Samba de Amigo
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is a
rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...
developed by
Sonic Team is a video game developer owned by the Japanese video game company Sega as part of its Sega CS Research and Development No. 2 division. Sonic Team is best known for the long-running '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and games such as '' Nights ...
and published by
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
. The game was released in
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
s in December 1999, and for the
Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...
video game console A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally placed i ...
in 2000. A port for the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
was also developed by
Gearbox Software Gearbox Software is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitchford, one of the founders, se ...
and Escalation Studios and released in 2008. In ''Samba de Amigo'', the player uses controllers shaped like
maraca A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were r ...
s with the goal of matching a series of patterns displayed on-screen. Samba de Amigo expresses South american music, culture and dancing. The music in ''Samba de Amigo'' is made of primarily
popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...
Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...
songs rather than common or traditional
samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...
. The game also features non-Latin pop songs.


Gameplay

''Samba de Amigo'' is played with a pair of
maraca A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were r ...
s. 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 Brazilian
monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
. If the player does well, the scene around Amigo (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 Amigo 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.


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 "
Whac-A-Mole Whac-A-Mole is an arcade game, originally known as or in Japan. A typical Whac-A-Mole machine consists of a waist-level cabinet with a play area and display screen, and a large, soft, black mallet. Five holes in the play area top are filled wit ...
"), 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.


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. In the Dreamcast version, each maraca has a cord which is plugged into 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 Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies fr ...
transmitter mounted on its cord; this allows the system to
triangulate In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by forming triangles to the point from known points. Applications In surveying Specifically in surveying, triangulation involves only angle me ...
the position of each maraca. The rattle part can be unscrewed from the top of each maraca for quieter play. 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 is a puzzle video game franchise created by Yasuhito Nagaoka and Hideo Yoshizawa for Namco. The eponymous first game was released in 1999 for arcades and several home consoles, such as the PlayStation. Gameplay in the series consists of contr ...
'' 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 The Wii Remote, also known colloquially as the Wiimote, is the primary game controller for Nintendo's Wii home video game console. An essential capability of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with ...
, in combination with either the Nunchuk or another Wii Remote. Optional, unlicensed third-party maraca attachments are also available. In a Flash version mini game used for the promotion of the Wii version of the game, keys W, D, and C, then O, J, and N is used to tap the drums. The mini game also played an introductory movie showing a family playing the Wii version of the game.


Release


''Ver. 2000''

''Samba de Amigo: Ver. 2000'', was released in Japan for the arcades and the Dreamcast. It is an upgraded version, 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 The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...
. 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. 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.


Wii version

In mid-2007, veteran developers
Gearbox Software Gearbox Software is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitchford, one of the founders, se ...
came up with the idea to port the game to the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
console, and upon Sega's approval, began working on the new version with
Sonic Team is a video game developer owned by the Japanese video game company Sega as part of its Sega CS Research and Development No. 2 division. Sonic Team is best known for the long-running '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and games such as '' Nights ...
as consultants. The default setting of the game uses the
Wii Remote The Wii Remote, also known colloquially as the Wiimote, is the primary game controller for Nintendo's Wii home video game console. An essential capability of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with ...
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. 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, especially 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 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 is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
'' and ''
Space Channel 5 ''Space Channel 5'' is a music video game developed by Sega AM9 and published by parent company Sega. Originally released for the Dreamcast (1999 in Japan, 2000 worldwide), it was later ported to the PlayStation 2 (2002 in Europe, 2003 in Japan ...
'', 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 as well as showing two random ones in-game during stages. 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 "I Want Candy" is a song written and originally recorded by the Strangeloves in 1965 that reached No. 11 in the US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It is a famous example of a song that uses the Bo Diddley beat. Original version ...
(cover version)" by
Bow Wow Wow Bow Wow Wow are an English new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band behind 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on vocals. They released their debut EP '' Your Cassette ...
, "
Are You Gonna Be My Girl "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" is a song by Australian rock band Jet from their 2003 debut album, ''Get Born''. It was released as the first single from the album on 18 August 2003 in the United States and on 1 September 2003 in Australia. The son ...
" by Jet, and " Mambo Mambo" by Lou Bega (all master tracks), and were available upon the game's release. Download packs come in sets of 3 and cost 500
Wii points The Wii Shop Channel is a former digital distribution service for the Wii video game console. The service allowed users to purchase and play additional software for the Wii (called Channels), including exclusive games (branded WiiWare), and game ...
. 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 Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC) was an online multiplayer gaming service run by Nintendo to provide free online play in compatible Nintendo DS and Wii games. The service included the company's Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop game download ...
, previously used exclusively by
WiiWare WiiWare was a service that allowed Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications could only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii S ...
titles.


Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Samba de Amigo'' on their February 1, 2000 issue as being the most-successful dedicated arcade game of the month. It went on to be the highest-grossing dedicated arcade game of 2000 in Japan. Blake Fischer reviewed the Dreamcast version of the game for '' Next Generation'', rating it five stars out of five, and stated that "It's different, it's wacky, and it's insanely fun. Just shake your Maraca's and watch the monkey dance - that's all you need." The Dreamcast version of ''Samba de Amigo'' was met with nearly universal positive reviews, garnering an 89% average at
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' magazine scored the Dreamcast version of the game a 32 out of 40.''ドリームキャスト - サンバdeアミーゴ''. Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.41. 30 June 2006. 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. In addition, ''Samba de Amigo'' won the following awards: * E3 2000
Game Critics Awards The Game Critics Awards are a set of annual awards held after the E3 video game conference since 1998. The awards are given to products displayed at E3 with the title Best of E3 of their category. Format The nominees and winners of the awards a ...
: Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game *1st Annual
Game Developers Choice Awards The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were ...
: nominated for the Excellence in Audio award and for a Game Spotlight Award. ''GameSpot'' presented ''Samba de Amigo'' with its annual "Best Puzzle Game" and "Best Game No One Played" awards among
console game A console game is a type of video game consisting of images and often sounds generated by a video game console, which are displayed on a television or similar audio-video system, and that can be manipulated by a player. This manipulation usually ...
s, and nominated it in the "Best Game Music" and "Best Graphics, Artistic" categories.


''Ver. 2000''

Blake Fischer reviewed the Dreamcast version of ''Samba de Amigo 2000'' for '' Next Generation'', rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "The impact of the first game may have worn off, but it's still a blast to break out the maraca controllers and jam to Sonic Team's latest foray. ''Samba!''." On release, ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' magazine scored the Dreamcast version of the ''Ver.2000'' follow-up a 30 out of 40.''ドリームキャスト - サンバDEアミーゴver.2000''. Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.52. 30 June 2006.


Wii version

The game has received mixed reviews overall, ranging from mediocre to positive reception.
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
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".
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
gave the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
version 6/10 as well. Other reviews disagreed, with WorthPlaying saying "the controls are spot-on 95 percent of the time" and rating the game an 8.5/10. Nintendo Power also gave the game high marks, awarding it a 9 out of 10. And Gamepro gave the game a 4 out of 5.


Legacy

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 The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...
controller, and featuring popular J-pop music. ''Samba de Amigo'' also made a comeback of sorts in the
EyeToy The EyeToy is a color webcam for use with the PlayStation 2. Supported games use computer vision and gesture recognition to process images taken by the EyeToy. This allows players to interact with the games using motion, color detection, and also ...
game ''
Sega Superstars ''Sega Superstars'' is a party video game developed by Sonic Team for the PlayStation 2. It was published by Sega and released in Europe on October 22, 2004; in North America in November 3, 2004; and in Japan in November 11, 2004. The game featur ...
'', where player movements recorded by the EyeToy camera were recorded in place of the original maracas. A pair of ''Samba de Amigo'' themed levels appeared in the 2012
Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
game, '' Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure'', which are played using buttons and the system's gyroscope. ''Samba de Amigo'' references have continued to appear in many of Sega's other titles. The song "Vamos a Carnival" is featured in the MMO ''
Phantasy Star Online 2 is a free-to-play online action role-playing game in the ''Phantasy Star'' series, developed and published by Sega. It was created as a successor to ''Phantasy Star Online'' and '' Phantasy Star Universe'', ''Phantasy Star Online 2'' features ...
'' as the game's lobby music every April as part of a yearly Easter event, which would later be re-instated as the BGM of the Easter lobby which appears every second half of April. A ''Samba de Amigo''-themed level appears in ''
Sonic Pinball Party is a video game released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. It is a celebration of sorts for Sonic Team featuring many references to its previous games, mostly prominently '' Sonic the Hedgehog'', '' Nights into Dreams'', and ''Samba De Amigo''. ...
''. Additionally, Amigo appears as a playable character in ''
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is a 2010 kart racing video game, produced for Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS (February 23, 2010), and Microsoft Windows (March 3, 2010), featuring characters from multiple List of Sega video game franchises, Sega franchises. The game ...
'' and its sequel '' Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed''.


References


External links


''Samba de Amigo''
on Sega.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samba De Amigo 1999 video games Arcade video games Dreamcast games Gearbox Software games Music video games Party video games Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection games Sega arcade games Sega video games Sonic Team games Video games about primates Video games set in Brazil Wii Wi-Fi games Wii games Video games produced by Yuji Naka Video games scored by Masaru Setsumaru Video games developed in Japan Multiplayer and single-player video games