Samba de Amigo

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for rhythm based video games. There's just something about the genre, that when you get into it - I mean, really into it - it's almost like the controller in your hands dissolves away and you're just outputting pure rhythm. When that happens, the part of my brain that controls pure joy is activated to unhealthy levels.

This is why I'm super excited for Samba de Amigo coming out for the Wii on Tuesday. Samba de Amigo was a game that, back in the Dreamcast's heyday, I couldn't get enough of. It's infectious blend of songs and light-heartedness belied a very addictive game with a lot of depth and replayability. The whole premise was that you would shake maracas in time with songs. Lacking the maraca controllers (like I did), even hitting the right combinations of buttons on the Dreamcast controller was a blast.

Gearbox Software, who are not the original Sonic Team that made the Dreamcast game, hope to recreate and improve upon the Dreamcast version, using the Wii's remove and nunchuck as maracas. Couple that with additional downloadable songs, an online leaderboard and a songlist that is over twice what the Dreamcast game was... well, I'm pretty excited.

I just hope they can pull it off. So far, the early reviews of the game say that there are problems with the controls at higher difficulties. I guess I'll find out for myself on Tuesday.