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Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix Review: Should You Buy?

DDR Mario Mix Cover

Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix Review: Should You Buy?

Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix is a music video game, released in 2005 and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. In this game, using the power of dance, the Mario Brothers restore peace to the Mushroom Kingdom by dancing their way through a variety of levels. The storyline follows a linear progression as Mario and Luigi travel around the Mushroom Kingdom to retrieve missing keys. By playing the story mode, you unlock new songs and difficulty levels. So, is Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix worth it?

Gameplay of Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix

DDR Mario Mix
Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix.

Like all Dance Dance Revolution 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.

 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. 

Special Features

DDR Mario Mix
Mario ready to dance through the carnival.

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 Dance Dance Revolution 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.

The music in Dance Dance Revolution: 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 grown to love in Dance Dance Revolution.

Consumers will rejoice that like most Nintendo games that use a unique controller, Dance Dance Revolution 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 Dance Dance Revolution 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.

Last Regards

Dance Dance Revolution 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.

Overall, Dance Dance Revolution 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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