Samba De Amigo Dreamcast: When journalists danced to the beat in the E3 exhibition hall
If you want to find out more about Samba De Amigo Dreamcast and discover other prototypes of Sonic Team's dance game, including an alternative Japanese version, visit the home page dedicated to SEGA's amazing title: [On the beaches of Samba de Amigo Dreamcast prototypes, from Mexico to Brazil]
At E3 2000, from May 11 to 13, SEGA caused a sensation. The Dreamcast was in full swing. Go-go dancers shimmied in cages to announce the arrival of Space Channel 5 Dreamcast. The Dreamcast's almost untapped modem and it's online functionality were brought to the fore with the presentation of an online American Football match with NFL 2K1, SEGA's answer to EA's sports games. People were amazed to discover the strangeness of Seaman, a virtual aquarium for breeding fish with human heads. But it was a rhythm game, Samba De Amigo, that provoked the strongest reactions. The exhibition hall was transformed into a dance floor. Sonic Team's latest game was even awarded the E3 prize for “Best Puzzle Game” that year. E3 2000 had found its star game!
Playing sports or playing Samba?
Following its policy of converting Arcade games, SEGA adapted Samba De Amgio for Dreamcast; a dance game that had already captivated Japanese Arcade players. Based on a concept similar to Konami's Dance Dance Revolution, the player has to shake maracas to the rhythm of on-screen instructions.
Difficult to hold the pose for long
A pair of maracas equipped with optical and motion sensors, an ancestor of the Wii Remote, replaces the traditional Dreamcast controller. The game requires players to move the musical instruments in various directions, represented by red, yellow or green circles displayed on the screen at the top, bottom or middle. From time to time, you have to adopt a fixed pose to earn extra bonus points. Overall, Samba De Amigo proves to be a formidable weapon against boredom. It's fresh, fun and friendly!
The carefully chosen soundtrack is an essential part of the fun in Samba De Amigo. Sonic Team's title boasts a rich and varied repertoire of Latin-inspired music, with classics such as “Macarena”, “Tequila”, “La Bamba” and even in-house remixes like “Take On Me”. As always with Yuji Naka's studio, the production is outstanding and meticulously executed. SEGA undeniably possessed some of the most talented development studios in the world...
Samba, Samba De Amigo, ta da da dam ta da da da dam, ta da da dam ta da da da dam, , ta da da dam ta da da da dam, ta da da dam ta da da da dam, Samba, Samba De Amigo... Sempre assim, em cima, em cima, em cima, em cima...
Investigation into the E3 prototype
A video on Youtube, captured at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 for short) by a French TV channel, shows the game in the exhibition hall. Despite the video's brevity and poor quality, the E3 prototype described in this article seems to coincide with what was shown to the lucky journalists present in May 2000. In both cases, the only clue is the English adaptation of the game. Samba De Amigo Dreamcast was to be released on October 17, 2000 in North America and December 8, 2000 in Europe.
The Space Channel 5 dancers
Crowds flocked to play at E3 2000
SEGA Sports games
Two other E3 prototypes of Samba De Amigo for Dreamcast exist. These are the final Japanese versions, also listed on the Sonic Team rhythm game home page. As with the Demo documented on this page, the name E3 appears on the confidential red discs.
The discovery of this Demo raises a host of new questions. Questions that will probably never be answered, complicated enigmas yet to be solved 25 years after the fact. Why two different E3 versions? Were both used at the Los Angeles show?
The mystery surrounding the E3 prototypes of Samba De Amigo Dreamcast remains unsolved. Many hypotheses can be formulated, but these are only speculations. The truth resides elsewhere:
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Who knows? The final prototypes may have been backup versions in case Samba De Amigo's English sample builds didn’t arrive in time for the Californian event. With shipping from Japan to the U.S. between April 27 and May 11, 2000—when E3 began—the lead time could have been tight.
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Maybe SEGA had altered its original plans to showcase its new game at the renowned American trade show, opting instead to present the final NTSC-J versions? Ultimately, the decision was made to create a Samba De Amigo Demo specifically for Western audiences.
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Perhaps the Demo was running in the E3 exhibition hall, while Samba De Amigo was presented behind closed doors with a final Japanese version (this seems the most plausible scenario).
To understand nothing...
As usual with this console manufacturer, this is just another case of SEGA being SGEA. Isn't that what makes this firm though, and appeals to its fans?
Samba De Amgio Dreamcast E3 prototype from April 27, 2000
Examination of the prototype reveals that the build was created on April 27, 2000 at 14:37:14. This Samba De Amigo Dreamcast (Trial) beta was burned to disc some 22 days after the final Japanese version, dated April 5, 2000 at 14:17:48. This build of Samba De Amigo, a Demo, was specially designed to entertain the gallery in front of the Dreamcast demo kiosks at E3 2000.
The E3 build title screen
The E3 prototype in video
The choice of songs
On the title screen of Samba De Amigo, the Demo displays a strange “SAMPLE For Japan Only” watermark in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen... Its texture is called “Taiken”, no doubt an abbreviation of “Taikenban”, a name often applied to Trials and Demos versions of Japanese Dreamcast games.
The Japanese Trial
Although a rare promotional version of Samba De Amigo DC was released exclusively in Japan, developers Sonic Team had no reason to translate it for this market. Its title screen reveals the game's name in Japanese “サンバDEアミーゴ (Samba De Amigo)” and “体験版 (Trial version)” in the lower right-hand corner. The E3 Demo would correspond, perhaps, to the Japanese Trial version but adapted for English speakers. It's impossible to investigate further, as the ISO of this special version of Samba De Amigo NTSC-J has never been leaked on the Internet. Without being able to confirm it, Samba's E3 prototype seems to be a recycling of the Japanese Trial, or the other way round, depending on the creation date of the Demo version used in stores in the Land of the Rising Sun.
On closer examination of the prototype files, some music in ADX format is strangely duplicated, an obvious subtlety present only in this beta. These are slightly reworked interpretations of Samba De Amigo songs. The differences between the originals and the reworked versions are perceptible to the ear. These duplicates appear to be unused in-game, to be confirmed. Some of the most striking examples:
Original music
Reworked music (duplicata)
Why reworked songs (on the left, the E3 build; on the right, the final version)?
This E3 prototype features a single game mode which is, of course, the “Original” mode. It launches automatically after pressing “START” on the title screen. The player chooses to move their maracas along to 10 Latino-sounding tunes, some of which are not available by default in the final version. Most notably “Theme of Inoki”, which is normally obtained by completing all “Maracs Pro” in “Challenge” mode.
The Demo is not programmed on a timer as one might presume, but instead on the completion or failure of levels according to the player's rank - with a limit of 3 consecutively completed challenges should a player score an exemplary result. After completing three challenges with an A rank, the last of which is a “Special Stage”, the “Game Over” window will appear and the player will be redirected to the title screen.
Multiplayer mode is also included, so you can beat and ridicule your friends to the rhythm of Samba De Janeiro, the hit song of the summer of 1997.
“PRESENTED BY SEGA Hain Hain”, the E3 prototype gives a good overview of Samba De Amigo without spoiling the rest of its content destined for the final release. With this demo, Sonic Team emphasized above all the fun of their future game. No wonder industry professionals flocked to try it out at E3 2000.
The Samba De Amigo E3 Debug Menu Hack
To force the prototype to load its Debug Menu from the Pause Menu, launch the game on DEmul, then open the Cheat Engine program. Select the “Select a process to open” icon next to the folder icon in the top left-hand corner, then choose the DEmul Dreamcast spiral symbol. Under the “New Scan” heading, check the “Hex” box and launch a new scan. In the bottom right-hand corner, click on “Add Address Manually”. In the window that opens, paste the code “2c2065b0” in the “Address” box, then click OK to confirm. You'll return to Cheat Engine's main screen, with the number you inserted in the system at the bottom. By double-clicking under “Value” on the line with the address you entered earlier, change the number from “0” to “1”. The Debug Menu (1) can now be accessed by pausing the game, with the following options:
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X EDIT: Go to another Debug Menu (Debug 2), a sub-menu with 5 new options for in-depth game settings (Camera - Light - Extra - Maracacas - Sound).
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Y RESULT: End the song/level with a bad result.
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Y+B PERFECT & RANK_A: End the song/level with the best possible result.
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CAMERA EDIT (Debug 2): The equivalent of the “Free Camera” option for exploring the colorful backgrounds of levels.
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LIGHT EDIT (Debug 2): Modify the brightness of characters and objects.
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EXTRA EDIT (Debug 2): The usefulness of the adjustable parameters in this menu is unknown. However, this sub-option is ideal for making pretty pictures of the game without the HUD (Heads Up Display / user interface) and system information being displayed on screen by pressing “A”.
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MARACAS EDIT (Debug 2): Certainly to check whether the maracas respond correctly in game, perhaps even to configure them.
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SOUND TEST (Debug 2): Listen to all Samba De Amigo sound effects.
Unbeatable at this game
How to take beautiful photos
The “START” button and sometimes the “B” button are used to exit the sub-options of “X-EDIT” and return to its main menu. Strangely, no button is assigned to go back once inside “MARACAS EDIT”. The other buttons on the joystick plugged into the console's “A” port are used to navigate the screen or modify Debug Menu values.
DEBUG 1
EXTRA EDIT
CAMERA EDIT
MARACAS EDIT
LIGHT EDIT
SOUND TEST
The final versions (Japanese, American and European) of Samba De Amigo Dreamcast, not to mention their respective prototypes, can be tweaked to access the game's Debug Menu. The code (“Address”), to be entered in the “Cheat Engine” program, changes from version to version, build to build and emulator to emulator.
Other Debug options are available by hacking Samba De Amigo Dreamcast. The ones detailed in this chapter are the most tempting. In conclusion, don't forget to have fun with this rhythm game from Sonic Team!
Special thanks to Woof and BO for their expertise and invaluable help in documenting this Samba De Amigo prototype.
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You can download this build of Samba De Amigo Dreamcast below:
Another article about the game from Sonic Team and several Dreamcast prototypes of Samba De Amgio are listed on the game's home page: [On the beaches of Samba De Amigo Dreamcast prototypes, from Mexico to Brazil].
Special thanks to:
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Hicks for proof-reading the French text
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Neil Riddaway for the English correction of the article.
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Woof and BO for investigating the Samba De Amigo Dreamcast prototype and helping to analyze it.
Prototypes for special events (E3, Toy Faire etc.): Bomberman Online Dreamcast (Toy Fair) - Jet Set Radio Dreamcast (E3) - Metropolis Street Racer Dreamcast (E3) - Outtrigger Dreamcast (E3) - World Series Baseball 2K1 (E3) - Quake III : Arena Dreamcast (E3) - Agartha Dreamcast (E3) - Castlevania Resurrection Dreamcast (E3) - Shenmue 2 Dreamcast (Game Jam) - Scud Race Dreamcast Tech Demo (New Conference Challenge) - Tower of Babel Dreamcast Tech Demo (New Conference Challenge) - Sonic Adventure Tournament Disk Dreamcast (The Sega Dreamcat Mobile Assault Tour) - Samba de Amigo Dreamcast (E3) - Seaman Dreamcast E3 - Skie of Arcadia Dreamcast (E3) - Illbleed Dreamcast (E3)
More than 300 prototypes have been dumped, all of which are available for free download in the section “Dreamcast prototypes (not only) available to download”.
