Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
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| Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami, Nintendo |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Release date(s) |  July 14, 2005 October 24, 2005 October 28, 2005 December 15, 2005 May 15, 2006 (rerelease) |
| Genre(s) | Music video game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone OFLC: G |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo GameCube |
| Media | 1 × MiniDVD |
| Input | Dance pad |
Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (known in Japan as Dance Dance Revolution with MARIO, and in some PAL territories as Dancing Stage: Mario Mix) is the first Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) music video game to be co-developed by Konami and Nintendo. The game was announced for the Nintendo GameCube on January 7, 2005 and released on July 14, 2005 in Japan, on October 24, 2005 in the United States, and on October 28, 2005 in Europe. Both versions came packaged with a soft foam dance pad peripheral, featuring buttons for Up, Down, Left, Right, A, B, Z, and Start. This is the second DDR-style game made for GameCube, the first being MC Groovz Dance Craze.
Mario Mix features several of Nintendo's popular characters, including Mario, Luigi, Toad, Toadette, Waluigi, Wario, and Bowser. According to the story, Waluigi has stolen the "Music Keys", unleashing their music upon the Mushroom Kingdom and causing chaos. Mario must restore peace to the land by recovering the Music Keys.
Contents |
[edit] Characteristics
The game is divided into several "worlds", each of which has a corresponding set of songs. The game features 29 songs, including some classic Nintendo themes. Each song has 5 difficulty levels - Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, and Super Hard. A workout mode is also available for use in Story Mode and Free Mode. The player must clear each song to earn the Music Key belonging to that world. Songs are played in typical DDR fashion, by pressing arrows on the dance pad (the Nintendo GameCube dance pad is officially called an action pad) that correspond to the music and the arrows displayed on-screen. Mario-themed gameplay elements are also incorporated, such as the ability to jump on enemies by hitting enemy icons in place of certain arrows. Clearing songs also unlocks higher difficulty levels, hidden songs, and minigames. Like all DDR games, each step in a song is judged for accuracy. The possible ratings in Mario Mix are "Perfect", "Great", "Early/Late", and "Miss".
"Freeze" arrows (arrows which require the player to keep their foot on the button until a certain amount of time has elapsed) are absent from this game, as are several modes of play such as "challenge" and "edit". Also, the total number of songs is very low compared to other DDR games, though this likely has to do with the fact that the majority of the music is inspired by the Mario series.
Classical tracks such as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" can be traced back to their original usage in Mario Paint (1992), and "Fishing Frenzy from Csikos Post" can be traced back to Yoshi's Cookie (1993). "Underground Mozart from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" was originally used as the main title theme of the original Mario Bros. arcade game in 1983. Other classic Mario songs are prevalent throughout the game.
[edit] Story
The story is slightly jumbled. Either Mario or Luigi will be featured in the game based on who the player chooses as their character. Also, there is an extra mode you can play after you beat the story mode that replaces some songs with new ones. There is also inconsistancy between songs and the cut scenes. For example, Toad disappears for several songs where he is present in a cut scene. Therefore, there are several ways to view the story. This contributor has chosen to present the following view: the extra songs from the extra mode are danced by Luigi, the replaced songs by Mario, and most of the rest by both brothers. This theory would state that both went with Toad in the S.S. Brass and that the five songs that are only in Free Mode happened at the end.
[edit] World 1
Once upon a time, Truffle Towers, its vicinity, and its citizens was a utopia, a place more than what the player can ask for, until Waluigi came in and decided to raid Truffle Towers. The day that Waluigi broke into Truffle Towers, hoping to steal the Music Keys, his plot was to become the best dancer in the world and "hypnosize the rhythmless masses" with his fancy footwork. As Waluigi stole the Music Keys, he let his guard down, and the Music Keys escaped. The keys landed in Waluigi's grasp in Truffle Towers, the Blooper's grasp at its lair at the ocean, Wario's grasp at his carnival, and the Freezie's grasp atop on one of the icy mountains respectively. Believe it or not, Toad witnessed the incident, and he notified the Mario Bros. about what he saw.
Level 1-1
Toad notified the Mario Bros. what he saw in Truffle Towers. They immediately grouped up and marched off to stop the chaos the music keys were making. The trio's first challenge came in the form of the river that ran through the green area. Unfortunately, this was only the first of many environmental elements that had been altered by the power of music that was present ever since the Keys were released. Toad recalled an old rhyme that stated when the Music Keys were loose, one could utilize the power of dance to one's advantage. Mario, Luigi, and Toad danced away (Song: Here we Go!) and were able to cross the river safely. After they crossed the river, a behemoth army of Goombas ganged up in force and fought against them, but the brothers annihilated the rebelling Goomba riot using their hammers. They marched off towards Waluigi at Truffle Towers.
Level 1-2
At Truffle Towers, Waluigi used a Bob-omb to split the group. He forced Mario into a Warp Pipe, and Luigi went flying into a hollow tree. Toad was unharmed, and had the two dance their way out of their sticky situation (Song: Underground Mozart/Eine Kleine Nachtmusik).
Level 1-3
After they got out, the three located the key to Truffle Towers inside of a shop run by Lakitu. Lakitu complained about the Koopa Troopa kids loitering at his shop. The brothers went on a Koopa Troopa patrol (Song: Garden Boogie) because they not only wanted the key, but wanted to recruit Lakitu in the group, also. They decided to give Waluigi a taste of his own medicine at Truffle Towers.
Level 1-4 (Boss Battle)
Finally, the group came to the towers via some flag pole jumping, walked up inside the tower and danced off with Waluigi. The battle challenge with Waluigi was extremely vicious, with Bob-ombs just waiting to explode on players and Podoboos flying from player to player, waiting for a missed step (Song: Destruction Dance). After Waluigi was KO'd for the Music Key, Toad told them they needed the S.S. Brass to retrieve the three Music Keys, because the rest of the Music Keys were placed far apart, despite the incident made by Waluigi.
End of World 1
[edit] World 2
Level 2-1
The group and their vehicle, the S.S. Brass, made its first voyage towards the Music Key. They had their first misfortune with the S.S. Brass, as the whirlwind appeared and sent the ship towards Toadette's Hotel, where it coincidently mutated her building from a pink, three-story, seashell shaped hotel into a metallic, tornado-shaped pillar. Toadette witnessed the coincident as a vandalism (with the trio as vandals) and criticized them for vandalizing her hotel. As a result, she demanded them to restitute the vandalism (Song: Jump! Jump! Jump!). Only the brothers restored her building using the power of dance, and she praised them with providing them with a boat, allowing them to get the second music key much more easily than before. Little did they know that they were to experience something out of the ordinary.
Level 2-2
They enjoyed hanging out with Toadette so much that they didn't realize that they were being consumed by the whirlpool, but were able to get out of it. It was unnaturally powerful: Ukikis (monkeys) attacked them with bananas and Spiny Eggs on the next island they came to, but after catching the bananas, they found a pirate Lakitu who had a two fishing dance offs, one with Mario and the other with Luigi, for his Boogie Booster, which was an engine for a ship that would get them through though whirlpools. (Song: Fishing Frenzy/Pirate Dance)
Level 2-3
With the Boogie Booster won, the heroes went back to the whirlpool and heard a song from a Music Key. The brothers alternated as they went in and followed the music (Song: In the Whirlpool/Step by Step) until they reached a submerged ruin.
Level 2-4 (Boss Battle)
When they investigated the ruin, it turned out to have become the Bloopers' lair, plus they held the Music Key as their possession!!! The Mario Bros. danced to destroy all the bloopers in exchange for their second music key (Song: Blooper Bop).
End of World 2
[edit] World 3
Level 3-1
Mario and friends get themselves in Wario's Carnival. When they entered, the Hammer Bros. attempted to chase them away, as they threatened to leave or else die trying to enter, and Mario and Luigi threatened them back to they let them in or else they'll strike them into extreme submission, like if they were being provoked. They said no, and began a Hammer Bros. skirmish, and it escaladed into an extreme brawl (Song: Hammer Dance). They subdued the Hammer Bros. so brutally as if they were to do so to force their way in. The Hammer Bros. were extremely helpless as the trio entered the carnival like they were about to seize it. The brothers successfully KO'd the stubborn Hammer Bros. Now it's time for them to do some EXTREME shopping, as if the player doesn't know what's lies on the road ahead.
Level 3-2
The trio shopped at the Fun House and had a great time there when, suspiciously, Wario was on the rollercoaster possessing the third Music Key! The brothers raced vigorously onto the rollercoaster and danced to beat Wario to the station (Song: Rollercoasting). Ever when they were at the station and off the rollercoaster, the trio were still on hot pursuit with Wario, even when the chase took them into the "so annoying the player can't stand it" Koopas' tent. The brothers took control of the punching machine and went berserk with the Koopa Troopas.
Level 3-3 The hot pursuit with Wario went into the Haunted House, where the trio split off. A behemoth gang of real Boos (if the player wants to know how many Boos the brothers had to SERIOUSLY endure, up to 999 quintillion of them) loaded up the haunted house. So many Boos loaded up the area that the brothers adapted their "GPS style" into their dancing skills (Song: Boo Boogie/Moustache, Barrel, and Gorilla).
Level 3-4 (Boss Battle)
Wario was caught, and they settled off with the dance-off deal at his ferris wheel for the Music Key (Song: Starring Wario). The combatants used Bob-ombs, Podoboos, and hard, swift moves, until Wario was TKO'd, and the heroes seized the third Music Key! They marched onwards with the S.S. Brass to their final Music Key.
End of World 3
[edit] World 4
Level 4-1
Mario, Luigi, and Toad came to an icy mountain where the fourth key was hidden, but a blizzard caused by the Key caused blindness in the air, had they used the S.S. Brass, and the mountain range was a chore to maneuver. The only way in was the Warp Pipe, and a large group of Cheep-Cheeps that inherited the pipe was their only problem that they encountered in there (Song: Frozen Pipes).
Level 4-2
At the end of the pipe, the blizzard escaladed into a snow squall. Toad got scared and cold and got the group running into the cabin, where they warmed themselves up to the beat (Song: Cabin Fever/Mrs. Mowz's Song) in order to duel against the Freezie. The funniest parts that the player is going to encounter in this level are Podoboos and wood from the fire and dinner plates that got in on the action.
Level 4-3 (Boss Battle)
The avalanche began after the blizzard passed. Mario, Toad, and Luigi managed to find a shop called the Freezer Section. When the avalanche passed, the group continued on the Warp Pipe until they mountain climax, where it was occupied by a giant Freezie with the Key lodged in his head. Mario and Luigi talked to the Freezie to hand over the Music Key until they were out of breath, but the Freezie did nothing. What really got the Freezie to forfeit the Music Key is when Toad had the brothers burn him up in flames (Song: Deep Freeze) and TKO him in exchange for the Music Key.
Level 4-4
However, unlike Worlds 1-3, after they defeated the bosses, it was usually over, but not in this case, as the second avalanche began. The good news is that the heroes escaped using the toboggans (Song: Rendezvous on Ice/Midnight Drive). At the bottom of the mountain, they came back to World 1 in time for their celebration with getting all the Music Keys.
End of World 4
[edit] World 5
Level 5-1
After they annihilated the Freezie, they came back to World 1 to turn in the Music Keys to the Truffle Towers. The group triumphed over not only on the Freezie's downfall, but in return for retrieving all the music keys. However, Bowser showed up and stole them for his own purposes. A chase ensued, ending in the Bowser Badlands (Song: Always Smiling). Bowser's underlings fired Bullet Bills at the brothers, who deflected them with dance. Upon arriving at the castle, they saw the Keys up in a strange device at the top of the castle. Purloining them, they went to face the big, bad Koopa.
There is an extra mini-game that can be unlocked that seems to fit in right about here. In it, the S.S. Brass is flying through a futuristic sewer system. It is likely that this is the way the heroes took to get into Bowser's Castle.
Level 5-2 (Boss Battle) (Final Level)
They used the rockets to battle Bowser, and it escaladed into a vicious dance brawl (Song: Bowser's Castle). Because the brothers fought so viciously, they TKO'd Bowser hands down. Bowser almost died, but when he was accused about the stolen music keys, he confessed to stealing the Music Keys in order to fix his issues recognizing tone. The group then cooperated to put together the Music Keys and used them to turn the area into a meadow from a wasteland and transplant some music into the hearts of everyone present. Even Bowser ended up happy!
Mario and Luigi danced to the final music from the Keys, flying in the skies, space, or just partying with the Boos and Mr. Blizzards, and they all lived happily ever after. The End.
End of World 5
[edit] Song list
The music featured in the game was featured with the level number, song name, and origin in this order (currently up to World 1) (with Luigi as A and Mario as B), so players new to this game, or those unfamiliar with the songs can refer to the music that the song came from. Note: "Real World" indicates that the song not only originated outside of a video game, but refers to a musician or music group, like John Lennon and the Beatles
World 1
Level 1-1: Here We Go!: Super Mario Bros.
Level 1-2A: Underground Mozart: Real World: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Level 1-2B: Pipe Pop: Real World: Turkish March
Level 1-3: Garden Boogie: Real World: Carmen
Level 1-4: Destruction Dance: Wrecking Crew (Video Game)
This table is in the order by which the song is placed in Free Play.
Songs marked with an asterisk only appear in the regular Story Mode. In Story Mode EX, these songs are replaced by the song immediately below them.
| Title (English) | Game | Original Song | Original Composer | Japanese Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Here We Go! | Super Mario Bros. | Overworld | Koji Kondo | Here We Go! |
| Underground Mozart* | Mario Bros. | Eine Kleine Nachtmusik | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Dokan no naka no Mozart |
| Pipe Pop | Turkish March | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Puppet Dance | |
| Garden Boogie | Carmen | Georges Bizet | Para Para Karumen | |
| Destruction Dance | Wrecking Crew | Bonus Stage | Koji Kondo | Destruction in the Moonlight |
| Jump! Jump! Jump! | Super Mario Bros. 3 | Overworld 2 | Koji Kondo | Jump! Jump! Jump! |
| Fishing Frenzy* | Yoshi's Cookie | Csikos Post | Hermann Necke | Minna de party time |
| Pirate Dance | Super Mario World | Overworld | Koji Kondo | Korogaru koin no yoo ni |
| In the Whirlpool* | Pomp and Circumstance | Edward Elgar | Kaze no kanata ni | |
| Step by Step | Super Mario World | Bonus Stage | Koji Kondo | Step By Step |
| Blooper Bop | Super Mario Bros. | Underwater | Koji Kondo | Oyoge yonfun ompu |
| Hammer Dance | Super Mario Bros. 3 | Overworld 1 | Koji Kondo | Kue te baya Mario |
| Rollercoasting | Mario Kart: Double Dash!! | Circuits | Shinobu Tanaka | Super Machine |
| Boo Boogie* | Super Mario Bros. 2 | Overworld | Koji Kondo | Hoppin Choppin |
| Moustache, Barrel, and Gorilla | Donkey Kong | Opening | Koji Kondo | Mustache and Barrel and Gorilla |
| Starring Wario! | Wario World | Greenhorn Forest | Minako Hamano | I'm a Star! |
| Frozen Pipes | Old Folks at Home | Stephen Collins Foster | Kibun wa hai hoo | |
| Cabin Fever* | Mario Party 5 | Lots of Toys | Aya Tanaka | Mario's Carnival |
| Ms. Mowz's Song | Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door | Theme of Ms. Mowz; X-Naut Fortress | Yuka Tsujiyoko | Chuu Chuu Techno |
| Deep Freeze | Dr. Mario | Fever | Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka | Happy Happy Dance |
| Rendezvous on Ice* | Les Pâtineurs | Emile Waldteufel | Kooori no ue de rendez-vous | |
| Midnight Drive | Mario Kart 64 | Introduction | Kenta Nagata | Mayonaka no doraibu |
| Always Smiling | Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka | Johann Strauss II | Kitto egao ga ichiban sa | |
| Bowser's Castle | Mario Kart: Double Dash!! | Bowser's Castle | Kenta Nagata | Wagahai wa bosu de aru! |
| Up, Down, Left, Right | Mario Paint | Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Zengo Sayuu |
| Choir on the Green | Ah, Lovely Meadow | Anonymous | Midori no ue no daigashhoo | |
| Hop, Mario! | Super Mario World | Opening | Koji Kondo | Hop Step Mario |
| Where's the Exit? | Super Mario Bros. | Underground | Koji Kondo | Where's The Exit!? |
| Piroli | Famicom Disk System | Opening | Pi ro ri |
[edit] Special features
While DDR: Mario Mix may lack certain modes present in other DDR titles, it boasts several new ones.
[edit] Mush mode
In this mode, some arrows have been replaced by enemies or items from the Super Mario Bros. series. This mode may not make much of a difference on the easier difficulties, but adds another layer of complexity that players may not be able to process in the heat of "Very Hard" or "Super Hard" difficulty. During some two player dance-offs, these special arrows can be used to attack the opponent.
Goomba - Just like a normal arrow, although it is easy to overlook as part of the background if you're focusing deeply on the arrows. Also, their appearance does not indicate the button that must be pushed to defeat them.
Koopa Troopa - Must be hit twice before he is defeated. If your second hit is a "Perfect" on, he falls down and knocks out another arrow.
Bob-omb and Podoboo - Players step on the Podoboos to send them to their opponent (during duels). If a player misses one, it causes a Bob-omb to explode on the player and greatly decrease the dance meter.
Cheep-Cheep (arrow) - Like a normal arrow, but he comes in from the side of the screen, which means players don't know which dance pad button must be pressed to defeat him until just before they need to.
Spiny - If a player steps on one of these, their dance meter will drop significantly. Red ones move faster than green ones. Both come in from the side like the Cheep-Cheep (arrow).
Mini-Blooper - Almost exactly like Goombas.
Big Blooper Tentacle - Extend up from the bottom of the screen quickly. If a player misses one, his or her dance meter drops significantly.
Hammer - Move quickly and decrease dance meter significantly when missed.
Coin Switch and Coin - When a player steps on a Coin Switch, all of his or her arrows are turned into coins temporarily. Although coins add to your coin total, they become like Goombas in terms of their difficulty.
Mini-Boo - When a Big Boo is at the bottom of the screen, not hitting these arrows will bring him up further and further, blocking the player's vision of all arrows. Mini-Boos pose the same challenge as Goombas.
Cheep-Cheep (non-arrow) - They appear and switch the direction of one arrow each. These Cheep-Cheeps cannot be defeated.
Fire Flower - When a Big Freezie is at the bottom of the screen, missing these arrows will bring him up further and further, blocking the player's vision of all arrows. Fire Flowers pose the same challenge as Goombas.
Ice Spinies - Like normal Spinies except that they come in from the bottom of the screen like normal arrows and only come in one variety that moves at the same speed as the normal arrows.
Bullet Bills - Faster moving than normal arrows, and they don't have any indications of which direction they represent. If you hit three, you will defeat the Bill Blaster at the bottom of the screen. However, more will come.
Rocket Parts - Come in three varieties. Collect all three in the proper order (launcher, body, top) to send a rocket at Bowser. If a player misses a part, he or she will eventually suffer substantial damage to the dance meter. In the event that a player fails to send enough at Bowser to defeat him when the song ends, the player will fail the song as if his or her dance meter had dropped to zero.
[edit] Mini-games
There are several Mario-themed mini-games available for play. All but one of them can be unlocked during the story mode (one may have to play more than once to encounter them all). The final one is available after all of the songs are unlocked.
The mini-games see players using the dance pad in unusal ways, such as alternatively stomping the left and right arrows to run.
[edit] Playable characters
[edit] Non-playable characters
[edit] Trivia
- This is the first (and so far only) game to feature Waluigi as a main antagonist without Wario (although Wario is in the game).
[edit] Reception
Following the game's release, Mario Mix was criticized because secondary dance mats were only available through Nintendo's online store. It is also claimed that the game never reaches the extreme difficulty of the other DDR games, making this one more suitable for beginners and not DDR experts. The most difficult song in the mix is comparable to an 8- or 9-"foot" song in other DDR games. It is worth noting that while some critics stated that the difficulty did not surpass that of "Standard Mode" in other DDR games, several songs that appear towards the end of the game on higher difficulties argue against that. And also, the character, Princess Peach was excluded, although she appeared in most Mario games, like Super Mario Bros. 2, and Mario Kart and sports series, but Princess Daisy was also excluded, although she now appears in the Mario Sports series, Mario Kart series, and Mario Party series. X-play's Adam Sessler said that the game's music "delves deep into the public domain library".
Available only in limited supply, as proven by two NOAs on NSider, the game has proven to be very popular among both DDR and Nintendo fans alike regardless of the difficulty level; due to popular demand, Nintendo of America has restocked US supplies of Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix.
[edit] Rarity
Only 100,000 copies of the game were sold, and because of this, after the end of 2005, the price of the game increased from a MSRP price of $49.99, to eBay bids of over $200.
The game has been reshipped to retailers and is back on the market in stores as of now.
As of September 6, 2006 most retailers report the game being backordered or not available.
[edit] References
- "KONAMI and Nintendo Co. jointly develop Dance Dance Revolution with MARIO", Konami Corporation (January 7, 2005) (in Japanese)
- Freund, Josh: "DDR with Mario - more screens & first song details", Games Are Fun (January 18, 2005)
- Niizumi, Hirohiko: "Mario shimmies onto Dance Dance Revolution", GameSpot (January 7, 2005)
- Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix at Nintendo.com. Accessed on May 20, 2005.
[edit] External links
- Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix at MobyGames
- Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix Official site
- Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix at Nintendo
- GameFaqs
- Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix at DDRfitness
| Games from the Dance Dance Revolution series | |
|---|---|
| Japan / Asia: | 1stMIX - 2ndMIX - 3rdMIX - 4thMIX - 5thMIX - MAX (6thMIX) - MAX2 (7thMIX) - EXTREME - Best Hits - Extra Mix - Party Col. - FESTIVAL - Mario Mix - STR!KE - SuperNOVA - Universe |
| North America: | DDR - DDR USA - Konamix - MAX - MAX2 - Ultramix - EXTREME - Ultramix 2 - Extreme 2 - Ultramix 3 - SuperNOVA - Universe |
| Europe: | Dancing Stage EuroMIX - PARTY EDiTiON - Disney Mix - MegaMiX - Fever - Unleashed - Fusion - Unleashed 2 - Mario Mix - Max - Unleashed 3 |
| See also: | Dancing Stage - Disney versions - Game Boy versions - DDR Solo - List of DDR games |
| Related topics | |
| Notable songs: | MAX series - PARANOiA series |
| Notable artists: | BeForU - Takayuki Ishikawa - Naoki Maeda - Taku Sakakibara - List of Bemani musicians |
|
Video games featuring Mario
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