Samba De Amigo Wii

Features
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Can the Nunchuk really tell where it is in 3D space?

But just look how things have changed. Wii is selling like hot cakes (exactly why aren't there more hot-cake businesses, eh?) and the motion-sensitivity is built into the Wii-mote and Nunchuk. Most crucially, the game itself is perfect for Wii. It's immediately fun, can be enjoyed by casual gamers because it's like any bemani game, yet still offers a hardcore challenge to anyone wanting to get 100%. It's Guitar Hero for the Ricky Martin crowd.

Thankfully, despite some graphical spit and polish, the game looks just like it did on Dreamcast. Bright, bold colours light up the screen like a carnival and the grinning monkey and sexy rabbit girl (yes, sexy rabbit girl) are back in full effect. As before, gameplay consists of shaking the 'maracas' to your left and right in either low, middle or high positions, corresponding with coloured circles on the screen. Shake the maraca over the right hole as a blue circle moves over it and you score the points. Simple.

Occasionally, you'll be asked to 'strike a pose!' and then you have to quickly move the controllers to two of the six circles within a short time limit. This was the only section that seemed a bit iffy in our play, as the space recognition seemed to be a bit more shaky when both controllers were over one side of the play area - or maybe we were just being imprecise. Still, it feels great when you get it right.

Justin Towell
Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.