------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ () **** *** * ** / () *** *** ** *** ** *** \ *************** **** *** *** *** *************** **** *** *** *** ** *** ** *** *** *** *** ***** *** *** ****** ***** *** *** ****** ^^^^ ^^^^ **** **** ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^ __ ^^ ^^ ^^ \ \ @@@@@@@@@@ ^^^^ ^^^^ @@@@@@@@@ ()() @@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@ @ @@@@@ @@@ @@@ @ @@@@@@@@ @@@ @@@ @@@@@@@@ @@@@@@ @@@ @@@@@ @@@@@@ @@@ @@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@ @@ @@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@ ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ Samba de Amigo faq by J.T.Kauffman ver.0.92 May 29, 2000 covers the Japanese Dreamcast release & arcade release (partial) ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ Contents 1. Intro 2. Basics - Gameplay - Menus 3. Songs - Song List 4. Normal Modes - Arcade Mode - Original Mode 5. Challenge Mode 6. Party Mode 7. Other Modes - Training Mode - Internet - Options 8. Misc. - Secrets - Tips - Download Schedule - Maracas Controllers - Bonuses - Ricky Martin - 38 - Randomities - Release Info 9. Outro - Versions - Recommended Reading - Sources - Legal - To Do - Contact - Dedication ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Intro Samba de Amigo is a highly addictive music game developed by Yuji Naka and Sonic Team, and featuring a very unorthodox musical instrument: maracas. Yes, maracas are no longer for Spanish speakers and grade school music class* - thanks to Sega, you can now enjoy the wild maraca- shaking game, complete with original maracas controller, in your own living room. The premise behind Samba is simple: shake the maracas in the correct position in accordance with the on-screen commands. While some people may find this a bit challenging or hard to understand at first (proved by the game's recent E3 2000 showing), it really is quite a simple concept, and deceptively fun. Combine the gameplay with a smooth 60 FPS refresh rate, extremely colorful graphics, and a killer selection of songs, and you have a winner of a game. This document is in the same vein as my BEMANI series faqs: song lists, secrets, and translations abound, while actual techniques for the songs do not. Attempting to explain techniques has proven harder to do than is worth while - instead, I simply give you the hint of "Practice, practice, practice." Also, while this document was written for the Dreamcast version, much of the song info and hidden modes should be useful for the arcade version as well. A final note: this document is written assuming that you are using the maracas controllers. If you are not, simply substitute left maraca with D-Pad, and right maraca with A/B/X/Y buttons. Any actual differences between maracas and normal controllers will be noted. *no offense to any professional maraca players out there ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Basics - Gameplay Samba de Amigo has very simple gameplay that is fairly self- explanitory... or so I thought. After seeing people attempt to play the game at the recent E3 2000 show, I was proven very, very wrong. Hence the reason for this section... The basic idea of Samba is to shake the maracas to the on-screen commands. Most of the commands involve spheres radiating from the center of the display in one of six directions. Once these spheres hit one of the six circles surrounding them, you need to shake the maraca a single time in that area. Hence, if a sphere is heading for the upper left circle, then you need to shake a maraca high and to the left. Likewise, if there are two spheres heading for both of the middle circles (one on the right, and the other on the left), then you need to shake the maracas in the middle, about waist-high, one on either side of you. If you still don't understand, simply let the demo run - eventually, you'll see an illustrated explanation. There is one other type of command - the Pose. Poses differ from normal shakes in the fact that you have to hold the maracas (i.e. strike a pose), and that they are not shown via spheres, but with a picture of a person striking the pose that you need to. Unlike maraca shakes, poses are totally random, and change every time you play the song. A quick bit about Amigos - there are two kinds of Amigos in the game (gameplay-wise). The first, and more obvious, is the combo Amigo - for all intents and purposes, it is a combo meter; a 38 combo chain is called a 38 Amigo. The second is a bit harder to find - if you shake both maracas on the same sphere at the same time, you get an Amigo. This boosts your points a bit. Basically, whenever you only have one sphere to shake at a time, try to use both maracas to do so, in order to rack up more points (and to have a bit more fun). Finally, if you don't own the original maracas controllers (it's really the only way to play the game, although they _are_ rather expensive...), simply look up the commands in the instruction book - there are two different controller command schemes, each of which is illustrated nicely in the rather large instruction manual. - Menus Samba has been greatly enlarged from its original arcade form. Not only is the arcade version still (somewhat) intact, but it has been joined by numerous other modes. For the katakana-impaired, I've provided a simple menu translations. Look for more on each mode in its own section. Main Menu (following title screen) - Arcade - Original - Challenge - Party - Training - Internet - Options Also, as a normal arcade game, two player mode isn't selected per se, but each player must press the start button on his or her controller. Following one player pressing start and selecting a Mode to play in, you will see a screen confirming the player number, and giving the other player a chance to join in. After this screen is a warning not to knock yourself out with the maracas (hey - they are dangerous - I got a nice bruise at E3 from a fellow gamer getting into the game a bit too much...). ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. Songs - Song List A few quick notes about the song list... Max Amigos are the total number of shakes/poses in the song - basically, the longest combo that you can get. Easy and Random are not in the Max Amigo list since they contain the same number of notes as Normal. Difficulty (on a scale of 1 to 3) is taken from Famitsu Weekly; they rated each song, and as they are doing the official guidebook, I'm using these ratings instead of coming up with my own (unless no rating has been published yet, in which case I have applied my own, and marked it with a *). Songs are in the order that they appear in Original Mode. Title Max Amigo Difficulty Normal Hard SuperHard Samba de Janerio 178 278 1.5 Tubthumping 294 376 1 El Ritmo Tropical 307 335 2 Mambo Beat 188 252 2 Macarena 200 236 2.5 Mas Que Nada 240 299 2.5 Take On Me 222 302 2.5 La Bamba 218 291 2 El Mambo 323 339 2 Tequila 220 271 2 Love Lease 324 420 2.5 Soul Bossa Nova 185 300 2 Samba de Amigo 293 397 2.5* The Theme of Inoki 268 338 2.5* Open Your Heart 230 280 2 Super Sonic Racing 326 386 2* After Burner 223 240 1.5* Rent A Hero No.1 239 272 1.5 *Burning Hearts *OPA-OPA! *Magical Sound Shower *Sonic-You Can Do Anything *DREAMS DREAMS *not yet released ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Normal Modes Arcade Mode and Original Mode are where the bulk of your time will be spent in Samba, and are, for all intents and purposes, the "normal" modes of the game. Both modes play exactly the same, but have different song flows. Basically, Arcade Mode gives you three to six pre-selected songs to choose from at a time, and Original Mode allows you to choose from all of the songs that have been played previously, as well as the new downloadable tunes. Upon selecting either mode and going past the two initial join/warning screens, you'll be faced with a difficult choice: what game level to play: *SuperHard Mode (2 stages) Hard Mode (2 stages) Normal Mode (2 stages) Easy Mode (1 stage) *Random Mode (2 stages) *hidden mode To access the two hidden modes, simply shake the left maraca rapidly high (for SuperHard) or low (for Random). Using the controller, don't press rapidly, but hold for a while, again, in either the left-high or left-low position. Moving the left maraca up and down selects the mode, and shaking, or pressing the button on the right maraca confirms it. Pressing the button on the left maraca will always take you back a screen. In two-player mode, the first player only can select the mode. A quick rundown of the available modes: Easy Mode: for beginners only, it is an unfailable mode with shakes identical to Normal Mode. Normal Mode: for novices, but with the added option of failing. Many of the songs lack the flair that they possess in the more difficult modes. Hard Mode: for above average maraca shakers, Hard mode throws a lot more into the mix, and is more how the songs should be shaken to. I personally consider this the canon mode. SuperHard Mode: for expert shakers only, the songs range from do-able to near impossible. The shakes come fast and furious, and the songs provide little in the way of breaks. Random Mode: more of a fun mode for people who have mastered Normal Mode, Random takes the Normal/Easy song set-ups and randomizes the maraca shakes. What once was a left-high is now a right-mid, and so on. After the mode selection you'll be asked to enter your height. For the centimeter-impaired, I've added the heights in feet and inches (again, as per what was shown at the E3 show - I didn't do these conversions myself): 190cm (6' 1") or taller 170cm (5' 9") or taller 150cm (5' 5") or taller 130cm (5' 1") or taller 110cm (4' 9") or taller It is here that you can select All Music in the Arcade Mode. Simply shake the left maraca high, rapidly, and after a bit you'll hear "All Music" said by the announcer (note that All Music lets you select from all of the Arcade music, and not downloadable/unlockable songs). Following that, select your height, and move on. Once this is done, you'll be put into the music selection screen for the first stage. Again, in a two-player game, only the first player can select the song. Song rundowns and stage flows are in the separate Arcade and Original sections. - Arcade Mode While it says "Arcade" mode, it isn't exactly. Due to the removal of the two Ricky Martin songs from the game (see section 8 for more information on this topic), this mode has been re-arranged from the original arcade version. This is, however, the only way to open up the origianl, non- downloadable songs for Original Mode. Except for the aforementioned Ricky Martin songs, all of the original arcade release is here, including the Bonus Stage. Stage Flow Stage 1-------------->Stage 2-------------->Stage 3/*Special Stage El Ritmo Tropical Mas Que Nada Tequila Samba de Janeiro Mambo Beat Soul Bossa Nova Tubthumping Macarena Love Lease *El Mambo *Take On Me *La Bamba *finish Stage 1 with an A Rank to unlock these songs in Stage 2 *Special Stage is accessed by getting a 98% in both of the first two stages - Original Mode Original Mode contains all of the songs that you've played so far in Arcade Mode, as well as any songs that you have unlocked or downloaded. The Bonus Stage is gone, as is All Music mode (after all, you already have all the music, making it pointless). Unlike some other games, the maraca shakes are the same as in Arcade Mode, making the only difference the available songs and stage flow. Stage Flow (remember that you can only play songs that you've played previously or otherwise unlocked; also, you can't repeat songs - if you play a song in Stage 1, it won't be selectable in Stage 2 or 3 All Stages Samba de Janerio Tubthumping El Ritmo Tropical Mambo Beat Macarena Mas Que Nada Take On Me La Bamba El Mambo Tequila Love Lease Soul Bossa Nova Samba de Amigo The Theme of Inoki Open Your Heart Super Sonic Racing After Burner Rent A Hero No.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. Challenge Mode Challenge Mode is simple: play through a song and fulfill a certain requirement to unlock the next challenge. Complete all of the challenges in a challenge level to unlock a new song (for the first three levels only). Level translations and challenge requirements are listed below: Main Challenge Menu: Maracas Apprentice Maracas Standout Maracas Expert Maracas Master Maracas King Maracas Apprentice Course Menu: Challenge No. 1: Finish Samba de Janeiro (Normal) with a C Rank or better Challenge No. 2: Finish Mambo Beat (Normal) with a B Rank or better Challenge No. 3: Finish Take On Me (Normal) with an A Rank Unlocks: Tequial, Love Lease, Soul Bossa Nova Maracas Standout Course Menu: Challenge No. 1: Finish Tubthumping (Normal) with an A Rank Challenge No. 2: Finish Macarena (Normal) with an A Rank Challenge No. 3: Finish the Total Check Mode of the Mini Games with an average score of 80 or better Challenge No. 4: Finish Samba de Janerio (Normal) with a 98% and an A Rank Unlocks: The Theme of Inoki Maracas Expert Course Menu: Challenge No. 1: Finish Tubthumping (Hard) with a C Rank or better Challenge No. 2: Finish Mas Que Nada (Normal) with a Perfect (100%) Challenge No. 3: Finish La Bamba (Hard) with a score of 400,000 or better Challenge No. 4: Finish Mambo Beat (Normal) with a Perfect (100%) Challenge No. 5: Finish Take On Me (Hard) with an A Rank Unlocks: Samba de Amigo Maracas Master Course Menu: Challenge No. 1: Finish Love Lease (Normal) with a Perfect (100%) Challenge No. 2: Finish La Bamba (Hard) with an A Rank Challenge No. 3: Finish the Total Check More of the Mini Games with an average score of 90 or better Challenge No. 4: Finish Tequila (Hard) with a 98% and an A Rank Challenge No. 5: Finish Tubthumping (Hard) with a Perfect Unlocks: nothing Maracas King Course Menu: Challenge No. 1: Finish Samba de Janeiro (Random) with a score of 430,000 or better Challenge No. 2: Finish Macarena (SuperHard) with a C Rank or better Challenge No. 3: Finish The Theme of Inoki (Hard) with a Perfect (100%) Challenge No. 4: Finish Mas Que Nada (SuperHard) with a B Rank or better Challenge No. 5: Finish Soul Bossa Nova (SuperHard) with an A Rank Unlocks: nothing, but you do get to see a nifty credits roll... :/ *note: yes, Maracas Master and Maracas King unlock _absolutely nothing_. I worked for hours to finish King, and didn't get a damn thing for it, save for the game credits... And I have double-checked the official guidebook, and it confirms that there is nothing gained by clearing Master and King (again, save for the credits). ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Party Mode Not only is Party Mode Samba's attempt at a collection of fun mini- games, but it allows you to open up new Voices (ie. sound effects) for your maracas (see the Secrets section for more info on this). Below is a quick rundown on the menus; mini-game descriptions will/may come later on... Party Menu: Battle Love Love Mini-Games Mini-Games Mode Select: Total Check Mode (all five mini-games) 1 Stage Mode (select one mini-game) 1 Stage Mode Menu: Mogra Panic (aka. Whack-a-mole) Power Rush 1-2-Samba Pose & Pose Monkey Replay ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. Other Modes - Training Mode Training Mode is merely an unfailable chance to play through any song. It starts just as Arcade and Original do, and you can select from any of the five difficulty levels. Unlike many other music games, there is no option for slowing down or pausing the music, or even simply watching the computer run through it. - Internet Samba de Amigo runs a slightly modified version of DreamPassport 2. I have heard that people who do not have DreamPassport set up (i.e., the Japanese web browser), but have instead set up either the U.S. or European (etc.) browsers, cannot connect via this method. For those that do have DreamPassport set up, the browser is exactly the same as DP2, except for the home page (which is now a Samba page, with links to the Samba web page [http://samba.dricas.ne.jp] and DreamHome) and the screensaver, which now runs pictures of the Samba cast. Also, the Chat function (both Dricas and IRC) has been disabled, and is not selectable. More info on downloading the extra songs can be found in the Downloadable Songs section of 8. Misc. - Options Options screen: Game High Score Play Record Sound Output Sound Test Voice Control Setup Maracas Setup File Manager Game screen: Game Level Stage (use to select how many stages are in a game for Easy, Medium, or Hard: 1, 2, or 3) Continue High Score screen: (use to see high scores for each difficulty level) Play Record screen: (keeps track of games played, average score, average rate, total shake, and gives you total points and an Amigo Rank. See the Misc. section for more on Play Record) Sound Output: Mono Stereo Sound Test: (a typical sound test) Voice: (assigns a sound effect to the maracas; more useful if you aren't playing with the maracas controller, as the actual maracas tend to drown out the virtual ones via the Voice. overall, these are pretty strange...) Nothing (no effects - default) Maracas ?? (sounds somewhat like actual voices) Whistles Phone Voices SF (Sci-Fi) Chu2 (ChuChus, from ChuChu Rocket) Chao (from Sonic Adventure) ...more to come (16 Voices in all, plus Nothing) Control Setup: (pretty self explanitory) Maracas Setup: (lets you set up the height that the maracas will sense the middle command at) File Manager: (lets you load a file, check VMUs) ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ 8. Misc. - Secrets Like so many games, Samba has its share of secrets. And as per most music games, these mainly result in secret modes and unlockable songs. What follows is a list of the secrets found in Samba, and how to access them: SuperHard Mode: when selecting between Hard/Normal/Easy modes, shake the left maraca high 15 times very quickly. The game will then select SuperHard Mode. For the normal Dreamcast controller, instead of shaking/pressing rapidly, simply hold the respective button down. Random Mode: when selecting between Hard/Normal/Easy modes, shake the left maraca low 15 times very quickly. The game will then select Random Mode. For the normal Dreamcast controller, instead of shaking/pressing rapidly, simply hold the respective button down. All Music Mode (Arcade Mode only): when selecting your height, shake the left maraca high 15 times very quickly. The game will then say "All Music Mode," after which you can go on selecting your height. For the normal Dreamcast controller, instead of shaking/pressing rapidly, simply hold the respective button down. Tequila, Love Lease, Soul Bossa Nova: finish all of the Challenges in the Maracas Apprentice Course (the first course) in Challenge Mode The Theme of Inoki: finish all of the Challenges in the Maracas Standout Course (the second course) in Challenge Mode Samba de Amigo: finish all of the Challenges in the Maracas Expert Course (the third course) in Challenge Mode Voice Set 1 (Whistle, Phone Voice, & ?? Voices): finish Total Check Mode of the Mini Games with an average of ?? or higher Voice Set 2 (SF, Chu2, & Chao Voices): finish Total Check Mode of the Mini Games with Voice Set 1 unlocked and an average of ?? or higher Voice Set 3 (??, ??, & ?? Voices): finish Total Check Mode of the Mini Games with Voice Sets 1 & 2 unlocked and an average of ?? or higher Voice Set 4 (??, ??, & ?? Voices): finish Total Check Mode of the Mini Games with Voice Sets 1, 2 & 3 unlocked and an average of ?? or higher Voice Set 5 (??, ??, & ?? Voices): finish Total Check Mode of the Mini Games with Voice Sets 1, 2, 3 & 4 unlocked and an average of 95% or higher - Tips This is merely a collection of short, non-song-specific tips. Use as you will... * Practice, practice, practice * Look for patterns - all of the songs have them (even the Hard and SuperHard mode ones), and finding the patterns in the maraca shakes makes things much, much easier. * Watch other people play, learning from their mistakes and observing their successful techniques * If you are having trouble with a song using the maracas, play through it with the controller to get a feel for what the song is asking you to do. Plus, I've never met anyone that was better at the maracas than the controller... * Correlate the shakes with the music; nothing is random here - it is all in beat with the music.. - Download Schedule Sega plans to offer one download a week, with each download unlocking another song (or set of songs) from the disc. While some of the downloads are merely the same songs that you unlock via Challenge Mode, many of the songs are only available through this method. And don't expect songs quite like are on the disc already; the songs that are download only are all from previous Sega games (be it the original song or a remix/remake). Each download is 2 blocks, and must be saved to your VMU. To download the songs, go to Internet Mode in the game, and click on the top option, which will take you to http://samba.dricas.ne.jp. Once there, click on the fourth link down in the sidebar, click on the active link in the main part of the page, and then choose the song that you want. I have tried to connect with both DreamPassport 2 (the full version) & DreamPassport 3 and download the songs, only to find that you _have_ to use the browser on the Samba disc. Thus, if you don't have DreamPassport set up to work, you're out of luck (at least via the offical route). I have heard that http://booyaka.com (I believe that is the name of the site) has the files, either offically or hacked; I'm not responsible for anything regarding these files or what you might do with them, and have not personally confirmed that they are even there. However, it is an option to explore if you can't download the files any other way. At any rate, for those of you that can get the files, the following is the schedule of which song is available which week, as well as what system the game is from (DC=Dreamcast, SS=SegaSaturn, CD=Sega/Mega CD, AR=Arcade): Date Song Title Game From Apr 27, 2000 Open Your Heart Sonic Adventure (DC) May 05, 2000 Rent A Hero No. 1 Rent A Hero No. 1 (DC) May 12, 2000 Super Sonic Racing Sonic R (SS) May 17, 2000 Samba de Amigo Samba de Amigo (DC) May 25, 2000 After Burner After Burner (AC) Jun 01, 2000 Burning Hearts Burning Rangers (SS) Jun 08, 2000 OPA-OPA! Fantasy Zone (AR) Jun 15, 2000 The Theme of Inoki Samba de Amigo (DC) Jun 22, 2000 Magical Sound Shower Outrun (AR) Jun 29, 2000 Sonic-You Can Do Anything Sonic CD (CD) Jul 06, 2000 DREAMS DREAMS NiGHTS ~into dreams~(SS) Jul 13, 2000 Tequila, Love Lease, & Samba de Amigo (DC) Soul Bossa Nova - Maracas Controllers Samba de Amigo just isn't as much fun unless you ante up the money for the optional (and highly recommended) Maracas Controllers. Retailing for a whopping 7800 yen (roughly US$75) for a single controller, these maracas are some of the best home music game controllers on the market. One set contains two maracas (with removable noisemakers), a sensor bar, a mat, and instructions/velcro for the mat, all in a box complete with a handle for easy transportation. The maracas themselves are opaque red, with yellow, red, and green designs on them via a simple band sticker. They are very light in comparison to the arcade controllers, and generally feel better than the arcade ones. Unlike the arcade versions, each maraca has a single yellow button, the left maraca button being cancel, and the right being start/select. The two maracas are interchangable (ie. there is no specific right or left maraca). The sensor bar is Dreamcast Grey, and has the controller plug (ie. what plugs into the DC unit itself) and ports for the two maraca cords. By ahearing the included velcro on the bottom, you can attach the optional playmat, modeled after the arcade's mat and complete with Samba feet. The controller itself works through a system of sensors. Each maraca has a sensor directly below the maraca itself, attached to the cord (these look like medium-sized black triangles). These sensors interact with the two sensors on the sensor bar to relate the height and location of the maraca. Keep in mind while playing that each maraca sensor interacts with _both_ of the bar sensors. Also note that if something covers one of the bar sensors, you'll lose control of both maracas (on screen they will just stand still and not move). The maracas controller is also usable with other Dreamcast games, albeit with a bit of difficulty. This faq won't get into what works and what doesn't, but does encourage you to experiment. As for availability, although the controllers are widely available in Japan (unlike other specialty controllers, such as the Dreamcast TwinSticks and the Konami DJ Station PRO), many importers have reported difficulty getting the units. Samba de Amigo is due for a North American release later in 2000, so if all else fails, simply wait for the U.S. release to get the controllers. Since I live in Japan, I don't keep up with who has what in stock, although I can say that NCS (http://www.ncsx.com) is _planning_ on stocking the controllers, although as of the initial release of this faq, they have not yet recieved their shipment, and have stopped pre-orders for them. - Bonuses Like all of Sonic Team's Dreamcast games, Samba de Amigo has a folder full of bonus wallpapers that are accessable, and displayable, on personal computers. The files are in Windows Bitmap format, and are in both 1024x768 resolution and 800x600 resolution. Nine files are included, and filenames range from SAMBA_KABE_A1.BMP to SAMBA_KABE_I1.BMP (substituting the 1 for 2 to change 1024x768 to 800x600). - Ricky Martin While many people can't stand his music outside of the game (myself included), I will admit that the two Ricky Martin songs, Cup of Life and Livin' Ma Vida Loca, work very well in the game. Unfortunately, a licensing agreement was not able to be reached with Ricky's record company (Sony Music, of all labels) by the time of the game's release. Thus, the two songs have been removed from the game (as well as Arcade Mode being rearranged due to their absence). Sega has said that they would like to add the songs to the game at a later date, but unless the songs are already on the disc, but locked (doubtful), or Sega offers a replacement disc with the songs available, it is unlikely that a solution will be found past putting them on a Samba DC sequel or add-on disc. Cup of Life was included in the English version of the game shown at E3 2000, so it can be assumed that it will be in the final version. If it is, Livin' Ma Vida Loca should be as well. - 38 For some strange reason, the number 38 is featured extremely prominently in the game. You can find it on Bingo and Bongo's drums, in various stages, and other odd places. I would personally love to know what it means, but can only come up with one idea (and a longshot at that). Samba de Amigo is the third Dreamcast/Naomi game (not counting Sonic Adventure International, which is simply a re-release, for all intents and purposes) from Sonic Team. Also, Sonic Team is known internally at Sega (or, was, as per recent news) as Sega R&D #8. Thus, the 3 from the third game, and the 8 from R&D #8, and you get 38. Possibly? I'd love to hear any other ideas, or an actual reason... - Randomities Totally misc. type stuff here that doesn't fit in anywhere else: * Samba de Amigo translates from Spanish as "Dance of Friends" * The arcade version of the game was released in late November/early December 1999, and is one of the largest wide-market arcade games ever in terms of size. * Samba de Amigo is the first music game that has a separate game- specific controller to be brought to North America * The number 38 is featured prominently (see above section) * The monkey (as well as the rest of the characters) does have a name: Amigo (Spanish for "friend"). * Bingo and Bongo, who look like teddy bears, are actually robots * Chumba and Wamba, the two cheetahs, get their name from the original band that did Tumthumping: Chumbawamba. * Samba de Amigo has a longer instruction book than both Shenmue and Final Fantasy VIII. * Samba de Amigo is one of the games from the Four From Sonic Team series of press releases (the others being Sonic Adventure International, ChuChu Rocket, and Phantasy Star Online) * The music from the main game menu is from Sonic Adventure * The song Samba de Amigo is a remix of the song Samba de Janeiro * Samba de Janeiro is also in the Konami dancing game Dance Dance Revolution Solo Bass Mix (arcade), albeit a different version * Rent A Hero No.1 is _supposed_ to be incredibly cheesy - if you have played the game that it gets its name from (available now for the Dreamcast in Japan), you'll find that it fits the comidic tone of the game perfectly - Release Info Title: Samba de Amigo System: Sega Dreamcast Release: April 27, 2000 Dev.Team: Sonic Team Publisher: Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Region: Japan (NTSC-J) Genre: Rhythm Action Format: 1 GD-ROM Price: 5800 Japanese yen Players: 2 simultaneous Supports: VMU (6 blocks for saved games, 2 blocks for downloads), Modem, Maracas Controller, VGA Box, Keyboard Product ID: HDR-0063 Inst.Book: 54 pages plus cover, all full color Includes: 1 Samba de Amigo GD-ROM, 1 instruction book, 1 double sided tray sheet, 1 spine card, 1 reply card, 1 point sheet (300 points), 1 DreamLineup vol.8 insert, 1 Sega Provider message sheet, all in a slightly oversized, totally clear jewel case. Title: Samba de Amigo presents Samba de Janeiro ~ Non-Stop Best of Bellini Release: March 29, 2000 Publisher: EMI Region: Japan Format: 1 audio CD Tracks: ?? Price: 2548 Japanese yen Product ID: VJCP-68210 Title: Samba de Amigo Official Guide Book Release: May 27, 2000 Publisher: Famitsu Region: Japan Format: A4 size book, ?? pages Price: 1500 Japanese yen ISDN#: ?? Title: Samba de Amigo Original Soundtrack Release: June, 2000 Publisher: ?? Region: Japan Format: 1 audio CD Price: ?? Product ID: ?? ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ 9. Outro - Versions 29may00 - ver.0.92 All modes except for Party Mode complete. Song list for Normal (/Easy/Random) and Hard complete. Secrets section mostly complete (only missing a few Voice percentages). Basics, Misc., etc. sections complete. 22may00 - ver.pre Started on the faq after a bout of computer problems. Sorry about the delay :/ - Recommended Reading If you enjoyed this faq, we here at prh entertainment recommend these other fine works by the same author, as well as the games that they cover: * DJ Syndrome series: The BEMANI faqs - It was an obsession, an obsession that started in the dark, noisy arcades of Akihabara... but it was an obsession that spread, slowly taking Japan, and then the world, by storm. Starring DJ Konami and his legions of musicians, this gripping saga of scratching, dancing, and beating is yours to own for the low, low price of a single visit to gamefaqs.com. Over 10 different faqs to collect, each with its own special BEMANI Kung-Fu grip styled action move. Can DJ Konami escape the wrath of the evil Jaleco and Namco imitation games? It's up to _you_ to find out... - Sources Famitsu Weekly No.596 5/12~19/2000 Issue - Song difficulties (main songs) Famitsu Weekly No.599 6/9/2000 Issue - Song difficulties (Open Your Heart & Rent A Hero No.1) Dreamcast Magazine (unknown issue) - Info on how Voices are opened, and how many are in the game Samba de Amigo Instruction Book - Info on Samba audio CD (Non-Stop Best of Bellini) Personal Experience - Everything else, including info from the E3 2000 show - Legal Samba de Amigo, Dreamcast, Naomi, Sonic Team, Amigo, Bingo, Bongo, Chumba, Wamba, Maracas Controller, and all related terms and names are copyright/trademarked by Sega Enterprises, Inc. All other copyrights are properties of their respective owners. This document is copyright J.T.Kauffman 2000 and cannot be reproduced for profit in any form without the author's express written permission. It can be freely distributed over the internet as long as it is unaltered and is only distributed on free (i.e. non-subscription) sites. If you do choose to post this document on your site, please email me to let me know. - To Do: Things that will be added to later versions of the faq (to the best of my ability, that is...). Consider this more of a list for my own personal use, but I'm including it so that you can see what I am definitely going to add... Once these 'definites' are added, the faq will reach version 1.0: * Finish song list (Max Amigos for SuperHard) * Finish secrets (voice percentages & voices opened for sets 4 & 5) * Finish Party Mode (descriptions, voice list, etc.) These are possibilities, if I have the time to add them, and if I get positive feedback about the faq: * Add Cast section * Add Music Credit section Also, if there is something that you would like to see (other than strategies for specific songs; see the intro for this) please let me know, and I'll do my best to add it. - Contact J.T.Kauffman stormwalker@hotmail.com Before contacting me with a question, please make sure that you are reading the latest version of this faq, found at either GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) or About.com's Video Game Strategies site (http://vgstrategies.about.com). - Dedication This faq, along with all that I do in life, is dedicated to tmb, the woman that I have known, and loved, all my life, but have only recently found. We will make such beautiful music together, and then procede to shake our maracas in time to it, ending with a brilliant pose! Also, this faq is dedicated to the staffers at the GIA (http://www.thegia.com)... With luck, we'll be able to make Samba de Amigo 2 the game of next E3... ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ since 22may2000, Shibata, Miyagi, Japan jtk. ------------------------------------------------------------------ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ------------------------------------------------------------------