Songs don't want to make you dance.

Reviewed by kngzmexican on October 26, 2007  |  report this review

Up, down, left and right. These four simple directions have provided the backbone for Konami's hit Dance Dance Revolution games. The DDR titles took Japan by surprise a decade ago and have since invaded the rest of the world, attracting hardcore players and newcomers (see: girls) more interested in dancing than partaking in traditional videogames. The premise is simple. Players position their feet atop an included dance mat and tap directional pads in unison with on-screen cues. The design seems basic, but the good dance games are separated from the bad ones by way of two key components: a strong selection of popular, groove-inspiring music and well-implemented on-screen instruction that is matched to said tunes. PlayStation 2 owners have over the years come into many rock-solid DDR games. GameCube fans, on the other hand, have not -- they were treated to only one, and it lacked both good music and well-placed on-screen cues.

Luckily, GCN owners finally have a DDR game to get excited about and it comes from Konami, the company that created and advanced the genre over the years. The studio has teamed up with the Big N to deliver GameCubers DDR Mario Mix, a new take on the classic formula with a Mushroom Kingdom-themed twist. Mario Mix enables players to become such characters as Mario and Luigi as they set off through a simplified storyline and participate in dance-offs and mat-ready mini-games. The game's selection of music is light on pop hits and over-the-top difficulty, but heavy on Nintendo inspired themes, storyline and music. The result is an offering that is more likely to please fans of the Big N than conventional DDR types. And that may not be a bad thing.

It's Dance Time
We have to give Konami credit for avoiding the undesirable copy and paste job of the basic DDR setup. Mario Mix arrives with a complete, albeit marginal storyline and a presentation that rivals the best of the Mario Party franchise. The powerful Music Keys, which naturally contain the power of music, have been stolen from the Truffle Towers. It's up to Mario (or Luigi) to get them back before villains such was Waluigi can use them to his dancing advantage. The title's simple storyline is of course merely a means to connect together the various play modes, but it is nevertheless an important and welcomed part of the package if for no other reason than it gives gamers reasons to dance. Cut-scenes take place using the game engine and dialogue is disappointingly delivered in text. Still, the world that players explore is rich with Mushroom Kingdom locations and characters that any Nintendo fan can appreciate.

The title's unique story option is its main attraction and players will need to go through it in order to unlock stages and songs for use in the other modes. The story takes players to four different worlds, each with its own varying dance-offs and mini-games. Seasoned DDR players will have no trouble advancing through the relatively shallow offering

"Super Hard" Difficulty

Hint by NintendoExpert on October 11, 2006  |  report this hint

Play a song on Very Hard and clear it to get the Super Hard difficulty setting.