Features: 1-2 players Memory card - 2 blocks Progressive Scan compatible Action Pad compatible (included in box) It’s finally happened; Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) has come to the Gamecube! In this game you can play as either Mario or Luigi to save the land from dancin’ chaos. Of course the only way to do that is to dance! The story begins with Waluigi entering the truffle tower and stealing the four music keys. Now Mario or Luigi must travel different worlds to recover them. Graphics As the Gamecube is a capable machine, DDR: Mario Mix has good graphics. When your dancin’ to the beat the game shows characters that are animated to the beat and this makes dancing much more interesting. However, unless you’re like me and go into a trance when hitting the arrows, you will have some time to enjoy the on-screen action. The color are rich and true to the Mario legacy and this is to be expected with a game that has the famed plumbers face on it. DDR doesn’t have to push the system to its limit as the game graphics are secondary to the gameplay. However, I have to say that the visuals were really great to look at and it was really funny to watch the characters try to dance. Sound DDR is all about sound and Mario Mix is no exception. In this version the music features mostly songs from various Mario games but with a techno twist to them. It also has some classical songs like Mozart and the Turkish March with the same techno twist (no, this does not ruin the song) and I found it interesting to hear such music in this type of game. The songs found in DDR: Mario Mis are easy to get into and they do not get that annoying. However, the announcer can be a real pain in the butt as he is always saying things like “Every one is watching you”. After the hundredth time or so it does start to get on your nerves. There is a bright side to the announcer though, you can turn him off. There are no voices in DDR: Mario Mix with the exception of the announcer and one song. However there are still the various Mario noises including the famed plumbers “yahoo” and “yippee” that he is very well known for. The sounds in this game do not have to be that realistic because all the lands in the Mario universe are fantasy worlds, but for a game of this nature the sounds are good. Overall DDR: Mario Mix does have one or two songs that can be really repetitive and drive you mad but even with its little faults the audio package is pretty darn good. Gameplay Dance Dance Revolution historically doesn’t have much of a story line but leave it to Nintendo to create one for a game like this. In my introduction I explained that Waluigi stole the four music keys and scattered them throughout four worlds. The worlds Mario must face are the Mushroom Kingdom, Ocean World, an amusement park, and a land of snow (surprise, a snow level in a Mario game). However like most Mario games there is one more world that opens up later on and it wouldn’t be much of a Mario game without this stages main character. **SPOILER** Stage five is none other than Bowser’s Castle. You heard me right, Bowser’s the big bad dancin’ boss and depending on the difficulty setting you choose he can be extremely hard. Even though the story doesn’t last very long there’s still incentive to play again. When playing on a higher difficulty level you can purchase songs from the cloud-nine shop and this will unlock songs in the free dance mode. This dance mode allows you to play with a friend or go solo in challenging your favorite songs. The song difficulty ranges from “easy” to “super hard”. In order to unlock “super hard” you must first beat the song on “very hard”. This also applies to the story mode, playing on normal will unlock hard and so on. But if you want a real challenge you can turn on the Mush Mode by pressing the z-button on higher difficulties. Mush mode is where goombas, koopa troopas, and other things that you can stomp on replace some arrows and this makes for a nice change to your typical DDR game. Along with the story and free modes there is also the calorie counter and the mini-game modes. Some mini-games include are the Flag Jump, Whack a Goomba”, and Jump. In the Flag Jump you must rapidly step on the left and right arrows to build momentum then, when the time is right, you must hit the up arrow to jump. If your timing is on you can get a total of 5000 points. The Whack a Goomba speaks for it self. Jump has Mario suspended high above a trampoline and when the timing is right you have to jump as high as you can off the L & R arrow keys. Mario will collect coins as he rockets upward so try to get them all. The Flag Jump can really test one’s physical endurance. I myself was pushed to my limit to get the timing just right. Those who lack physical stamina should work their way up to this level of exertion. Conclusion I have to say that DDR on my home television was really cool as it was like having an own arcade in your living room. DDR: Mario Mix is a game the whole family can get into (and kick you off of). Some things bothered me though. Firstly is that the dance pad moved around while you were playing and this would eventually lead to missed arrows. The second issue I had is the lack of multiple save files that could really test one’s patience when others start playing. Regardless DDR: Mario Mix is a good game but is intended for a younger age group. And a piece of advice to you all, play it in the basement or you risk falling through the floor.