Samba de Amigo [Wii]

With games like Alien Syndrome and NiGHTS making an appearance on the Wii, it seems like Nintendo's machine has become the go-to system for Sega to resurrect its near-forgotten franchises. We can now add to that list Samba de Amigo, the maraca-based music game that gained a fan following on Dreamcast eight years ago but has since faded into obscurity. Thanks to the Wii's motion-sensing capabilities, Sega and developer Gearbox Software saw the perfect opportunity to bring the series back into the spotlight, and thus Samba de Amigo for Wii was born.

If you are a Samba veteran, you will feel right at home with this latest edition. The gameplay is essentially unchanged from the original title, and it incorporates multiple features from the Japan-only Dreamcast sequel, Samba de Amigo Ver. 2000.

As in many music games, you play this one by watching circles move into a target area. Once the circles are in the center of the target zone, you make the proper controller input. In this case, you shake the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to simulate a maraca shake. If you prefer, you can also play the game with two Wii Remotes. Notes come onto the screen in three possible directions for each of your two hands: high, medium, and low. The game detects the position of the Remote by reading if it's pointing straight ahead or tilted slightly up or down.

There are multiple single-player and multiplayer modes to choose from. If you're playing alone, you'll want to go through Career mode first. Here, you'll face a series of increasingly difficult songs and unlock items such as new tunes, different maraca sound effects, and movies. Of course, there's a Quick Play mode that allows you to simply jump into a stage without all the trappings of the Career mode. Aside from the standard game, there are a couple novelty modes where you can test your "compatibility" with another player or battle them. Although you can play these modes against the computer, they're obviously more fun with a second player.