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If you realize your Sega historical past, then you probably know — and love — the maraca-shaking monkey Amigo. Samba de Amigo was a cult hit on the Dreamcast again in 1999, and this little monkey rattled his method into many a coronary heart over time.
Laced with catchy Latin American music, pop songs, and a pair of maraca-shaped controllers, Samba de Amigo grew to become a cult hit for its arcade-style gameplay and enjoyable aesthetic. Extremely, whereas it looks like Amigo has change into a staple in Sega’s historical past — showing in titles similar to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (and its Reworked sequel) — the sombrero-donning monkey’s debut sport has by no means obtained a direct sequel, with Ver. 2000 launching in arcades and in Japan, and Samba de Amigo on Wii being an enhanced port.
However don’t fret, 2023 is the 12 months of the retro return, and Samba de Amigo: Get together Central sees Amigo take to the worldwide stage. Sonic Crew is bringing the beloved get together music title again, and to inform us somewhat bit concerning the sequence’ historical past is director and producer at Sonic Crew, Shun Nakamura.
Nakamura-san made his debut as a director on the unique Samba de Amigo and has loads of fascinating tidbits to share about simply how the sequence has modified from 1999 to right now, together with some Smash Bros. wishes and the way TikTok has influenced this brand-new sport…
Nintendo Life: Samba de Amigo is synonymous with the Dreamcast for a lot of Sega followers. How did you provide you with an thought for the sport and the character of Samba?
Shun Nakamura, Sonic Crew producer and director: Samba de Amigo was first created as an arcade sport. On the time, it was all about cool music video games, however for me, I used to be extra into making a sport the place we will overlook ourselves and revel in being fun-loving – a sport the place we will benefit from the sounds of karaoke or dwell music, relatively than simply taking part in music. That’s the reason I began Samba de Amigo. Japanese individuals like to make use of maracas to enliven the ambiance once they sing karaoke, and this expertise led to the introduction of the maraca controllers. On the time, the Sonic crew had no expertise with arcade video games, however we began this as an experimental challenge, and every time we introduced the sport, it was effectively obtained, which finally led us to the Dreamcast model.
We selected the character Amigo as a result of we thought his cheerful picture would match the brightness of the monkey character. The ultimate touches had been finished by the character designer of the Sonic sequence.
Did you ever think about using different devices in Samba de Amigo?
Really, when Nintendo first confirmed us the Change {hardware}, we thought of bringing again Samba, however we determined to vary it up a bit and make one thing new, so we had been engaged on one other music sport earlier than the system’s launch. However for numerous causes, that challenge did not work out. In that earlier sport, the idea was to regulate numerous musical devices, however the design, sadly, went in so many various instructions, so it did not find yourself understanding.
when Nintendo first confirmed us the Change {hardware}, we thought of bringing again Samba, however we determined to vary it up a bit and make one thing new
With this expertise in thoughts, we determined to proceed with a Samba challenge as a substitute, the place we didn’t take into consideration different devices as we needed to precise one thing foolish and fulfilling when utilizing a single instrument. [Samba de Amigo: Party Central] additionally has a function known as ‘happenings’, which permits the participant to take pleasure in numerous rhythm video games along with the traditional efficiency. I feel this function solves the issue of becoming bored with taking part in the identical instrument.
Amigo has made quite a few cameo!!s and appearances in different Sonic Crew video games such because the Sega All-Star Racing sequence. What’s your dream cameo for the character?
Amigo typically seems in different video games as a separate character, however by no means in reference to the storyline or something like that, so I hope that sooner or later they are going to have the ability to be put in a key position. Nevertheless, so as to take action, I feel Amigo must change into extra well-known, so I’ll strive my finest to make that occur.
Additionally, I take pleasure in Smash Bros., so I would love for Amigo to take part in that sport as effectively. I feel it could be fascinating for Amigo to have these music-based assaults as a result of no different character has that. In fact, I’m joking!
Why do you suppose Samba de Amigo has a cult following amongst Dreamcast followers?
Personally, I don’t know the actual cause. Nevertheless, I consider that those that like Samba de Amigo are those that take pleasure in having some light-hearted enjoyable. This stays crucial a part of this challenge, and it’s additionally the half that we now have expanded upon. I feel we had been in a position to supply one thing that makes individuals really feel that even simply dancing with maracas is enjoyable, but it surely additionally goes past that.
I feel Amigo must change into extra well-known, so I’ll strive my finest to make that occur.
On this sport, we now have this problem mode known as CRAZY, which is considerably totally different from the “problem of the sport” you’d usually see. With CRAZY, we needed to search out methods to get the participant to essentially transfer their physique to the rhythm. By the best way, I have never advised anybody this, however I named it after the CRAZY TAXI’s groove and CRAZY-ness. I hope that followers will help the brand new Samba in a cult-like method.
The most recent entry within the franchise – Samba de Amigo: Get together Central – is being billed as a follow-up to the unique Dreamcast sport. Why is now the time to revisit the sequence?
In recent times, I feel there have been a variety of new remakes of previous titles within the sport business. This Samba de Amigo was created with that development in thoughts, with the concept it could be extra fascinating if it had been tailored to right now’s market. The Pleasure-Con and VR controllers had been a giant a part of this title, and whereas the Dreamcast model was enjoyable with the separate maraca controllers, they had been very costly and couldn’t be utilized by many individuals. This time, the {hardware} comes with the movement controllers, so I feel many individuals will have the ability to benefit from the sport with a low threshold.
When it comes to content material, we now have maintained the bottom gameplay, whereas additionally making necessary adjustments which can be in tune with the present period and that may make the sport much more entertaining. It isn’t a easy music sport, however relatively an expertise that permits everybody to benefit from the “foolish enjoyable” that solely Samba can supply.
What influenced the choice to pivot to standard music for Get together Central?
Initially, many followers expressed the will to take pleasure in different genres of music in Samba de Amigo, even throughout previous productions. Definitely, musical style varies from individual to individual, so whereas placing collectively a group of music from the identical style may give it a way of unity, it additionally means you could not have the ability to pull in those that produce other tastes. That’s why we made it a precedence to broaden the variety of genres featured within the sport in order that much more individuals can take pleasure in it.
we made it a precedence to broaden the variety of genres featured within the sport in order that much more individuals can take pleasure in it.
We moved much more in that route by difficult ourselves to create extra forms of music with the DLC. We even included gospel music within the sport’s unique tracks, so we consider that gamers will take pleasure in all the brand new features of the music checklist. In fact, we at all times be sure to ask ourselves, “Can this music be loved as a Samba music?”. We consider each music within the sport has that enjoyable groove that’s distinctive to this sequence, so please don’t worry.
On the similar time, the “world setting” can be constructed round the truth that Amigo has stepped out of the setting of previous video games and change into a beloved performer world wide. Though you could not usually take note of this sort of factor when taking part in a music sport, we now have ready a wide range of thrilling conditions, and we hope that it is possible for you to to witness Amigo’s international debut.
Are you able to speak about any challenges you confronted whereas growing the sport for Change?
As you’ll be able to think about, essentially the most troublesome half was adapting the Pleasure-Con controllers. In Get together Central, there are these ‘rhythm balls’ that fly in the direction of rings which can be proven on each the higher, center, and decrease sides of the display screen. The participant’s objective is to shake the controllers within the route of the goal simply as every rhythm ball passes via the goal. That’s why we would have liked to verify the Pleasure-Con’s responsiveness was in sync with the participant, which finally proved difficult. We made a variety of changes to the Pleasure-Con settings proper up till the very finish. We additionally examined this with a variety of totally different individuals and obtained their suggestions all through the method.
How do you suppose new audiences will react to Samba de Amigo’s return?
When serious about the appropriate strategy to the “foolish enjoyable” idea, I checked out TikTok as a spot that accommodates comparable parts. TikTok has a variety of movies which have creators who carry out with totally different sorts of music, and people watching them will snort and simply have a good time. That is really near what we had been initially aiming for with the primary Samba. Right here, we centered on making a sport that will be fulfilling for youthful individuals by mixing the brand new Samba with sure features of TikTok.
we centered on making a sport that will be fulfilling for youthful individuals by mixing the brand new Samba with sure features of TikTok.
One instance is the ‘taking place’ ingredient I talked about earlier. Normally, in music video games, you play what you might be alleged to play in a sure method – mainly, issues are very simple. However on this sport, we determined to include a roulette ingredient as we needed to emphasise the spontaneous moments and the enjoyment that comes from it relatively than following the traditional guidelines. I hope that Samba, which was as soon as thought of a cult basic, will change into a significant music sport within the trendy period.
I additionally wish to word, that for individuals who wish to take pleasure in Get together Central as a conventional music sport, whether or not for informal play or when competing for a excessive rating, you’ll be able to at all times flip the ‘taking place’ settings off within the choices.
Get together Central will likely be getting a number of Sonic the Hedgehog songs. Are there some other Sega franchises that you just wish to embody music from sooner or later?
A lot of Sega’s songs are cherished by its followers, and we now have an incredible variety of tracks we want to use. This time, we now have ready music from Ryu Ga Gotoku (Yakuza / Like a Dragon sequence), House Channel 5: Half 2, and Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure, and we want to broaden this even additional. Please stay up for the songs we now have already ready, and should you ship us your requests by way of Twitter and elsewhere, we might be able to improve the possibilities of much more music…
This interview has been calmly edited for readability.
Thanks to the crew at Sega and to Namakura-san for taking the time to reply our questions. Samba de Amigo: Get together Central is out on Nintendo Change on thirty first August. A free demo is accessible to obtain now from the Change eShop.
Will you be becoming a member of Amigo’s return later this month? Shake it down within the feedback.
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