Believe it or not, but arcades are popular date spots in Japan. Couples try test their skill with UFO catchers and even play light gun games together. House of the Dead 4 Special took the concept a step further by measuring your compatibility with your partner, shown with a percentage in a giant pink heart, after a zombie bloodbath. How sweet! Let’s Go Jungle Special also has a compatibility meter where Norah, the female character, rejects Ben, the male character, if the game deems you incompatible. Ouch.
The Wii version of Samba de Amigo includes a compatibility meter. The Dreamcast version released in North America had Couples mode too, but it didn’t have Hustle mode where you have to shake the maracas remote/nunchuck in place. Samba de Amigo 2000 introduced the mode, but it was never released outside of Japan. When the words “Dance” pop up you need to mimic the figure and shake in the controllers in the two zones. Other times the figure instructs players to pose by holding the nunchuck/remote in a fixed position for a few seconds. I tried Hustle Mode on the Wii and it's the main reason for people who own Samba de Amigo on the Dreamcast to pick up Samba de Amigo on the Wii. It's a lot of fun and slightly more challenging than just shaking the maracas.
Images courtesy of Sega.
