When it comes to the development of a new Samba de Amigo game, only one development house comes to mind. That’s right, Gearbox Software. Only the crew responsible for games like Brothers in Arms and the PC port of Halo can possibly understand the gravitas that Amigo, the sombrero-wearing monkey, brings to gaming.
OK, so it’s a weird fit, putting Randy Pitchford and his posse on a new Samba game. But it reminds me of Crystal Dynamics doing the 3DO port of Samurai Shodown: you know they don’t need to take on that assignment, so they must just be huge fans of the original game. And, from what I saw at Nintendo’s recent event, the game seems like it’s sticking pretty close to what you’d expect from a Samba de Amigo game.
The big difference, obviously, is the control. On the Dreamcast, Samba de Amigo was played with maracas controllers that required you to hover just so above a sensor bar on your floor. Also, you had to tell the game how tall you are, so it could determine whether you were holding the two maracas in the high, medium, or low position. The Wii version lets you use either two Wii Remotes or a Wii Remote with a Nunchuk, but either way, it’s based more on the tilt of the controller than its height. So if you tilt up, it goes high. Tilt forward or to the sides for medium, and down for low. It’s pretty different and makes the game a less-physical activity, unless you want to go for broke and move the controllers around all crazy while you’re tilting them. Regardless of how you shake it, the control seems plenty responsive and works just fine.
The point of the game remains the same. Balls emanate from from the center and move toward one of six points. When the ball meets its point, you need to shake a controller in that position. You’re scored based on your timing. Two players can play simultaneously, giving off that “let’s have a party” sort of vibe. All the while, Amigo the monkey and a cast of other crazy-faced animals go absolutely nuts in the background. The game will feature online leaderboards, in case you’re into that sort of thing.
The game maintains the same basic look that it had on the Dreamcast. You’ll be able to choose from a number of different modes, including the ability to play the various songs in the more traditional Samba, as well as a mode that works more like the sequel, Samba de Amigo 2000. The 40+ songs will be a mix of new and old, though Sega hasn’t made any announcements about new material. Samba de Janeiro is in there, though. So really, it already has all the music it needs.
Samba de Amigo is set to hit the Wii this summer.
26 Comments
holy updates batman! you guys rocks! btw this reminds me of “Papa Da Rapa” for some reason
Looks interesting, if not a little weird.
Never played the original but I do enjoy rhythm games. Heres hoping its good.
Too much content.
I never got the chance to play the original on the Dreamcast. I’ll be looking forward to the review.
Never played the dreamcast one, but if it’s not made by SEGA, it may have a chance
Being from the country of samba all that I can say is: I don´t care about this game.
Looks like something that’s cool to play at someone else’s house, but something you would never buy yourself.
I did own the Dreamcast US copy and had the controllers. It was oddly enough one of the best 120$ I spent.
I’m really worried about this game playing well. I’m not so sure I’ll like the tilt idea when i finally get my hands on it. But as long as I can play Super Hard mode with out having to tilt my wrist constantly I’ll be fine.
Actually now that I think of it.. if you put the sensor bar on the ground and hold the wii motes upside down in your hand like the maracas it might play more like the dreamcast version. I don’t know i’ll try it out when it comes out.
Too.. many.. updates..
Yeah, its hard to keep up you guys! One update per minute…PLEASE! So this game is definently not my style but it looks like it might be fun…maybe.
GodzillaVsJapan:
holy updates batman! you guys rocks! btw this reminds me of “Papa Da Rapa” for some reason
uhhhh… i think your referring to Parappa The Rappa right?
Anyways, go Gearbox! Get away from WW2.
Never got to play the original but I’m definitely excited for this one.
Samba de Amigo was one of my favorite games on the Dreamcast, and I can’t wait for the new one.
Now Sega, another Space Channel 5 please?
I so wish I had a Wii solely for this title.
Bonus points for the Samurai Shodown 3DO reference.
Gearbox also did the Half Life expansions.
A Dreamcast, Samba disc, and 3rd party maracas are probably easier and cheaper to obtain than a Wii. Arguably a better value as well.
The game looks like it would give me a headache from all the colors….
Seems uber retarded to the max.
haaaa i just love rythtem games that use some kind of physical input, keep’em coming!
This just seems like a downgrade in gameplay from the Dreamcast version. Maracas FTW
Never played the original, although I wanted to. Graphics look pretty damn fantastic. Is it going to be in 480p and 16:9?
It indeed looks like a good summer rental for the Wii.
It indeed looks like a good rental for the Wii.
That is a really weird, and deform game which i had never heard about.
Awesome! I totally love rhythm games and this should be an interesting one to play too!
“Somba de Amigo 2000″?
Was it a typo?
Also, I’m not a huge commenter, but i read it all. It all.
Nice work guys.