Random Mode -- At the difficulty selection screen, shake the left maraca 15 times low.

All Music -- This trick makes every song playable in Arcade mode, including those that you haven't yet unlocked. At the height selection screen, shake the left maraca 15 times high.

   In December '99, just a couple weeks before the machines were scheduled to hit arcades across Japan, a massive earthquake in Taiwan shook up the plant where a key component for the Samba cabinets was produced. The big quiver caused a slight delay, but when Samba finally hit the 'cades, it was a hit.

   And so, the inevitable question was asked: when, or can we expect a home version? The answer was not so simple. The maracas for the arcade version, which relied on magnetic sensors, were very heavy and expensive to produce. Naka was not sure if a home version would be possible, but the gang kicked off their research anyway.

   It took six months of hardcore R&D, but the Team came up with a whole new maraca design. Rather than the magnetic sensors of the arcade version, the Dreamcast Maracas Controller utilizes laser tech, resulting in a much ligher, much cheaper, and ever-so-slighly less accurate pair o' maracas. They also threw in a removable top, so you can take out those pesky rattling pieces and shake in absolute silence. How pointless is that? If they're really into removable tops, I can just imagine the merit such a concept would have with certain Burning Rangers figures...

   All was looking bright in Sambaville, until the suits at Sony decided to cast a dark shadow over the parade. The arcade version of Samba features two Ricky Martin songs: Livin' La Vida Loca and Cup of Life. All Ricky Martin songs are owned and distributed under the Sony Music label. Uh-oh. Sony says: "No Ricky for you!" Sonic Team says: "Please?" Sony says: "No!" Sonic Team says: "Pretty please with an enchilada on top?" Sony says: "Weeelll... NO!" Livin' La Vida Loca and Cup of Life are removed from the Dreamcast version.

   But yea and verily, Sonic Team USA comes to the rescue! Despite all reports to the contrary, Sega of America delights Western gamers with the home version of Samba plus the costly Maracas Controller. The initial shipment quotas aren't so generous, though: a mere 30,000 copies of the game to a terrifying 10,000 sets of maracas. But it's okay, because the US version includes those lost Ricky Martin melodies! Just one catch: they aren't actually performed by Ricky... which may arguably be a good thing.

Fantasy Star: Opa-Opa and his catchy theme song debuted in the 1985 arcade shooter, Fantasy Zone. Players control a pod-shaped spaceship through colorful fantasy worlds, shooting down zany aliens and collecting gold.

Running Out: OutRun, created by the legendary Yu Suzuki of AM2 fame, debuted as an arcade racer in 1986. It earned immediate acclaim due to its revolutionary 3D engine and catchy soundtrack, from which Magical Sound Shower is derived.

Feel the Burn: After Burner, another brainchild of game god Yu Suzuki, was a 1987 arcade shooter. Players hop in a sit-in cabinet and use a flight stick to maneuver their plane over a series of 3D fields, shooting down enemy planes while avoiding enemy fire.

Hero for Rent: Sega's blond-haired hero with the funky theme song debuted in the 1991 Mega Drive action-RPG, Rent A Hero. Our hapless young protagonist, Taro Yamada (a highly generic Japanese name, akin to "John Smith"), playfully dons a special suit of armor delivered by the pizza guy and inadvertently ends up working as a superhero for the mysterious Seca corporation. Needless to say, wacky comedic hijinks ensue. The downloadable song in Samba de Amigo is taken from the 2000 Dreamcast remake, Rent A Hero No.1.