The rhythm game genre was basically a one-publisher show back in 1999 and 2000. Konami's Bemani games were the only ones in town as far as arcades were concerned, and they were starting to come to the PlayStation at a pretty rapid rate. But, of course, as things get popular, they also open the door for other publishers to put their own spin on an existing genre. And that's just what Sega's Sonic Team did with the release of Samba de Amigo. Coming to the Dreamcast in 2000 (it first hit arcades), it was the first rhythm game to be released in North America that required a big, extra controller.
The action in Samba de Amigo was unique because it relied on not only your placement of the maracas, but also your timing. Floor sensors that came with the DC maracas could detect the distance between the maracas and the floor, which is how you got the game to recognize that the maracas were in one of six different onscreen zones. So rhythm wasn't all you needed, as you also had to keep track of where the maracas were at any given time. That added an interesting layer of complexity to the game, which helped keep it addictive. It didn't really make the game impossible, either.
The song list helped things along by sticking largely to Latin-themed songs, including the highly recognizable theme song, Samba de Janeiro. At the same time, the game did branch out into other territory, including songs like Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping," Reel Big Fish's cover of "Take On Me," and a few other tracks that you wouldn't really want to play maracas to. In a cool addition, the DC version could get online to download unlock-keys for additional tracks from other Sonic Team games, which let you play along with songs from After Burner, Burning Rangers, OutRun, Fantasy Zone, Sonic CD, Sonic R, and Nights.
Graphically, there was a lot going on in Samba de Amigo, but like most rhythm games, the show was really only there for spectators. But it was a show nonetheless, chock-full of crazy-eyed cartoon monkeys with sombreros and a cast of other characters, which gave the game a unique visual style that really stood out.
Samba de Amigo spawned a sequel, which was also ported to the DC, but this version never made it to the US. It focused more on movement of the maracas instead of the timing of your shakes, which ended up revealing the limitations of the floor sensor. The original game was a great deal of fun, and it proved that you could put out a great, controller-based rhythm game, without the Konami name on it, and still attract an audience.
--Jeff Gerstmann, Senior Editor
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