Games

Samba De Amigo

Publisher: Sega

Platform: Reviewed on Wii

Price: From 29.99

Certificate: U

Shake it to the beat of Samba De Amigo

The Wii goes one step further as it gains a maraca peripheral. But is this a necessary add on or just an excuse to shake an extra £10 out of the consumer? Either way this would, and indeed did seem like a crazy idea when this title was released for Sega's Dreamcast in 1999. But does it work now for the wii?

To give a simple answer - yes. Now, in an age the age of 'Rock Band' and 'Guitar Hero' this game is really not too out of place, especially on the Wii. And the maracas are neither expensive or essential to play, unlike controllers Nintendo's previous music release, the Game Cube's 'Donkey Konga'.

But then any gamer is interested in more than a pair of maracas. It has to work but what about the storyline? Well that is just as crazy.

Players take control of Samba the monkey and dance to the samba beat in an effort to attract and entertain a crowd.

Aiming to copy a six action beat, represented by striking high, middle or low with the controller, things can become somewhat reminiscent of a sped up game of 'Twister' .The aim is to draw as much attention and in turn bring happiness to as many people as possible but this can be a little tricky as things, as with many Wii games, can be a little imprecise.

Do badly and the monkey cries. Find enough fans of the obscure musical style of samba and the monkey advances through the game, shaking his little feet as he goes and gaining new songs online and in multiplayer.

Whether samba music suits your tastes or not, it does suit the beat, response concept of gaming and it's always upbeat. There are plenty of tunes on offer and surprisingly they do make for fun listening, most standing out as good examples of the musical genre.

Whats-more contemporary music does make an appearance. Californian ska-punk maestros dazzle with their cover of Ah Ha's 'Take On Me' and Ricky Martin offers up a funky and fresh pop tune.

The quality of the sound is good enough though the monkey' noisemaking is more annoying than musical, which can be frustrating when a favourite song is playing. And the graphics are as pleasing as one can expect from the dated graphics components found in Nintendo' novel Wii console.

There are cameos from 'Sonic' and someone who looks a lot like they were in 'Viva Pinata', plus downloadable content which while limited at the moment, will no doubt grow in time.

And there are mini games to play, as is seemingly standard with games that rely on spontaneous and quirky fun rather than heavy plot, big explosions and killing.

All in all 'Samba De Amigo' is really enjoyable fun that never takes itself seriously. It can be an entertaining distraction from serious gaming when played single player or across the net and it makes brilliant party game.