Samba de Amigo: Party Central Critic Reviews

Samba de Amigo Party Central is a great time thanks to its accessible controls, local coop fun and the huge amount of songs to enjoy. The difficulty is a bit inconsistent however.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is an excellent and competent rhythm-based game, but its licensed song nature is probably something to consider.

Samba De Amigo: Party Central is an addictive and incredibly fun rhythm game and an even better party game.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is the classic game that you would hardly start to play solo, but which cannot be missed at a New Year's Eve, a birthday, or any house party. We challenge each other to see who is the best dancer, we make fun of who gets all the steps wrong, we laugh, have fun and sweat. Then, after the fiesta, you probably put it away until the next opportunity. The virtual maracas work very well and do not suffer from any input lag, and the only perplexity at the moment concerns the playlist which does not include many Latin hits or many famous songs.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is an easy sell for Samba De Amigo fans, but it’s also a must-buy for anyone who enjoys rhythm games. It’s got that fast-paced quirky gameplay to keep novelty-seekers on their toes with a tracklist that pretty much anyone will find familiar. Its single-player campaign is challenging while its multiplayer mode amuses — especially that World Party mode where the last monkey standing takes all. Whether you’re a long-time fan of the franchise or testing out your maracas for the first time, Samba de Amigo: Party Central will keep you shaking for hours.

Any grievances mainly involve user interface choices and the occasional motion control hiccup, but there's nothing here that ultimately derails the experience. It's fun, it's entertaining, and it's sometimes a workout. Samba de Amigo: Party Central doesn't shake up its formula drastically, but it's still a blast.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is the welcome return of a quirky classic rhythm game. While musically it’s now more Selena Gomez than Selena, and some technical issues threaten to get in the way, the game remains excellent. Add some friends to the mix and it truly will be the center of any party.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central marks an important comeback for the SEGA series, which arrives on the console best suited to this kind of experience and does so with a convincing adaptation of the original formula, characterized by a fairly precise control system with a certain margin of tolerance in order to enhance the "party" component and the fun for its own sake.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is a perfect fit for Nintendo Switch. Its frantic and colorful game modes are the perfect ingredient for an evening with friends, and while I miss game modes to play with a single pair of Joy-Con, if all your friends bring the controllers you have hours and hours of fun and laughter ahead of you.

This is a great title if you want a rhythm-based game to play with friends, particularly after having waited so many years to have this franchise back.

I think those with happy memories of the original will be satisfied with what they get in Samba de Amigo: Party Central. It functions very much as a sequel should, though perhaps not in the way a sequel that arrives nearly a quarter of a century later should. If you’re looking to just have some good times shaking your controllers and your booty to some tunes, you’ll get that here. Experienced rhythm game fans will likely be turned off by its lack of precision and song selection, however. It’s tough to say whether or not this will find much of an audience here in 2023, but I’d like to believe there are at least dozens of us.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is all about delivering endless hours of pure fun, whether you're flying solo or partying it up with friends. With spot-on motion controls, a wide range of catchy tunes, the freedom to play wherever the mood strikes, and a user-friendly interface that won't leave you scratching your head, this exclusive Nintendo Switch game is simply a blast.

Using Joy-Cons to play Samba de Amigo may not be quite as good as replica maracas, and buttons even less so, but the core experience here remains as entertaining as ever. With its eclectic selection of songs and a wide variety of modes, Samba de Amigo: Party Central has a little something for everyone, and is fun whether you’re playing it alone on a rainy day or with others at a party. If you’re a fan of the series or simply love rhythm games, chances are this will put a big smile on your face, even if you feel like you’re sometimes cheated of a perfect score.

Reading back through this review it sounds negative, but that’s because I’m coming to it from the perspective of someone who generally plays single-player and is passionate about the skill tester side of rhythm games. Samba de Amigo is one of those rare rhythm games that isn’t expressly for me. I do love its quality as a party game, and a drinking game, and so it’ll stay firmly in my Switch’s memory. It’s just that, even despite the cracking soundtrack, it’s also not going to join the rotation of rhythm games I use to de-stress and tune out of the world with.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central will capture you with its simple yet efficient gameplay, enriched by new enjoyable features.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is a game that we will always keep close, either to work up a sweat or to have fun at parties. It's so fun and the song selection is so good, that you almost forget about the issues with motion controls.

An extremely fun experience to share with friends, an interesting one when playing alone, if you love rhythm games.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central from Sega is worth your time if you like the songs included. It has a lot of fun game modes, and even plays great in handheld mode with the colors shining on the OLED display. I hope it gets some quality of life and motion control improvements after launch alongside some classic songs added though.

Samba de Amigo Party Central returns to the Nintendo Switch console maintaining its essence (perhaps too much), offering hours of fun and new game modes.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is an updated sequel to a cult Dreamcast classic that goes much further than the bare minimum on almost every level. The song list is incredible, the graphical style is exciting, and the asking price is right on the money. It’s an excellent party game to add to your Switch lineup. Still, I can’t help but wish some consideration had been given to the surprisingly extensive single-player mode for what the average player will be able to do, given the title’s chaotic nature and the lack of perfect accuracy.