Samba De Amigo Wii Impression : NOT so Hot Hot Hot (rimshot)

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Yes, you read that right, this is an impression.

Just one.

The controls. Are. Awful.

Whether you're using two Wiimotes or a Wiimote and a Nunchuck, they don't register the direction you're pointing fast enough no matter what you do, and they don't register your "shakes" correctly most of the time. (I'm the kind of person who plays a rhythm game with the intention of getting 100% accuracy as frequently as possible and I can't see that even remotely being a possibility with this version of the game.)

I can't believe that the game made it through a testing and development process with controls like this!

The game is fundamentally broken with the controls the way they are. There isn't even an option to change the sensitivity.

I'm going to give it another hour or so of practice ... but I don't really see that helping anything.

Crap.

[joshnickerson]

I have heard that it takes a couple of hours to get the hang of the controls... but keep us posted. I was interested in purchasing this game, but I might just go for a rental instead.

[PapaStu]

This does not bode well..... We'll still get it, but it doesn't give me a fuzzy feeling inside. BAD SEGA!

[Tupin]

Sega manages to ruin a game where they basically had to do nothing except put in a few months of minimal effort...

*goes to look for Dreamcast version*

[jcalder8]

This was on my must buy list until I heard about the problems with the controls at which point I decided to pass this one over.

[darkhades]

Thanks for the heads up. If it happens to get any better please let us know. I was unsure of this game to begin with.

[roushimsx]

I have heard that it takes a couple of hours to get the hang of the controls... but keep us posted.

Huh, I thought the hype behind motion controls were that they were intuitive, easy to pick up, and more fun than playing with normal controllers. Sounds like this game was developed in bizarro world.

I mean, yea, the Dreamcast version works peachy with those classic maracas that came out like what...9 years ago? Even the version in Sega Superstars for PS2 works pretty well with just a standard webcam. Whiskey tango foxtrot.


Sega manages to ruin a game where they basically had to do nothing except put in a few months of minimal effort...

Oh, I thought it was Gearbox that developed and botched the game.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I just got done frustrating myself for another half hour or so ...

... I had to shut the game off.

That bad.

Perhaps it's my fond memories of the wonderful Dreamcast controls ... or my lofty expectation that the Wiimotes would be tailor-made for something like this, but it's just plain awful.

I can't in good conscience recommend this to anybody.

Whether you've played the Dreamcast version or not, this will ultimately just serve to frustrate due to it's wild inaccuracy.

[Tupin]

Huh, I thought the hype behind motion controls were that they were intuitive, easy to pick up, and more fun than playing with normal controllers. Sounds like this game was developed in bizarro world.

I mean, yea, the Dreamcast version works peachy with those classic maracas that came out like what...9 years ago? Even the version in Sega Superstars for PS2 works pretty well with just a standard webcam. Whiskey tango foxtrot.



Oh, I thought it was Gearbox that developed and botched the game.
My mistake. It was made by Gearbox, which was kind of odd. They don't make rhythm games, they make shooters.

Why couldn't Sega just make it themselves rather than putting a franchise in the hands of people who probably don't know what they are doing?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Well, I'll give Gearbox some credit - the interface, the visuals and the overall aesthetic of the game are beautiful, and the song selection looks to be as good if not better than the original ...

... but that means absolutely jack squat when you the game won't register two consecutive shakes in opposite directions properly.

[roushimsx]

My mistake. It was made by Gearbox, which was kind of odd. They don't make rhythm games, they make shooters.

Why couldn't Sega just make it themselves rather than putting a franchise in the hands of people who probably don't know what they are doing?

I don't think it's a problem of them not knowing what they're doing so much as a problem with the capabilities of the wii controllers vs. that of the classic maracas and that of the pending Wii Motion Plus.

Gearbox is an extremely capable development studio that just sometimes churns out a lemon for whatever reason. Halo PC (botched engine), Nightfire PC (ported to the wrong. damn. engine.), Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood (just not a very good game, especially compared to the first) and now Samba De Amigo Wii (bad controls).

Shame they couldn't hold off on releasing the game until the Wii Motion Plus came out. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll rerelease it at a budget price with full support of it at some point. Or not. Oh well.

[otoko]

I should of thought something Ill when I heard hype... but only saw one (and extremely cheesy at that) commercial.

[Dangerboy]

You know...

Just for sheer, absolutely morbid curiosity.

What if you placed the Sensor Bar...on the floor...possibly as close as possible? (and mess with the Top TV / Bottom TV option if needed?)

I only ask because the original's sensor bar was in the pad, and based on height, not perspective height...maybe there's some of the ol' Dreamcast code screaming out for some love.

Just curious.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

You know...

Just for sheer, absolutely morbid curiosity.

What if you placed the Sensor Bar...on the floor...possibly as close as possible? (and mess with the Top TV / Bottom TV option if needed?)

I only ask because the original's sensor bar was in the pad, and based on height, not perspective height...maybe there's some of the ol' Dreamcast code screaming out for some love.

Just curious.

Doesn't use the sensor bar for gameplay just the tilt sensor / accelerometers.

*edit*

I just checked a majority of the other gaming press reviews, and I'm certainly not alone in my criticism ... it appears to be a universal complaint - this game has controls that are downright broken / masochistic.

[Sotenga]

*sigh* Sega managed to fuck THIS up too? Do they have any credibility left?! Geez.

[Nebagram]

I had a dilemma. 'Had' being the operative word there. Decision made- Wario Land tomorrow instead of this. :)

[GrandAmChandler]

Boy am I glad I still have my Dreamcast version!

[Sotenga]

Boy am I glad I still have my Dreamcast version!

And I'm no turn happy that I don't have it, and even if I did, my all-but-dead DC would refuse to play it. *sigh* It's a good thing I suck at most rhythm games... I guess? Eh, I don't know what I'm saying anymore. :(

[Amnion-Chorion]

Man, that's disappointing. Lately it seems like Sega can't really do anything right. :( I'm still gonna have to rent this to see if it really turned out that badly.

[roushimsx]

Man, that's disappointing. Lately it seems like Sega can't really do anything right. :( I'm still gonna have to rent this to see if it really turned out that badly.

a) Gearbox
b) YAKUZA 2, GOD DAMN IT.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I spent another couple of hours with this today ... I was determined to give it as much of the "benefit of the doubt" that I possibly could ...

... it is possible to make the Wiimote and Nunchuck combination function to the degree where there is a possibility of 100% scores on easy or medium.

Here is my advice for those levels.

1.) Hold the Wiimote and nunchuck straight out in front of you as a "default" position at all times, or else pretty much ANY movement will trigger a "shake" and cost you a point.

2.) Despite what the game may advise, DON'T use a snapping motion on the controls. The Wiimote itself can take a bit of a snap without mis-registering, but the nunchuck will register as a double-shake every time if you snap your wrist. Just shake very very lightly. (This is a major problem right here as the game was MEANT to be played like you were shaking actual maracas which should NOT be shaken lightly).

3.) If you've played the Dreamcast version - don't mimic the radial-clock-like movement that the maracas controllers required in that version ... just point them straight up for the top balls and straight down for the bottom balls - but again, make the movement smooth or else you'll trigger an unwanted shake and risk losing a point.

4.) When you see doubles and triples (balls that are lined up like this OO or OOO ) don't attempt to "shake" with two or three snaps of the wrist ... instead shake the Wiimote and nunchuck in a consecutive up-down or up-down-up motion to register those balls. It's MUCH tougher to get the nunchuck to register that, but it's possible.

Unfortunately, that will only take you as far as the MEDUIM levels.

Once you hit the HARD or SUPER HARD levels the game becomes essentially BROKEN. (Even though a "calibration" mode, which essentially does nothing, mysteriously appears when Hard is unlocked.) There's no way to get a perfect score - or even a high one - using the Wii hardware, it simply can not register the speed and accuracy required to do it. I'm fairly certain that Gearbox was aware of this when they went gold on production.

I really wouldn't have minded waiting for Wii Motion Plus to play this game ... and hopefully Sega can patch it to work with that hardware ... because this really is a great version of the game with very nice graphics, sound and song selection ... and it makes me wickedly angry that this is the result of what could have been a great reboot for the franchise.

[Princess-Isabela]

well I was listening to ign's podcast with gearbox guys who were developing SdA for Wii and they said that you need to know how to play it(it takes some time to get used to it), but that testers there could do 100% on expert difficulties on really hard songs.
so that makes you wonder, you're not supposed to play it like maracas, just go listen to the podcast(either last week or two weeks before, on the wii channel).
something to do with different motions(they are not height based anymore naturally).
it would be awesome if there was a Dreamcast to Wii converter, so you could use Dreamcast's Maracas on Wii hehe.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Yes.

Like I said ... you shouldn't hold the controllers radially like the dreamcast, and you shouldn't shake hard like maracas.

You can literally shake them with no force at all and it registers.

Which, for the most part makes it a totally different game.

And I'd seriously like to see some footage of the devs getting 100% on the harder songs ...

... the mere fact that they need to put that information out there prior to the games release makes it prety clear to me that they're well aware that the controls are seriously janked.