Review: Samba De Amigo Wii

When I heard that this game was coming to Wii, I was so excited. I missed it the first time around so this would finally be my chance to experience what more fortunate Dreamcast owners have experiencing all these years.
Samba De Amigo is a very unique rhythm game, and what I mean by unique is the way you play. You still try to hit notes in time with the music, but instead of pressing buttons, you use marracas to shake along with the music! Or in this case, Wii remotes. The song list is exactly what you would expect from a game like this. You get a lot of Latin American music which I really liked. The presentation and atmosphere of the game is the thing I loved the most about Samba De Amigo. The characters in the background along with the scenery and music are such a joy to watch. They look like they're having the time of their lives, just dancing, hopping around, and smiling like theres no tomorrow. The gameplay however can be hit and miss depending on how you're going into the game. Before I played the game, I looked at other reviews from Nintendo Power, IGN, and 1up. Nintendo Power gave this game a 9 out of 10, while IGN and 1up gave a 7.0 or a C. The latter 2 reviews mentioned the controls and how they're basically broken, but functional. So I started playing the game with the controls in mind, and I had a blast! Though on the higher difficulty levels, the game has trouble recognizing shakes because of how fast you need to shake the controllers.
In closing, Samba De Amigo is a very fun Wii party game, and most likely an excellent Dreamcast game. The controls can get in the way sometimes. So if you're cautious about them, like I was, I would give it a rent first. If its your thing, then go pick it up. One thing to remember though is to adjust your expectations acordingly, like me. Because if you go into this game (the Wii version that is) as the greatest rhythm game ever on Wii, like Nintendo Power wants you to think, you will be disappointed.