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Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix

I just got back from my fiance’s house and her sister has Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix for the Nintendo Gamecube. It’s always cool to see a great franchise come to Nintendo and this one is no different. Here’s my impression.

I’ve played various Dance Dance Revolution games in the arcades. If you’ve never played, DDR is a game where you stand on a platform with arrows and stomp on them while a sequence of arrows floats up the screen in tune to music. At higher difficulty levels this is extremely intense and requires a lot of coordination and agility. The music is upbeat Japanese and European Technopop, all very catchy songs. You have to follow the arrows exactly; miss too many and the game is over. At the end you are graded on your performance. An “A” or “S” score usually requires that you don’t miss any arrows at all.

The good thing about DDR Mario Mix is that it is not just another DDR game. DDR has had a lot of installments on Sony Playstation 1 & 2 as well as Microsoft Xbox, so it’s about time to see a version for Nintendo Gamecube. In the game you play as Mario and you dance to advance through the story and defeat enemies. The story mode also offers some “mush-mode” challenges that involve hammers, fireballs, and other things that come up along with the arrows and change the mechanics in some way. There are also bonus games that are all unique, such as one where you have to move right and left on the pad to avoid snowballs falling from a cliff. All these new additions make this a completely new DDR game that even a seasoned DDR veteran can enjoy. There’s even a workout mode that tracks the calories you burn while you dance. And for classic DDR action, there’s the free play mode that plays just like the arcade. Add to that totally cool DDR style remixes of classic Mario music and a really great dance pad and you have a real hit for the Nintendo Gamecube. The only gripe is that DDR Mario Mix is really much easier than other DDR games, but for unexperienced dancers like me, this is a good thing. I only wish I still had my Gamecube so I could play more, but it’s not like I have the time for that You can read more about DDR Mario Mix at Nintendo.com.

Hopefully I can find the music from DDR Mario Mix… it’s good stuff. If I do I’ll probably add a few songs to my jukebox.