Samba de Amigo: Party Central

Samba de Amigo: Party Central (サンバDEアミーゴ : パーティーセントラル) is a motion-based rhythm game developed and published by Sega. The game is a sequel to Samba de Amigo and was released on the Nintendo Switch on August 29, 2023. In Samba de Amigo: Party Central, players shake their controllers like a set of maracas on time with the shapes on screen. In contrast to its predecessor, the game has less focus on Latin music and more on popular music genres in general.

A virtual reality version for Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro titled Samba de Amigo: Virtual Party (サンバDEアミーゴ：・バーチャルパーティー) was released on October 12, 2023. It is the first full virtual reality game published by Sega. An Apple Arcade version, Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go (サンバDEアミーゴ：パーティー・トゥ・ゴー), was released on the same date as Party Central.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central received generally positive reviews, but received criticism for inconsistent motion controls.

Gameplay
Similarly to its predecessor, the player is tasked with shaking their controllers, represented in-game by maracas, to different angles to the beat, being guided by the on-screen graphics. Six rings are arranged in a circle and balls come out from the center of the circle in Samba de Amigo: Party Central or far away in Virtual Party. The player must shake their controller to a ring's location when a ball reaches it. A line of arrows may also appear, reaching from one ring to another, and the player must move their controller along it. Occasionally, a stick figure appears and the player is told to copy its move, either static or moving, in order to gain extra points. When the player shakes to a multicolored ball with a question mark on it, a happening, such as "High-Fives", "Crazy Dash", "Home Run", and "Pose Rush", is randomly selected and either a minigame is switched to (the player has to complete it for a higher score) or the gameplay is temporarily altered. Button controls are also supported.

The player is represented by Amigo, who can be customised to wear different types of clothing purchased with in-game currency earned by completing songs and leveling up. The environment becomes more lively based on the player's performance.

Game modes
The standard mode allows the player to play any song at any difficulty level.

The "StreamiGo!" mode has Amigo trying to become a famous online streamer. The player must complete missions and defeat opponents to earn more followers. A simulated chat room for each character is displayed on-screen.

There are both competitive and co-op two-player modes. One of them is "Showdown", in which two players battle each other. Another of them is "Love Checker", in which two players play together to see how compatible they are based on their performance.

Four players can play together online. "World Party" is an eight-player online mode in which players, along with 12 computer-controlled ones, compete through three randomly-chosen songs to get obtain the highest score to avoid losing. Differing events occur and items can be used. At the end of each round, the losing players are eliminated.

Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go has a story mode, the first in the series. In the story, Amigo seeks to "return lost music to the world".

Development
Shun Nakamura, the game's director and producer, was the director of Samba de Amigo, the first work he directed, and wanted to create it again. He was also interested in virtual reality hardware and noticed a trend of reusing old intellectual properties in the video game industry. As a result, he proposed a revival of Samba de Amigo, feeling it was a suitable title for virtual reality. He and the development team aimed to adapt the game to present times while preserving its fundamentals and have it instill happiness in its players. The game was based on the concept of "silly fun", which was explained by Nakamura to TechRadar as prioritizing fun and enjoyment of music over skill, contrasted to typical rhythm games. The younger developers on the team had to be adjusted to the concept due to the difference and not being familiar with the fundamentals of Samba de Amigo. The game was greatly influenced by TikTok, reflecting on how users would entertain others with videos of themselves performing and enjoying music so that the game could correctly execute the "silly fun" concept for the present generation, with happenings being an example. The main gameplay had already been established, so not much inspiration was derived from other rhythm games.

Samba de Amigo, as an experimental game, used Western music that Japanese audiences knew as it was intended for the regional market. When Samba de Amigo reached international audiences, some players expressed interest in playing to Japanese music and music other than Latin music. This was put into consideration for choosing the soundtrack, which is supposed to appeal to the international market, as well as the standard that songs should be enjoyable in a way that the rhythms are dynamic. People including members of the development team and overseas staff and advisors were considered for the soundtrack. Sega's sound team created an original song for the game.

Meta Quest 2 was chosen as the platform for Samba de Amigo: Virtual Party to reach large audiences and for how dynamic the game was. Nakamura, who didn't have knowledge of virtual reality games, studied ones that were not of the music genre. The team encountered many difficulties, such as timing for scoring balls flying towards the player, distance of the balls when the player is posing, and distance of the screen from the player.

Release
Samba de Amigo: Party Central was announced during the Nintendo Direct on February 8, 2023. Samba de Amigo: Virtual Party was announced during the 2023 Meta Quest Gaming Showcase on June 1, 2023. Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go was announced on August 1, 2023. A demo for Party Central was released on August 15, 2023, prior to the game's launch.

There are nine downloadable content packs of songs that were released throughout the rest of 2023 after the Samba de Amigo: Party Central's launch, and more downloadable content to be released in 2024. The Digital Deluxe edition of Party Central, which contains the Sonic the Hedgehog Music Pack and Sega Music Pack of songs and costumes based on Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Space Channel 5, Super Monkey Ball, and Puyo Puyo, began selling on launch day. Players who pre-ordered Virtual Party received in-game cosmetics replicating the Quest 2 headset and Quest controllers. The Persona 5 Royal Dress-up Pack, which contains cosmetics related to the game, was released on October 26, 2023. The Kawaii Music Pack, released on November 29, 2023, includes the Love and Berry Fashion Set.

Soundtrack
40 songs are included at launch with more to be added as downloadable content after launch.

Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go
The following songs are exclusive to Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go.

Sonic the Hedgehog Music Pack
Released within the Digital Deluxe Edition and separately on Samba de Amigo: Party Central's launch date, this downloadable content pack contains songs from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Sega Music Pack
Released separately and included within the Digital Deluxe Edition on September 27, 2023, this downloadable content pack contains songs from other non-Sonic Sega games.

Day one update
The following songs were added to the game as a free update on Samba de Amigo: Party Central's launch date.

Japanese Music Pack
Released on Samba de Amigo: Party Central's launch date, this downloadable content pack contains Japanese songs.

K-Pop Music Pack
Released on September 27, 2023, this downloadable content pack contains K-pop songs.

Phantom Thieves of Hearts Music Pack
Released on October 26, 2023, this downloadable content pack contains songs from Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal.

Virtual Singer Music Pack
Released on October 26, 2023, this downloadable content pack contains songs by virtual singers.

Amigo's Favorites Music Pack
Released on November 29, 2023, this downloadable content pack contains versions of songs from the previous game Samba de Amigo.

Party Music Pack
Released on November 29, 2023, this downloadable content pack contains remixes of holiday songs.

Kawaii Music Pack
Released on November 29, 2023, this downloadable content pack contains songs with a "kawaii" tone.

Reception
Before the Samba de Amigo: Party Central's release, the demo version played by critics was received positively by them. Michael McWhertor of Polygon stated that "Sega has retained the soul of Samba de Amigo's colorful arcade antics with Party Central", but noted it lacked the tactile feedback of the original Dreamcast game that made it more immersive. On the other hand, Ruby Innes of Kotaku Australia praised the game's full usage of the Joy-Con's rumble mechanics, as well as cited the combination of motion-based rhythm gameplay and Samba de Amigo's art style as attractive. Giovanni Colantonio of Digital Trends found it appealing as a rhythm game targeted towards casual audiences, but also found the motion controls to be inconsistent sometimes and reminiscent of the Wii's problems with motion controls.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central received "mixed or average" reviews according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Destructoid gave the game a six out of ten, mentioning that the game "provides a thrilling rhythm-based challenge with a selection of decent songs [...] It’s just a shame that the game’s Latin-inspired routes take a backseat to a poppier soundtrack." The Gamer commented negatively on the game's music, claiming that "we’re trading ‘Samba de Janeiro’ for ‘Moves Like Jagger’, and that’s unforgivable." However, they remained positive about the inclusion of Sonic the Hedgehog, Space Channel 5: Part 2, and the K-pop downloadable content soundtracks.