If you recognize your Sega historical past, then you almost certainly 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 through the years.
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 appears like Amigo has turn out to be 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 be concerned, 2023 is the yr of the retro return, and Samba de Amigo: Social gathering Central sees Amigo take to the worldwide stage. Sonic Workforce is bringing the beloved occasion music title again, and to inform us somewhat bit in regards to the sequence’ historical past is director and producer at Sonic Workforce, Shun Nakamura.
Nakamura-san made his debut as a director on the unique Samba de Amigo and has loads of attention-grabbing tidbits to share about simply how the sequence has modified from 1999 to at present, 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 Workforce 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 neglect ourselves and revel in being fun-loving – a sport the place we will benefit from the sounds of karaoke or stay music, somewhat than simply enjoying 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 workforce had no expertise with arcade video games, however we began this as an experimental mission, and every time we offered the sport, it was properly obtained, which ultimately 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 carried out 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 Swap {hardware}, we thought of bringing again Samba, however we determined to alter 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 mission did not work out. In that earlier sport, the idea was to manage a lot of musical devices, however the design, sadly, went in so many alternative instructions, so it did not find yourself figuring out.
when Nintendo first confirmed us the Swap {hardware}, we thought of bringing again Samba, however we determined to alter it up a bit and make one thing new
With this expertise in thoughts, we determined to proceed with a Samba mission 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 characteristic referred to as ‘happenings’, which permits the participant to take pleasure in numerous rhythm video games along with the traditional efficiency. I feel this characteristic solves the issue of losing interest with enjoying the identical instrument.
Amigo has made quite a few cameo!!s and appearances in different Sonic Workforce video games such because the Sega All-Star Racing sequence. What’s your dream cameo for the character?
Amigo generally 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 be capable of be put in a key position. Nonetheless, so as to take action, I feel Amigo must turn out to be extra well-known, so I’ll strive my greatest to make that occur.
Additionally, I take pleasure in Smash Bros., so I would really like for Amigo to take part in that sport as properly. I feel it might be attention-grabbing for Amigo to have these music-based assaults as a result of no different character has that. After all, I’m joking!
Why do you assume Samba de Amigo has a cult following amongst Dreamcast followers?
Personally, I don’t know the actual purpose. Nonetheless, I imagine that those that like Samba de Amigo are those that take pleasure in having some light-hearted enjoyable. This stays an important a part of this mission, and it’s additionally the half that we now have expanded upon. I feel we had been in a position to provide one thing that makes individuals really feel that even simply dancing with maracas is enjoyable, nevertheless it additionally goes past that.
I feel Amigo must turn out to be extra well-known, so I’ll strive my greatest to make that occur.
On this sport, we now have this problem mode referred to as CRAZY, which is considerably completely different from the “problem of the sport” you’ll usually see. With CRAZY, we needed to search out methods to get the participant to actually transfer their physique to the rhythm. By the way in which, I have not instructed anybody this, however I named it after the CRAZY TAXI’s groove and CRAZY-ness. I hope that followers will assist the brand new Samba in a cult-like method.
The most recent entry within the franchise – Samba de Amigo: Social gathering Central – is being billed as a follow-up to the unique Dreamcast sport. Why is now the time to revisit the sequence?
Lately, I feel there have been lots 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 might be extra attention-grabbing if it had been tailored to at present’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 be capable of benefit from the sport with a low threshold.
By way of content material, we now have maintained the bottom gameplay, whereas additionally making essential adjustments which are in tune with the present period and that may make the sport much more entertaining. It’s not a easy music sport, however somewhat an expertise that permits everybody to benefit from the “foolish enjoyable” that solely Samba can provide.
What influenced the choice to pivot to fashionable music for Social gathering 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 might not be capable of 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 kinds of music with the DLC. We even included gospel music within the sport’s unique tracks, so we imagine that gamers will take pleasure in all the brand new elements of the track record. After all, we at all times be certain to ask ourselves, “Can this track be loved as a Samba track?”. We imagine each track 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 also be constructed round the truth that Amigo has stepped out of the surroundings of previous video games and turn out to be a beloved performer all over the world. Though you might not usually take note of this sort of factor when enjoying 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 discuss any challenges you confronted whereas growing the sport for Swap?
As you’ll be able to think about, probably the most troublesome half was adapting the Pleasure-Con controllers. In Social gathering Central, there are these ‘rhythm balls’ that fly in the direction of rings which are 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 by the goal. That’s why we would have liked to verify the Pleasure-Con’s responsiveness was in sync with the participant, which in the end proved difficult. We made lots of changes to the Pleasure-Con settings proper up till the very finish. We additionally examined this with lots of completely different individuals and obtained their suggestions all through the method.
How do you assume new audiences will react to Samba de Amigo’s return?
When interested by the suitable strategy to the “foolish enjoyable” idea, I checked out TikTok as a spot that accommodates comparable parts. TikTok has lots of movies which have creators who carry out with completely different sorts of music, and people watching them will chuckle 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 might be fulfilling for youthful individuals by mixing the brand new Samba with sure elements of TikTok.
we centered on making a sport that might be fulfilling for youthful individuals by mixing the brand new Samba with sure elements of TikTok.
One instance is the ‘taking place’ factor I talked about earlier. Often, in music video games, you play what you’re speculated to play in a sure method – mainly, issues are very easy. However on this sport, we determined to include a roulette factor as we needed to emphasise the spontaneous moments and the enjoyment that comes from it somewhat than following the traditional guidelines. I hope that Samba, which was as soon as thought of a cult basic, will turn out to be a significant music sport within the fashionable period.
I additionally wish to notice, that for individuals who wish to take pleasure in Social gathering Central as a standard 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.
Social gathering Central can be getting a number of Sonic the Hedgehog songs. Are there every other Sega franchises that you just wish to embrace music from sooner or later?
Lots of Sega’s songs are liked 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 develop this even additional. Please sit up for the songs we now have already ready, and in the event you ship us your requests by way of Twitter and elsewhere, we could possibly enhance the probabilities of much more music…
This interview has been flippantly edited for readability.
Thanks to the workforce at Sega and to Namakura-san for taking the time to reply our questions. Samba de Amigo: Social gathering Central is out on Nintendo Swap on thirty first August. A free demo is obtainable to obtain now from the Swap eShop.
Will you be becoming a member of Amigo’s return later this month? Shake it down within the feedback.
