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"Shoryuken!"
Moderator
on 09/12/2008 at 12:31:45PM
Total Posts: 10397 |
I love Monkeys, I love dancing and I love shaking Maracas. I also loved the Dreamcast Samba De Amigo, which (due to the high cost) I never got to buy myself. But Sega heard my cries of woe and decided to bring the Samba Monkey out of retirement for one more shake on the Wii.
Samba De Amigo is a rhythm action game in the style of Guitar Hero or one of the many Dance mat games like Dancing Stage. You get to use the Wii remotes as Maracas and there are three positions to hold them in, higher middle or low. In addition to this, you can hold both in one circle or one hand high and the other low etc.
As you’d expect, the music is all Latin American and Spanish themed from La Bamba to a cover of La Vida Loca, sandwiched with a bit of Macarena and Mambo for good measure. Some songs are available straight away and others can be unlocked by beating game modes.
The easy and medium modes are great fun, easy is great for the kids and my 4 year old can score a B or C grade on some of the tracks, medium is fine for anyone else who wants to beat the game, but the hard mode is a nightmare. This is mainly because although the game recognises your movements, sometimes it gives in and guesses wrongly, which is fine when the shaking is slower but not so good on hard mode when you’re trying to keep up all the time. It’s a good challenge, but sticking to medium has it’s rewards.
You can either use a Wii Remote and Nunchuk or 2 Wii remotes to play this. The advantage of the second method is that the remote has better motion sensing, but only just.
As well as the single player modes you get a multiplayer vs mode, which left me with bruises after I stood too near my daughter, and a co-operative mode where you actually work together. Then you have the fantastically silly mini games including the brilliant wack-a-mole which does pretty much what you think, but with a Latin flavour! These modes are great for parties and relaxing in between bouts of beating the game.
Unusually for the Wii, extra tracks are available for the game, with the first one setting you back 500 points for 3 songs, which might seem a bit steep, until you consider that you do get 250 stars for buying Nintendo games which you can turn into Wii points online. That said, the 44 songs available in the game from the start do cover all the bases from Sega game tunes to classic Mambo tracks and modern hits given a Latin flavour (even a version Take on Me by Aha!)
Despite the odd control issues when the game really gets frantic, Samba De Amigo is fantastic fun for everyone and is one of those games that will get you dancing, even if you’re just watching. The mini games add something to the package and make it a worthy purchase, especially when you can pick the game up for under £20.
7.5/10
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pb
"Shoryuken!"
Moderator
on 09/12/2008 at 12:31:45PM
Total Posts: 10397
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I love Monkeys, I love dancing and I love shaking Maracas. I also loved the Dreamcast Samba De Amigo, which (due to the high cost) I never got to buy myself. But Sega heard my cries of woe and decided to bring the Samba Monkey out of retirement for one more shake on the Wii.
Samba De Amigo is a rhythm action game in the style of Guitar Hero or one of the many Dance mat games like Dancing Stage. You get to use the Wii remotes as Maracas and there are three positions to hold them in, higher middle or low. In addition to this, you can hold both in one circle or one hand high and the other low etc.
As you’d expect, the music is all Latin American and Spanish themed from La Bamba to a cover of La Vida Loca, sandwiched with a bit of Macarena and Mambo for good measure. Some songs are available straight away and others can be unlocked by beating game modes.
The easy and medium modes are great fun, easy is great for the kids and my 4 year old can score a B or C grade on some of the tracks, medium is fine for anyone else who wants to beat the game, but the hard mode is a nightmare. This is mainly because although the game recognises your movements, sometimes it gives in and guesses wrongly, which is fine when the shaking is slower but not so good on hard mode when you’re trying to keep up all the time. It’s a good challenge, but sticking to medium has it’s rewards.
You can either use a Wii Remote and Nunchuk or 2 Wii remotes to play this. The advantage of the second method is that the remote has better motion sensing, but only just.
As well as the single player modes you get a multiplayer vs mode, which left me with bruises after I stood too near my daughter, and a co-operative mode where you actually work together. Then you have the fantastically silly mini games including the brilliant wack-a-mole which does pretty much what you think, but with a Latin flavour! These modes are great for parties and relaxing in between bouts of beating the game.
Unusually for the Wii, extra tracks are available for the game, with the first one setting you back 500 points for 3 songs, which might seem a bit steep, until you consider that you do get 250 stars for buying Nintendo games which you can turn into Wii points online. That said, the 44 songs available in the game from the start do cover all the bases from Sega game tunes to classic Mambo tracks and modern hits given a Latin flavour (even a version Take on Me by Aha!)
Despite the odd control issues when the game really gets frantic, Samba De Amigo is fantastic fun for everyone and is one of those games that will get you dancing, even if you’re just watching. The mini games add something to the package and make it a worthy purchase, especially when you can pick the game up for under £20.
7.5/10
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