This has been quite the last couple of weeks for lovers of classic Dreamcast games. First we get to finally see a proper successor toJet Set Radioin the form ofBomb Rush Cyberfunk, and now Sega’s classic rhythm game Samba de Amigo is finally getting a proper sequel in the form of Samba de Amigo: Party Central. Some have complained that these new titles aren’t changing or innovating much, but as a counterpoint, we’ve barely seen any games such as these in the past two decades or so, and we’ll take what we can get. But while Party Central may be sticking to more classic gameplay, can it still deliver what the same level of fun as its predecessor?
Samba de Amigo: Party Central starts off with a little cinematic about the player and Amigo, the series' monkey mascot, having to take up the maracas again in order to save the world…and then forgets about that as it drives straight into focusing on being a rhythm game. Using their Joy-Con controllers like a pair of maracas, players shake in time to the beat at different heights as spheres pass through them, also making sure to pose quickly and correctly or slide the controllers/maracas across the screen when prompted as well. In a twist, a question mark sphere can also do anything from trigger mini-games where you do things like hit baseballs or hi-five people to the beat as well, or mess with you by shrinking things, speeding things up and more. It’s all designed to make for a nicely chaotic, colorful challenge.
Unsurprisingly for a rhythm game such as this, Samba de Amigo: Party Central has a killer soundtrack at its disposal, with range of energetic songs that dabbles in everything from Lady Gaga and Culture Club to Rina Sawayama and Galantis. Ironically, the soundtrack has less Latin music on it this time around, despite the genre’s current prominence, as if the franchise felt like it had to catch up with last twenty years of pop music instead. But while the likes of Bad Bunny or Karol G might have been welcome, we still get a good selection of jams here as well, with a selection that’s fun to play along to.
With the shift in genre, we also appear to get a shift in aesthetics as well, with the settings you perform in now consisting of neon-lit clubs and stages, block parties and more, with a larger emphasis on urban flair, which all make for impressive-looking backgrounds that perfectly fit in with the vibrant art style. The various colorful characters that you perform alongside also consist of returning faces and a few new ones, also showcasing a nice balance between old and new designs that perfectly blend together. Even Amigo’s clothing has changed to a more casual city-dwelling outfit, though you’re free to deck them out in their classic outfit, along with other outfits, maracas, color schemes and more, with customizable features to can purchase with in-game currency.
Said currency is earned through playing though all of the forty-plus songs, in a variety of different modes. There’s the classic arcade-style Rhythm Game mode, where you have access to every song and all difficulties right off the bat. There’s World Party, a simple yet neat elimination mode taking place over three songs where losers get knocked out. Party for Two is the local two-player mode with an additional assortment of mini-games, and finally, StreamiGo!, a challenge mode where you have to meet certain conditions during songs, patterned to resemble a social media platform where you earn likes in order to advance, which is arguably the highlight, especially for those who desire something meatier. Nothing that rocks the boat, but still a good assortment of variety on display again.
Samba de Amigo: Party Central had the style, the sounds and the simple-yet-effective gameplay setup needed for a perfect rhythm game. Now all it needed was perfect controls that accurately simulated the maraca-shaking festivities like in the original, and everything would perfectly fall into place and create one incredibly fun and addictive rhythm game. And unfortunately, you may have guessed from those last couple of sentences where the game’s big flaw sadly lies.
Yes, there was no getting around the awkward Joy-Con controls in Samba de Amigo: Party Central. For starters, instead of just merely having you hold the controllers in the correct heights/positions and shake at the right time, the game expects you to hold them straight up, to the side, or facing downward as well. It’s clearly trying to help simulate the movement further, and while this might work with the original game’s maracas controllers, here it just felt awkward to handle, and didn’t seem to do an effective job at simulating movements. Sometimes certain movements worked, sometimes they didn’t, sometimes the game awarded me points just for having a Joy-Con in a certain position by default without moving it.
There was still fun to had, but the motion controls were getting in the way. Not helped was the fact that despite any goofs, the game was handing me way too many S ranks (on the Normal mode, at least), despite blatantly missing notes, as if to compensate for the controls. Thankfully, Samba de Amigo: Party Central also has the option to play it with buttons and joysticks instead, which is a nice addition (especially for those who want to play on the go). Sure, you don’t get an accurate maraca simulator, but at least here your controller usage actually matches the in-game actions more frequently. The end result is that while Samba de Amigo: Party Central is still a fine game overall in spite of its issues, I would have to agree with the fellow HG writer who said that they’d rather wait forthe Quest version of the gameinstead, which will hopefully have more accurate controls (heck, hopefullythe Apple Arcade versionwill have them as well). It’s a decent comeback, but not the epic party we had been hoping for.
Closing Comments:
Samba de Amigo: Party Central isn’t exactly the deepest rhythm game, but there’s still fun to be had here, even if the overall product is held back by its finicky Joy-Con controls. A great soundtrack, enjoyable gameplay modes and a bold, eye-catching visual style help keep the party going even longer, but with a little refinement, future shindigs in this series can be even greater than ever.
Samba De Amigo: Party Central
Developed and published by Sega, Samba de Amigo: Party Central is a rhythm game with a vibrant aesthetic and a wide selection of tracks. The game will be coming to the Nintendo Switch at some point in 2023.
