Classic SEGA Magazine Corner: Make your own Death’s Head Maracas

Welcome back to Classic SEGA Magazine Corner! On this installment, we’re taking a look back at issue 12 of the Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine, dated March/April 2001. This issue is notable, as it was the final issue of the magazine’s run and the first issue to not include a demo disc. In fact, the issue came with a letter apologizing for the lack of a demo disc and the announcement that demo discs would no longer be included. The fact that this issue would be the final issue was unknown to the staff at the time, as detailed in our Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine reunion podcast from released almost ten years ago.

But our focus today is not on the magazine’s conclusion, but rather a goofy arts and crafts feature they had in which they chopped up Samba de Amigo maracas to create funky skull head variants! Let’s dive in!

The team behind the Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine were huge fans of Samba de Amigo, following the game’s development up to release and writing about the game as much as they could after. Articles would include the review, in which they awarded the game a 9/10, an article about party games in which Samba de Amigo was a highlight, and the article we’re taking a look at here. Yes, they actually massacred a pair of maracas to turn them into “Death’s Head Maracas”.

Thankfully, they did not chop up official first party maracas, but rather a pair of third party maracas (or “Sand Hammers” as accessory makers call them with the release of the recent Switch sequel). Oddly, the article notes that the idea for this came from the reveal that Samba de Amigo Ver. 2000 would be “Caribbean” themed, something I have never heard about until seeing this article. Nothing in the revised semi-sequel felt too different from the first game, and I didn’t get any “Caribbean” vibes. Maybe they just wanted a reason to make it pirate themed?

The end result are not bad. A little sloppy and the heads are a little small, but I love the DIY element to this feature. It’s not something you’d find in today’s magazines, where it’s now all about exclusives and retrospectives. Would you chop up a pair of maracas to create something custom? If so, what would you turn them into?

Oh, and in case you forgot, Samba de Amigo: Party Central is out NOW and the game itself has a ton of costumes, accessories and maraca variants to choose from in-game!

Order a copy of Samba de Amigo: Party Central for yourself today!