➤ Samba de Amigo: Party Central, the review of the return of SEGA's rhythm game 🕹

Amigo: Party Central's Samba review marks the return of SEGA's iconic rhythm series, fifteen years after it last appeared on consoles.

If we talk about rhythm games, there is no doubt that the intuitions behind the original Friend's samba They were nothing short of brilliant. After all, it was the golden age of SEGA arcades and in the offices of the Japanese company talents such as Yuji Naka, Yu Suzuki, Toshihiro Nagoshi and Shun Nakamura were constantly reeling off ideas that would go down in the history of video games.

The formula of the game, which debuted in theaters in 1999, was extremely simple: holding a pair of maraca-shaped controls, you had to hit the lines that little by little appeared on the screen, within six circles arranged in a of hexagon, obviously following the rhythm of the background songs. Needless to say, it was a huge success.

Unfortunately, the limited diffusion of that wonderful console that was the Dreamcast and a failed conversion for Wii in 2008 have condemned the series to oblivion... until now. In fact, Amigo and his gang are back on Nintendo Switch with a new episode, and this is ours. Samba review by Amigo: Party Central.

Gameplay: no maracas no party?

Samba de Amigo: Party Central, the review of the return of SEGA's rhythm game — Amigo Samba: Party Central, Amigo and their characteristic enthusiasm

Let's start with the most important thing: how Samba de Amigo: Party Central performs on Nintendo Switch, and how much distance there is between the motion detection of the Joy-Cons and that offered by the originals maraca controller? This time too the developers had to make do a little, but compared to Samba de Amigo for Wii the situation has definitely improved.

The basic mode, in fact, calls for holding the Joy-Con "sideways", with the thumbs corresponding to the back buttons and holding the devices vertically at the beginning of each gaming session. Good, The precision of the controls seemed good to us in the upper and lateral planes, a little mangy below, but simply due to the need to shake the Joy-Con quite vigorously with each beat, as if they were maracas.

The main mechanics are interspersed in this case with Minigames, let's call them that, in which we are asked to assume certain positions (as in the original Samba de Amigo), perform movements to the rhythm, but also shake the controls as if we were running a hundred meters or performing other athletic gestures. , as well as drawing possible trajectories using the six corners of the main grid.

As usual, chaining combos produces spectacular score multipliers that are reflected in what happens on the screen, with Amigo and his friends literally going crazy, while the stage comes to life with colors and moving elements capable of giving, without a doubt, the sensation of A big party. At the end of the song comes the final evaluation and a number of points and coins useful for progression, which is expressed through the unlocking and purchase of accessories with which customize the appearance of the protagonist.

Obviously, with the increase in the degree of difficulty and therefore the necessary inputs, the situation becomes chaotic and we end up noticing a series of Also quite wide tolerances in measurements., which the developers had to admit to prevent the experience from being too frustrating: a legitimate choice, in our opinion, compared to the central theme of this episode, designed to have fun too and above all in company, without too many frills.

We are talking about default modes, because Samba de Amigo: Party Central allows you, if you want, to also play using the traditional controls, in this case the analog sticks and the main buttons of the Joy-Con controls: an option aimed at greater accessibility and in this sense more than welcome, but it really goes without saying that in this way the experience is distorted and loses its charm. .

Structure: Is the party here?

Where the formula underlying Amigo's Samba, although optimized and enriched, remains more or less the same as it was over twenty years ago, is at the level of structure That Party Central makes the most obvious efforts, trying to deliver us a sufficient amount of content to entertain us in both single-player and multiplayer, whether local or online challenges.

From the main screen you can access quick games of the way Rhythm Game, selecting any of the pieces that make up the song list (see box) and the challenge level, but those who have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription will also be able to access the competitive multiplayer of Fiesta in the World, with its elimination mechanics for eight players, or the Online section for more traditional challenges open to a maximum of four participants.

As mentioned, there is no missing modality. local multiplayer, which allows you to challenge a friend/girlfriend/relative to a series of very over-the-top challenges. The most belligerent will want to know who is the best at Samba de Amigo: Party Central, but it will be equally fun to discover the degree of affinity (that is, if you move in sync with your partner) or challenge each other in crazy mini-games. The Showdown mode is also excellent: whoever loses will have to do the penance indicated by the game. Too bad everything is limited to two players and you can't organize a real "party" even at home.

Returning to single player mode, the most interesting content in Samba de Amigo: Party Central is probably represented by the StreamiGo! mode, which makes fun of TikTokers and their famous dances to catapult us into a kind of social carrier in which we will have to challenge the celebrities of this platform to gain followers and surpass them in the global ranking.

Amigo's Samba songs: Party Central

As expected, the Songs list by Samba de Amigo: Party Central tries to please everyone, combining a series of international pop hits with several old classics, some new releases and some original music from SEGA, in what ultimately turns out to be a substantially successful and quite rich mix, If you wish, it is possible to enrich it by purchasing additional packages.

"Azukita" - Steve Aoki, Daddy Yankee, Play-N-Skillz y Elvis Crespo
"Bang Bang" - Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj
"Bom Bom" - Sam y el Womp
"Break Free con Zedd" - Ariana Grande
"Celebrate" - Pitbull
"Página central" - J Geils Band
SEGA's "Chosen Mask"
"City Escape" from Sonic Adventure 2
"Fist Bump" de Sonic Forces
"Fugue in G minor" (cover)
"Get to work" - Soolja
"Good feeling" - Flo Rida
"Good Time" - Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen
"I love it" - Icona Pop
"I really like you" - Carly Rae Jepsen
"I Will Survive (Eric Kupper Extended Mix)" - Gloria Gaynor
"I won't let you down" - OK, go
"Just Dance (feat. Colby O'Donis)" - Lady Gaga
"Karma Chameleon" - Culture Club
"La Bamba (cover)"
"Let You Go (con Kareen Lomax)" - Diplo y TSHA
"Let's Find It and Shake It" by SEGA
"Let's go have a drink" - Pitbull
"Macarena (cover)"
"Make way" - Aloe Blacc
"Move your feet" - Junior Senior
"Moves Like Jagger (feat. Christina Aguilera)" - Maroon 5
"Pa'lla" - Max Pizzolante
"Panama" - Mateo
"Payback (feat. Pop Icon)" - Cheat codes
"Plastic Hearts" - Miley Cyrus
"Pompeii" - Bastille
"Fugitivo (U&I)" - Galantis
"The Scent of Your Sweet Love" by SEGA
"Shake Senora" - Pitbull
"Sucker" - Jonas Brothers
"The Cup of Life" - Ricky Martin
"TiK ToK" - Kesha
"Let's go to Carnival" by SEGA
"XS" - Rina Sawayama
"You and me" - Marshmello
"You give love a bad name" - Bon Jovi

Technical realization: everything okay, friend?

Compared to the original Samba de Amigo, the graphics of the Central Party seems substantially richer, more varied and sophisticated, as one would expect. On this occasion, good old Amigo does not always dance in the same way while we try to get the rhythm right, but rather he creates fun and multifaceted choreographies with his friends, while various elements move in the background.

The current approach changes the psychedelia of some sequences for an always well-defined scenario, and inevitably this more frenetic and less schematized approach ends create some visual confusion, but as mentioned, the tolerances desired by the developers for this episode protect us from the most serious errors. Too bad only for a small uncertainty in the frame rate.

Conclusions

Tested version Nintendo Switch digital delivery Nintendo eShop Price 39,99 € Holygamerz.com 8.0 Readers (9) 8.8 your vote

Samba de Amigo: Party Central represents an important return for the SEGA series, which comes to the console most adapted to this type of experiences and does so with a convincing adaptation of the original formula, characterized by a fairly precise control system and equipped with a certain margin of tolerance to enhance the "party" and fun component as an end in itself. In particular, there is no shortage of content, making the experience very enjoyable whether alone or with friends, locally or online.