Samba de Amigo: Party Central | Review

I have played many, many rhythm games in my life, but some of them come to mind as very vivid memories. One of them is Samba de Amigo, which I managed to try in Wii version released in 2008. (because when the original came out, I was not yet born). I was already into the genre at the time, but being able to use the Wii Remote as if it were maracas he completely bewitched me; when you add to that the fact that the title was extremely colorful and vibrant, the result for me was a guaranteed jackpot.

So you can imagine my joy at the announcement of Samba de Amigo: Party Central, a sequel to the first chapter available on Nintendo Switch. Obviously the name has been updated to fit the current era, the maracas are no longer Wii remotes but Joy-Cons, and the songs are different – though not quite modern, but we’ll get to that later – but the soul of this rhythm game is what captivated me many years ago, left, transporting me to a mixture of nostalgia, Latin American music and … dancing monkeys.

Grab your maracas… uh, Joy-Cons.

The heart of Samba de Amigo: Party Central, as the name suggests, is Latin American music. That doesn’t mean the tracklist is all reggaeton – thankfully – but it is. each element

from maracas to game animations, inspired by the cheerfulness and colors typical of South America.. In this sequel we find the mascot Amigo, a cute and colorful monkey, to say the least, which in this case we will be able to customize to our liking with a variety of clothes and accessories that can be purchased from the in-game store with the in-game currency.

After that, we will be able to have fun alone or with friends in one of the different modes: as far as single player is concerned, we are moving from classic rhythm game modein which you can play all the songs in the game at different difficulty levels, to StreamiGo!, a fun mode structured like a social platform in which you have to complete various tasks in order to attract subscribers and become “music influencers”. “. It’s in multiplayerHowever, that Samba de Amigo: Party Central is trying its bestoffering various alternatives both locally and online.

The “Party for Two” mode, which is the main one for multiplayer, is in turn divided into various activities, given that in addition to the classic challenge mode, there is a “Love Test” to measure the degree of intimacy with a partner depending on the level. sync, Showdown, in which the loser must take a penalty kick determined by the game, and Mini Rhythm Games, or a series of rhythmic mini-games. All of these modes can only be played locally and with two players (obviously by connecting two Joy-Con sets), while in the classic online mode you can cover a maximum of four opponents.

Competition will save the world

However, it was the World Party that stole my heart in Samba de Amigo: Party Central, sort of musical battle royale in which 8 real players (plus 12 AI controlled) take part in a competition divided into three knockout rounds of increasing difficulty. The top 14 go to the first one, the top 8 go to the second, and the third one, obviously, only the one with the most points will win. Not only did I find this mode extremely interesting, but it would also probably be able to keep the game alive for a long time, preventing it from being forgotten, like all games in this genre.

In fact, rhythm players are condemned for being suspended after a few hours of playing when they have memorized and received satisfactory marks on all songs. Only competition can awaken the desire to play. — along with DLC, which is why Sega has released a few paid ones already — and with the right support, Samba de Amigo: Party Central could be a long-running experience that won’t end up on players’ shelves, gathering dust until the occasion to kick it off at birthday parties .

Everyone can really dance

However, with regard to the gameplay, we are faced with one re-release of what was already present in the original title: Using the Joy-Con as maracas, you have to move them to the rhythm of the music by matching the bubbles on the screen with six circles. In addition, during the songs you will have to perform poses that will appear within a few seconds, as well as play short mini-games that will make the games more varied and unpredictable.

Let’s clear things up: Samba de Amigo: Party Central this is by no means a complicated rhythm, Against. As an experienced player, barring some inaccuracies in recording the input data, I have found myself getting the maximum score on the highest difficulty on the first try, or in almost all songs, allowing completely inexperienced people to try it, they still get great results. in normal and hard modes. In short, it’s clear the game is more suitable for families and casual gamersbut it’s still a fun activity, especially in the World Party mode I mentioned above.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central will make you feel old

However, the game’s biggest downside, which could hurt its sales, is its song selection: there are over 40 tracks in total, more than a decent amount for a rhythm game, but the problem is that these are very old songs

. As an example, here are the most recent songs: “Break Free (feat. Zedd)” by Ariana Grande, “I Love It (ft. Charli XCX)” by Icona Pop and “Bang Bang” by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicky. Minaj and, if you don’t know them, it’s enough to know that they have everything over 7 years old on their shoulders.

In addition, we have much older tracks that even reach the 80s, as well as some songs from the soundtracks of Sega franchises such as Sonic. In short, the list of songs is certainly capable of bringing back good memories to people over the age of 25 on average, who may have danced to them in the disco when they came out, but it is unlikely to be of interest to children, who should be the main goal of the game. It would be better to approach Just Dance with a homogeneous mixture of the latest songs and past hits.