hit notes at times.

However, I did also use the dual Wiimotes option for the game, and I could instantly notice a difference.  Using a Wiimote in each hand certainly seemed to have a better connection for the game.  It also felt better (physically) as a player, because the Nunchuck doesn’t really feel much like a maraca, and the curved shaped feels a little awkward.

The other great thing about using two Wiimotes is that the in-built speakers make the maraca noises.  It adds a great effect, and feeling (as they vibrate slightly too), and gives a much better experience.  But it doesn’t happen when you have a Wiimote and Nunchuck.

If you are really worried about the controls, the game offers players the chance to calibrate them.  When we first started, the game wasn’t registering certain movements - but calibrating this worked really well, kind of like how you used to calibrate controls for lightgun games back in the 90’s.

While I can’t really give a final score for the game, I definitely had a good time playing it.  Yeah, the issue with the game not recognising certain moves was a bit annoying, but it wasn’t very frequent.

Using two Wiimotes is clearly the best bet for the game.  The songs are fun and jovial enough to be liked by many - even if only for their ‘camp value,’ and the gameplay is simple but fun.

I’m definitely looking forward to playing the full game and seeing what the full soundtrack is like, and the other options.  And from what I hear Gearbox has been working on any teething issues - so fingers crossed for the final version.