A game seemingly lost in the coffin of Sega's much-loved but little-bought Dreamcast console, Samba De Amigo first arrived on these shores with an £80 price tag and maracas controllers. If your pockets were deep enough, party gaming had rarely been better.

Fast forward to the Nintendo Wii, though, and control matters have been simplified by the success of the Wiimote controller, and thus the game returns in beefed-up state with a more modest £40 price tag. Instead of the maracas you now have the choice of using a Wiimote and Nunchuk for each player, or simply a pair of Wiimotes. It's not quite the same as maracas, but the leftover change in your wallet will surely not mind the bother.

The game simply requires you to follow the on-screen directions as to where to shake your pretend maracas. Set against an impressive, expansive playlist of tunes - far more than you got in the Dreamcast original, as it bolts in the tunes from the sequel that never made it to these shores too - you simply shake them at different heights, as guided on screen.

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It's not a dissimilar mechanic to a dance mat game, as when the indicator hits one of six pre-set positions (top left, left, bottom left and their opposites), that's where one of your maracas needs to be. Also, special poses that you need to match are thrown onto the screen from time to time. While you shake away, a vibrant collection of characters boogies away on screen in the background.

So far so good, then. But it doesn't take long to work out that something isn't right. For the problem here - and it's a fairly major one - is that the controls simply aren't responsive enough. Samba De Amigo demands that you wave your arms around at speed as you hit the higher levels, and the Wii becomes incapable of recognising the precise movements the game demands. It's a huge frustration and basically robs the latter stages of the single-player game of much of their fun.

There's plenty to compensate you, from party games that prove to be terrific fun in multi-player (whack-a-mole being our favourite) to a playlist that defines value for money. There's also a selection of game modes to work through and, in multi-player, this is everything that social gaming should be about.

But what a pity that the controls should, ironically, hamper a game whose controllers and their cost made it prohibitive to many in the first place. Hopefully the upcoming Wii Plus controllers may solve the problem, but right now Samba De Amigo is a fun diversion, but nowhere near as essential as it should be.

It's an irresistible game on many levels, but one that desperately needs its controls sharpening up. Such a shame given the potential for hours of arm-waving fun.