Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix

First released in United States arcades in 2000 and to consoles the following year after years of success in Japan, Dance Dance Revolution has since proven itself to be a sure-fire hit no matter what, with an established and growing fan base. The title 'revolutionized' the dance-game genre by introducing a floor panel (which was replaced by a mat in the console versions) with arrows on it, forcing the player to actually dance by stepping on an indicated arrow with certain timing. And this time Nintendo is pushing the franchise to the limits, adding the company's cherished personality as Mario steps onto the dance mat to show the world he’s not just about throwing fireballs, giving baths and jumping on enemies in the series' first outing on a Nintendo platform.

Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (DDRMM) was one of several spin-off titles to the Super Mario franchise on display at Nintendo’s E3 2005 booth, and was determined to make its mark on the gaming industry at the annual trade show. Boogie down to more than twenty-five tracks from various titles including Super Mario Bros. 3, Wrecking Crew, Dr. Mario, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Wario World, and Mario Party 5. Now, because of the restriction of the Mario franchise, the available tunes may not be a variety; but no one can denounce Mario music and keep a straight face--at least not for long. Fine, you don’t like Mario tunes; how about Pomp and Circumstance? Yeah, you can’t go wrong there. (What? You're saying you have not heard of that? Neither have I.) If the past makes anything clear regarding this franchise, it's that you can’t go wrong anywhere when it comes to Mario and friends, as Nintendo's stout symbol has starred in successful software spanning several genres.

While the Mario enhancements add new elements to the franchise, the dancing mechanics--the focal point of the game-play--work traditionally just like any DDR title. Arrows sail their way to the top of the screen in beat with the music, and the player is judged with familiar phrases such as "perfect" and "great" on how well he timed the arrows similarly to the drum beats in Donkey Konga. Silhouettes of the arrows appear at the top of the screen, and the judgment is based on your ability to match the scrolling arrows with the outlines at the top; and you do this by stomping your foot on the corresponding arrow arranged on the mat. The game is set up into five difficulty levels to make sure that new players and couch potatoes don’t get left behind. Mario games have been known to be a little too easy at times, and that was a complaint some people that played the game have mentioned after coming out of E3, at least compared to other DDR games. Hopefully they’ll be proven wrong.

When it comes to graphics, the game looks brilliant--just like any other Mario title. Konami brought the series back to the Mushroom Kingdom for this title, as indicated by the mushrooms growing in the background in some of the environments. Along with the mushrooms come the traditional pipes, waterfalls and evergreen trees--not to mention several familiar characters. Places revealed by screenshot include Boo’s Mansion, Mario’s house, trails, rivers, forests and more familiar locales. Everything in the game is very detailed: vivid and distinctly polished as usual--especially the characters, whose refined shape (a grand departure from the familiar "rectangular-armed" physique) should please many fans of the series.

Speaking of characters, there is a decent list of them to be featured in this game. The lineup includes more popular characters like Mario, Luigi, Waluigi, Wario, and Bowser as well as a host of less-significant Mushroom Kingdom dwellers--toads, koopas, boos, goombas and cheep cheeps; all are expected to appear in Mario’s dance party. The list is rather short if you ask me, as not all characters that are listed here have a grand appearance, but the game has not been fully revealed yet so there might (and should) be more to come.

There are a lot of gamers being nagged at by parents and guardians to get some exercise, and this is the perfect way to do it while satifying one's gaming habit. The special "workout" system Konami has created actually tells you how many calories you’ve burned on a given day. If you like the game a lot, it can potentially be a feasible substitute for going to the gym. Hopefully that will get the females interested, not implying that females are generally more...well, large...than males, of course.

As I said before, DDRMM is the first Mario game to return to the Mushroom Kingdom since Super Mario 64, not including the sports and party titles, of course. Well, it also happens to be the first game since Super Mario 64 to have a storyline based in the Mushroom Kingdom. You see, someone has stolen the music keys and released the music they held into the Mushroom Kingdom. Since the robbery, the unstable power of the music is wreaking havoc throughout the kingdom. You must capture the music keys and the thieves who stole them before the music destroys the Mushroom Kingdom. Well, the screenshots have already revealed that there is more than one thief, so it should be fun to play-out the storyline. By the way, don’t ask me how music could destroy a kingdom; but hey, it is a nice twist.

To attempt to beat the game's story, set up the mat (included with the game) next to a television set on some empty floor space, or the garage if you're...well, lacking funds to afford space. Let me ask you this: have you ever gotten jealous watching Mario jump on top of all those decaying brown mushrooms Nintendo calls goombas? Well, now you can experience it firsthand, jumping and stomping your way across different levels in traditional Mario fashion. Clear all the levels in a particular world to gain access to the boss enemy, who will give you a music key upon his defeat. After that, move on to the next world to claim the next music key and put it back to where it was originally found until all the keys are accounted for. As players clear levels, they unlock new songs, difficulties and even mini-games.

To conclude this article, I would like to bring up a point: who says gamers can’t get dates? This game promises to strike a comeback and perhaps reverse a social trend; before you know it, we’ll be dancing circles around the football team. (Not that I’m not already doing that, of course.) If you are in it for the exercise, Mario love or just plain gaming love, it doesn’t matter. Just like any other DDR game, this is sure to be a big hit, if it isn’t one already.