Amigo

**Amigo** is the protagonist of the *Samba de Amigo* series. He is an orange anthropomorphic monkey that plays the maracas.

## Description

He is the most popular maracas artist in the music scene today and still hungry to become even greater. With his rhythm and perhaps luck, nothing can hold him back once he grabs the maracas. His soul food is none other than the baked bananas from his home town.

## History

### Past

#### *Samba de Amigo* version

Amigo was the only child in a family of three, and although he was not wealthy by any means, he lived happily in the mountains. One day, Amigo, who was ordered to go shopping downtown, experienced a shocking encounter that changed his life forever.

It was in the show window of the only musical instrument store in town. When Amigo saw the bright red maracas, he said, "Uncle, can I shake these?" He begged the man at the store, and finally he let him shake the maracas. And the moment he shook the maracas, he felt a shock as if a thunder had fallen inside his body. "Samba, Amigo! Great! With these maracas, I'm sure To and Ka will be able to eat something good!"

A few weeks later, Amigo decided to leave home with that determination in his heart. "Once you leave home, don't come
back until you're big. Amigo", his mother saw Amigo off in tears to his understanding father, "Be careful, Amigo! Just take care of your body!" When Amigo left the house in tears, he vowed, "I'll definitely come back big!"

Thus began Amigo's training as a musician.

#### *Samba de Amigo* (Wii) version

Amigo the monkey was from a not-so-wealthy family of the rural mountains.

One day when Amigo was on his way downtown on some errands, he encountered something that would forever change his life. It all started in front of the window of the one and only musical instrument shop in town.

Amigo asked the shopkeeper as he gleefully stared at the bright red maracas, "Mister, could I shake 'em, could I?" The shopkeeper reluctantly allowed Amigo to shake the maracas, and this instantly triggered a burning sensation that he had never experienced before. "Samba, Amigo! This is awesome!! -- With these maracas, I'll be able to support my family for sure!" A couple of weeks late, he made the decision to leave his comfortable home.

After becoming a huge success and earning the title of the Great Maracas King, Amigo returned to his hometown in the rural mountains. Amigo is still a little guy after all, and everybody needs their families!

One day, a loud bang is heard in the mountains. The sound came from an airship modeled in the shape of Amigo's face, and it stopped right in front of Amigo's house. Suddenly, Amigo's little sister Amiga, a celebrity in her own right, appeared.

After their loving reunion, Amiga grabbed Amigo and took him onboard, and they quickly jetted off to one of the biggest cities known as Maracas City.

"I wanna dance with you big brother!" said Amiga. The music started suddenly without any warning, but Amigo quickly caught the groove, kick-starting the first-ever live performance of the brother and sister super-duo.

## Appearances

### *Sega Superstars*

Amigo appears in *Sega Superstars* alongside many other characters. He has a *Samba de Amigo* based minigame which plays out almost identically to the normal games, except using motion controls. This style of play would similarly be brought back in the Wii version of *Samba de Amigo*.

### *Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity*

After beating every mission in *Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity*, the player unlocks Amigo as a new playable character, along with NiGHTS and Billy Hatcher. Amigo does not speak; his only communication is through the shaking of his maracas. His right maraca has a Gravity Band on it which allows him to use Gravity Control and Gravity Dive.

### *Sega Superstars Tennis*

In the intro video of *Sega Superstars Tennis*, Amigo being the ultimate team player, dives off a cliff to hit the tennis ball. He is quickly rescued by a blue streak which we later learn was Sonic the Hedgehog. Besides being a little embarrassed, Amigo was just fine.

Amigo is a power character, a type he shares with Dr. Eggman and Gilius. This means that the ball travels at faster speeds when he hits it.

Amigo becomes insanely happy during his Superstar State – so happy in fact, that he has to party! Not only does the ball shoot off in a strange direction to throw the opponent off, but the court also becomes filled with lots of shaking maracas, obstructing a return ball. If an opponent runs into one of these maracas, they start dancing uncontrollably. His Superstar State is called Bamboleo de Maracas.

### *Samba de Amigo* (Wii)

Amigo is a playable character in *Samba de Amigo* (Wii), as well as the main protagonist. Ulala, alongside Sonic the Hedgehog, joins Amigo in dance battles.

### *Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing*

Amigo appears in *Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing*, driving around in a Maraca-shaped dune buggy called the Sun Buggy, with an Amigo inspired paint job, a 38 sticker with a sun on it and Nacho-like triangles on it's thin tires.

His All-Star move is called Samba de Party, which involves him shaking his Maracas madly, while his buggy speeds ahead of the other racers, with the shaking effectively hypnotizing them into a conga line. At the end, the move makes them spin out. In the Nintendo DS and mobile versions of the game, Samba de Party only makes the other racers dance, slowing them down drastically, and increasing his own speed.

### *Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed*

In *Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed*, Amigo is a playable character and the first unlockable characters the player can find in World Tour. He costs 8 stars, and is the cheapest character in the game.

His dune buggy gets replaced by a giant windup wooden train (possibly putting the Cha-Cha Train to a literal use) with the transformations making it a paddle boat for a boat & turning it into a 1940's fighter plane for air racing.

His All-Star move causes Amigo to throw maracas on command, hitting the opponents at a fast speed and causing them to flip, or spin. The theme song comes from the original *Samba de Amigo* game.

## Gallery

> *For the main gallery, see Amigo/Gallery*
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## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Samba de Amigo (2008) Wii Instruction Booklet.
2. ↑ Samba de Amigo (2000) manual (Japanese version). Translation done with Google Translate and modified by a non-Japanese reader.