Close to 25 years ago, Sega handed over a pair of digital maracas to make the world dance the night away. The game Samba de Amigo is timeless because maracas can produce contagious rhythms. And that makes the new Apple Arcade game, Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go, special. It’s a dance fever with a simple message — there’s nothing better than letting the hair down and shaking one’s booty.

The latest incarnation of the rhythm game franchise has appeared on Apple Arcade while Samba de Amigo: Party Central has released for Nintendo Switch. We have been spending days on the Arcade version, doing what the central character, Amigo, has been asking players to do for decades — dance.

Party-To-Go has turned in the maracas in favour of touch gestures, controllers, and keyboards. Does it work? Here are our thoughts.

To dial it up to 11, get into story mode. In each level, there are a number of challenges, and all of them include dancing. Each time dancing begins on a slow note but then gathers pace and suddenly you would be seen hopping across the room with iPhone in hand, attracting the attention of family members and friends, hoping the vibes are infectious enough to make them join in. Some of the games end with a simple activity like high-fiving a bunch of dancers.

Since this is on Apple Arcade, there are no advertisements and there are no in-game purchases. You simply have to subscribe to the video game subscription service, which comes for Rs 99 a month but allows unlimited access to over 200 games. Before you agree to the subscription, you can opt for the trial period.

Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go works well on the Mac Mini and comes with a fantastic list of songs to dance to. The Telegraph

The Rhythm Game mode comes with four difficulty levels. It’s recommended that you begin at the lowest rung. To play, tap and swipe on the six circles on the screen as and when you are asked. The points you gather depend on how good you are at tapping and swiping to the rhythm of each song.

Honestly, I let Amigo down the first three times but then Gloria Estefan started playing in my head and I knew exactly what to do.

Play it across Apple devices

Being an Apple Arcade game, you can enjoy it across Apple devices. The device that would be the easiest to play on is the iPhone while the Mac needs you to use the keyboard, which can be a challenge for a few minutes because you need to learn the many key combinations. Once you have mastered the key combinations, scoring points is as easy as singing, “O eh, oh, aah, yah, yeah, go.”

With the iPad, you have to keep it flat on the table so as to be able to play the game with touch controls. This is where a game controller helps. Playing on the iPhone 14 Pro Max (or iPhone 14 Plus) is a fantastic experience. The haptic feedback, high touchscreen sampling rate, brilliant quality of display and, of course, the well-tuned iPhone speakers do all the magic. I mostly played it on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which comes with the A16 Bionic chip and not once did the game fail. Plus, the device hardly became warm to the touch. I also tried the game on the Mac Mini and the experience was flawless.

A dance game can only be as good as the music that plays in the background. For Party-To-Go, there is the opportunity to shake maracas to 40 hit songs that cut across dance genres. Exclusive music for the game includes The Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga, The Walker by Fitz and the Tantrums and Daddy by Psy. Some of the other numbers that are sure to get even people with two left feet moving are Pompeii by Bastille, Break Free (featuring Zedd) by Ariana Grande and Karma Chameleon by Culture Club. Of course, how can we forget Bon Jovi’s You Give Love A Bad Name and Ricky Martin’s Cup of Life (Spanglish version)?

With each game you collect points and that can be used by Amigo to go in for some cool accessories. Exchange the points for hats, glasses, better maracas, shirts and whatnot. But remember, there are no in-app purchases, so you don’t have to worry about paying more.

On the move, you can play Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go on the iPhone. The Telegraph

The game is also available for Apple TV but I didn’t get enough time to get around to it but going by the music and graphics, a big TV will certainly do justice to the new addition to Apple Arcade.

Samba de Amigo has always been about celebrating the indomitable spirit of people and music. The Party-To-Go edition keeps the party going and all it wants you to do is move and toss worries out of the window. Thankfully, it doesn’t give you an excuse to hit pause. It’s party all the way.

At a glance:

Game: Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go

Platform: Apple Arcade

Price: You only need to subscribe to Apple Arcade (Rs 99 per month for access to over 200 games)

High notes

Excellent choice of music

Simple storyline

Doesn’t compromise the foundation of the dance-based game

No in-app purchases

Works flawlessly across Apple devices

Muffled note

Key combinations on the Mac takes a few minutes to learn