The
Mushroom Kingdom is in danger again. This time Waluigi
has taken the mysterious musical keys of... What?
You're falling asleep too? Okay, so perhaps DDR: Mario
Mix doesn't need a really great story line, but you'll
have to suffer through it anyway. Mario Mix is what
happens when the greatest dancing franchise of all
time combines with one of the most well known gaming
icons of all time. In this game, using the power of
dancing, the Mario Brothers restore peace to the Mushroom
Kingdom by dancing their way through a variety of
levels. By playing the story mode, you unlock new
songs and difficulty levels.
Like
all DDR games, arrows creep from the bottom of the
screen to the top. In order to achieve the maximum
amount of points, the arrows should be pressed exactly
when it overlaps the stationary set of arrows at the
top. If the arrow is pressed too soon or too late,
then players will receive less points. There is also
a meter at the top. If a player misses an arrow, this
meter is depleted. If it goes down to zero, the game
is over (or in the case of story mode, one life is
lost). This isn't as difficult as it seems since the
arrows will flow to the beat of the song.
The
music in DDR: Mario Mix makes this game worth buying...
that is, if you like Mario Music. With over 25 songs,
players will feel nostalgic listening to remixes of
tunes from Super Mario Bros., Dr. Mario., Mario Kart,
and more. The music is hyped up with new beats to
fit that electronic sound we have all grow to love
in Dance Dance Revolution.
DDR
Veterans will notice that Mario Mix is easier than
other installments of Dance Dance Revolution. During
each song there is always the feeling that something
is missing. Besides the fact that the game seems to
be a lot more lenient on what counts as a "Perfect",
that feeling persists. Eventually, it's noticed that
there are no hold steps (the green arrows). This dramatically
reduces the challenge, but makes Mario Mix a perfect
place to master those 1/8th beats.
There
seems to be more changes to the DDR formula other
than the missing hold steps. In a mode referred to
as "Mush Mode" (which is often encountered in story
mode), different creatures from the Mushroom Kingdom
will appear. These characters require the player to
do different things in the songs other than dancing
to the arrows. Koopa Troopas, for example, need to
be stomped on twice before being eliminated from the
screen. Although this makes the game feel more like
a videogame and less like a workout routine, the characters
are difficult to see.
Players
will also noticed a much changed workout mode. No
longer does it keep track of calories burnt by date.
It just keeps a running total of how many calories
were burnt since starting the game. In addition to
that, there are no more weight graphs. It does ask
you for your weight, however, but only to calculate
the amount of calories burnt. On the plus side, the
player is no longer restricted to using the workout
data linked to a particular controller. Instead, they
can create multiple workout users.
Not
all of the changes from traditional DDR are negative.
One of the pleasant diversions in Mario Mix is the
addition of the Mini Game mode. This is similar to
the Party mode found in DDR Extreme. In the mini game
mode, players can recreate the pole jump from Super
Mario Bros., stomp on goombas poking out of pipes,
run away from a giant snowball and more. Many of the
minigames, however, seem to be similar to one another.
If the minigame involves running, it can be assumed
that you will be alternating between the left and
right arrows on the action pad as fast as your poor
heart can take. This can be expected since there is
only so much one can do with an action pad.
Consumers
will rejoice that like most Nintendo games that uses
a unique controller (Mario Party 6, Final Fantasy:
Chrystal Chronicals, DK: Jungle Beat, etc...), DDR
Mario Mix includes the action pad with the game. The
action pad feels different than the Playstation counterpart.
There seems to be some texture on the upside of the
mat to help people from slipping. This may present
a problem for DDR veterans. With the textured surface,
the mat seems to "stick" to the player's feet when
sliding from one button to another. This gives the
illusion that the mat is much slicker than previous
mats. Overall, DDR Mario Mix is a great value. If
you like to visit the Mushroom Kingdom, look silly
playing a videogame and wish to get in shape, rush
out to your local game shop and pick up a copy of
Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix.
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New
screens added! Nintendo characters have been
turning up in some strange places lately - Link (Legend
of Zelda) in Soul Calibur 2, Little Mac in Fight Night
Round 2 (Super Punch Out), Mario, Luigi and Peach
in NBA Street V3 and now Mario and the gang are set
to dance the night away in a special version of Konami's
Dance Dance Revolution.
As
you might guess you're only going to find this game
on the GameCube and as of this writing, you'll have
to import it this summer if you want to play it as
there is no official word on a North American version.
Chances are though we'll see this game on these shores
before Christmas 2005. Even if we don't, it's
a breeze to import as long as you have Datel's Freeloader
(comes free with their Action Replay cheat device)
and allows you to play UK and Japanese games on your
North American system.
If
you want to play the game right, Nintendo and Konami
will provide you with a GameCube compatible dance
mat which we expect will be packaged with the final
product. We expect there will be more than enough
Super Mario tunes to keep even the wackiest Nintendophile
happy and we know that all of the action will take
place within the Mushroom Kingdom. We can't tell you
exactly which characters will be appearing but we
expect that a certain Solid Snake might show up for
some boogie
fevering....but don't hold your breath. That's simply
speculation on my part.
What
we don't know about this game could fill a book, but
as they say "A picture is worth a thousand words?"
but as I often say even more...."How much would
a picture of a thousand words be worth?" You
do the math.
Please
note: We sincerely hope our cheap attempt at making
a boxshot doesn't actually reflect the final product.
Although that would be awfully funny.....
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