Imagine shaking a maraca that occasionally doesn’t rattle.

Sounds pretty strange, right? Now imagine it in context. You are rocking a lively fiesta with an eclectic Latin rump-shaker when the subtle noise of rattling seeds so imperative to the Latin sound inexplicably stops coming from your instrument.

Implausible, you say? Maybe in the real world, but in Samba de Amigo, confusing conundrums of a comparable caliber are unfortunately commonplace.

Developed by Gearbox Software, Samba de Amigo is a remake of the original 2000 Dreamcast game of the same name. For newcomers to SEGA’s rhythm alternative, the premise is perhaps best summarized as “Maraca Hero.” Notes float outward from a central point amidst a circle of colored tabs as opposed to straight down a guitar neck, essentially making the game a shake-reliant, circular version of Guitar Hero. Samba de Amigo does not require a bulky peripheral to rock, however. Instead, you’ll use the motion-sensing Wii remote and nunchuck as your set of virtual maracas.

The tabs are divided into three sets: the top two are red, the middle two are yellow and the bottom two are green. This creates the illusion that the elevation of the controllers plays a role in successfully hitting notes, a notion perpetuated when the game shows stick figures holding the controllers in exaggerated positions, but such is not the case. The controls are actually based on how you’re holding the controllers when you shake; point upward to hit red notes, straight ahead for yellow and downward for green.

This is where the game’s only real problem presents itself, and unfortunately for the otherwise solid Samba de Amigo, it’s a deal-breaker.

The controls just don’t work very well. Both controllers have difficulty correctly reading your shakes, but the nunchuck is particularly at fault. You’ll often shake the controllers precisely as you should, but the game will only recognize one of them correctly, causing you to miss the other note. This is less a problem with the game itself, it seems, and more a problem with the inherent inadequacies of the controllers themselves.

The Wii controllers just aren’t precise enough for what Samba de Amigo requires.

Technical issues aside, however, the game’s touchy and needlessly complex control scheme is still an unintuitive mess. The “elevation illusion” fools everyone I’ve watched play the game into thinking their shakes rely on elevation to be correct. Casual gamers have difficulty understanding the Wii controllers aren’t magic wands correctly reading their movements in 3D space; rather, the controllers simply react to how they are being held. Explaining this to players wildly flailing about is mostly an exercise in futility.

Samba de Amigo is an otherwise superb Wii game, though, which makes the control problems even more unfortunate. It has charming characters, great design and a veritable wealth of content. Single-player options include a career mode with mounds of unlockable content, as well as a quick play mode and several wacky gimmick modes.

Samba de Amigo also has multiplayer covered with offline two-player competitive and cooperative modes. Lack of online multiplayer is usually a major issue for me, but given the game’s frantic nature, Samba de Amigo is truly best enjoyed with friends together in the same room. Online multiplayer would’ve been a great addition, but it’s not as glaring an omission as it would be in other multiplayer-focused rhythm games.

In terms of downloadable content, SEGA has beat both Guitar Hero and Rock Band to the punch on Wii. Samba de Amigo offers a clean, seamless interface to purchase and download new song packs at 500 Wii Points a pop. You can also register friends to your online friends roster to view a current list of their high scores; leaderboards and downloadable content go a long way in making up for the lack of online multiplayer.

All things considered, Samba de Amigo could’ve been one of the year’s best Wii games, but pesky control issues have kept this fiesta hushed. Let’s hope SEGA gets back to the drawing board and gives Samba de Amigo another more responsive shake on Wii.

To review Samba de Amigo is to tell a story of two different gamers. My girlfriend and I were ecstatic when SEGA announced Samba de Amigo would be coming to Wii; I was excited to see another franchise revival, and she was thrilled at the concept of shaking her caboose to impromptu Latin dance parties. When the game arrived in the mail and we finally started playing, however, I was immediately dismayed by the control issues.

My girlfriend scolded me for what she called my “overly analytical approach to fun.”

“Derek, stop thinking about it so much,” she said. “Just dance, dude.”

Her words struck me like indigestion after a heaping plate of tacos grandes. She agreed with my criticism of the controls, often asking me mid-song why her shakes weren’t registering. Even though it detracted from her score, she just didn’t care.

She laughed. She danced. She had a great time.

Ultimately, the experience you’ll have with Samba de Amigo is a direct product of your expectations and attitude. If you’re looking for another riotous Wii party game that will have you and your friends laughing, dancing and burning the midnight oil, you’ll likely find Samba de Amigo the perfect piece of software to match your gaming needs.

Join me in scoffing at the imprecise controls, and your experience will reflect that.

Maybe this paradigm is precisely the point. As gaming demographics change, perhaps therein lies a critique not of the game itself, but of players like us. To write a review, I analyze every detail of a piece of software in order to justify a five-tenths of a point shift on some superficial review scale. Given the case of Samba de Amigo, maybe there are some valuable lessons about video games the less critical among us have to teach:

Just dance, dude.

Gameplay: 5.5
The blueprint for a great rhythm game was laid down, but something went wrong during the construction. The controls are often frustratingly at odds with the player.

Graphics: 7.0
Samba de Amigo is vibrantly colorful, with stylized visuals displaying an energetic maraca fiesta in the background. It’s simple, but it’s definitely pleasing to the eye.

Sound: 8.5
Latin-music lovers will be in maraca-shaking heaven. Samba de Amigo includes nearly all of the songs from the original, as well as 23 new Wii-exclusive tracks.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Samba de Amigo has several difficulty settings, but most of the game’s difficulty stems from control problems that make maraca-shaking much harder than it should be.

Concept: 9.0
Rhythm games are a dime a dozen these days, so it’s great to see one with a unique style. Conceptually, it really stands out among wanna-be rock star games.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Two-player competitive and cooperative modes are included, as well as a few awful mini-games. There’s no online, but in a social game like this, the omission isn’t glaring.

Overall: 7.0
Samba de Amigo could’ve been one of the best Wii games of 2008, but unresponsive controls really mar the experience. The fiesta is still there, but it’s a bit of a letdown.