Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
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Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (known as Dance Dance Revolution with Mario in Japan and Dancing Stage: Mario Mix in Europe) is a Nintendo GameCube game based on the popular Dance Dance Revolution video game series, but with a Mario theme. Mario Mix utilizes an included Mario-themed dance mat. To play the game, players must step on the up, down, left, and right arrows when they line up with a bar on the screen. The player can choose to play with either Mario or Luigi in a number of modes and difficulty levels with nearly thirty songs. Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix is the second dancing game to be released on the Nintendo GameCube. Mario Mix is not as intense as standard versions of DDR; Super Hard difficulty is equivalent to "standard" difficulty in other DDR games (though some later songs are considered "heavy" in DDR, especially Bowser's Castle).
[edit] Story ModeThe game includes a Story Mode, which the player must clear in order to unlock all of the songs in the game. The playable characters are Mario and Luigi. The opening scene starts out with Waluigi stealing the Music Keys from Truffle Towers. This is trouble as the Music Keys are able to grant the wish of a character. However, when Waluigi opens the door to the room of the four Music Keys, they all scatter across the Mushroom Kingdom except for one that Waluigi gets to keep. Meanwhile, from afar, Toad watches this and rushes to tell Mario or Luigi, depending on which character the player chose. Toad warns Mario (or Luigi) that Waluigi has stolen the Music Keys and explains he might wish for anything. Mario decides to go stop Waluigi and Toad decides to come with him to Truffle Towers. On a boat, the two cross a river, and after climbing a vine, reach Truffle Towers. However, once there, the two find the doors to Truffle Tower locked. Suddenly, Waluigi laughs an evil laugh, as he tosses a Bob-omb at the two. Mario is sent flying and he falls down a Warp Pipe which takes him down to an underground room filled with Goombas. Toad tells him not to worry-with the power of dancing he might be able to get out. Mario dances and is able to make the large Mushroom platform he is standing on grow large enough to let him out of the underground area. Mario then rushes up to Toad, and they both visit a shop. A Lakitu welcomes them, and Toad spots something in the shop. A shining, bright key. He asks the Lakitu where he got that and if it's the key to Truffle Towers. Lakitu does not quite know but he tells Toad that it's not for sale-unless Mario and Toad are able to get rid of the young Koopas messing with his farm. If Mario gets rid of the Koopas messing with Lakitu's farms and carrots, he may give them the key. After Mario stomps all the Koopa Troopas, while dancing a bit, Lakitu agrees to give Mario the key. After that, Mario and Toad rush to Truffle Towers again and are able to open the doors. Inside, Waluigi smiles at them; his wish is to become the best dancer in the whole world. Mario challenges Waluigi to a dance-off. The winner gets to keep the Music Keys. Waluigi accepts the challenge, and they both dance, until Mario is claimed the winner. Mario, as the winner, gets the Music Keys. However, once outside Truffle Towers, Toad informs Mario that they must now get the rest of the Music Keys. He brings the S.S. Brass, and Mario and Toad hop on it. They fly off looking for Music Keys. Their first stop is an island looking similar to Isle Delfino. On their way however, a Tweester suddenly appears and makes the S.S. Brass spin. The S.S. Brass spins around a hotel and somehow, turns it into a corkscrew. Toadette, owner of the hotel, comes out and yells at Mario for ruining her hotel. Mario then calms her down and decides to dance to fix it. After Toadette and all the guests at the hotel dance, the hotel is turned back into its normal shape. Mario and Toad hop back in the S.S. Brass to leave the island. However, the boat hits a whirlpool and is thrown off course. Luckily, there is a shop up ahead and the owner of the shop, Pirate Lakitu, tells them he has a part that can make the ship go underwater. He agrees to help them if they beat him in a dance off. Mario dances and is able to beat the Lakitu in a dance off. After a short dancing competition, Lakitu gives them the part for the ship. With their ship repaired, Toad explains that whoever has the Music Key must be wishing for all these storms to happen. Mario and Toad hop in the S.S. Brass, thank the Lakitu, and ride into the water as if it were a submarine. They travel down into a temple, where they see a large Blooper holding a Music Key. After Mario has another "dance off" against him, Blooper hands him the Music Key and then leaves. Mario and Toad get into their ship and go back to the surface and take off to their next destination, Mushroom Park. They arrive at the entrance, which is blocked by two Hammer Bros. who won't let Mario and Toad through unless they are able to beat them in a dance-off. Toad complains that his legs are too short and he can't dance so he leaves Mario to do the dancing. Mario and the Hammer Bro. dance off and in the end, Mario is able to beat the Hammer Bro. The Hammer Bros. let Mario and Toad enter the park. Once inside, they see the one who currently has the second Music Key - Wario. Wario soon hops on a roller coaster, while Mario follows. Eventually, Wario stops in front of a ferris wheel and turns to Mario and announces that with the Music Key, he will wish to get his own game: DDR: Wario Mix. Wario hops on the ferris wheel and challenges Mario to a dance-off. However, he loses the dance-off and Mario gets to keep the Music Key. Toad and Mario hop inside the S.S. Brass and take off to Freeze Mountain. Toad tries climbing up the large, icy mountain, but are unable to do so. Mario and Toad spot a Warp Pipe, and decide that maybe there's another way to climb the mountain. They both enter and end up on an ice floe with Cheep Cheeps surrounding them. Several Mr. Blizzards and Penguins looking down at Mario and Toad. Mario smiles and start dancing to "entertain" them. As he dances, the ice floe floats closer and closer to another Warp Pipe that Mario and Toad can use to get to the top of the mountain. They soon find a log cabin that Mario and Toad eagerly enter. After they warm up, Mario and Toad keep going up the mountain. At the very top of the mountain is a large Freezie holding the Music Key Using fire and a little bit of dancing, Mario melts the Freezie and claims the key. To return to the bottom of the mountain, Mario and Toad luckily find some sleds that they get in to. Mario and Toad sled down the large mountain while avoiding obstacles along the way. Mario and Toad soon return to Truffle Towers and return the Music Keys to their original place. Soon after, Bowser, in his Koopa Clown Car, steals the keys. Mario and Toad follow in the S.S. Brass, dodging Bullet Bills along the way. They finally enter Bowser's Castle, and recapture the Music Keys. Bowser challenges Mario to a dance-off, during which Mario activates a large rocket that whacks Bowser into the sky. Bowser admits he wanted the Music Keys to cure his tone-deafness. Mario turns Bowser's castle into a large field, which Bowser is shocked by. Mario, Toad, and Bowser suddenly get a strange feeling inside of them. They then start dancing happily. The Music Keys are returned to Truffle Towers, and Mario finally goes home. [edit] Characters[edit] Playable[edit] Non-Playable[edit] The Action Pad  Included with the game is a dance mat (or as Konami calls it, an action pad) which plugs into a controller socket on the GameCube. Then, standing in the center of the mat, the player can simply step on an arrow when it reaches the top of the screen: left, right, up or down. Of course, as the difficulty rises, moves such as jumps to step on two arrows at the same time are required, when they must move around the mat quickly. Incidentally, the game can be sold by itself without a dance mat. The regular controller then uses the control stick/D-pad and the face buttons for directional input, with X for up, A for Down, B for left and Y for right. [edit] Dance MeterAt the start of each song, a dance meter appears in the upper left corner (and upper right corner for 2 players and Boss Battles/Dance Offs). It consists of ten stars, with each song starting with five (this can be varied with items). As the players get Perfects and Greats, the meter rises. When they miss, it decreases. In the Options menu, the player can set how much a miss decreases their dance meter, and in Story Mode, the higher the difficulty, the more they lose. The meter will flash if the player is under two and a half stars, and when the dance meter runs out of stars, the song will end automatically and they will get an F for the song and a 'Failed' message. In Story Mode, the player will lose a life. [edit] Grades for the SongWhen the player keeps their dance meter filled and get a Cleared! message at the end of the song, these are the possible grades:
Two major factors decide the grade for a song: number of missteps in relation to the song length and total points. As the difficulty rises, more missteps can still mean a better grade (B), but the A still requires barely any missteps. [edit] Grades for Each StepEach step the player makes gets a grade that affects the players overall score, by giving points per step:
Getting Perfects and Greats not only increases the players dance meter, it adds a combo on-screen. When the player gets a 100 combo, the announcer comments and arrows flash differently when players step on them. A combo stops if the player does a misstep (Early, Late or Miss). As with all DDR games, the announcer comments on the player's dancing skill and grade along the way. This can be turned off in the Options menu. If the player's dance meter empties, an option can allow the player to finish the song right away, but the player still gets an F grade. [edit] Difficulties Easy: only includes left and right arrows. Perhaps the easiest level in any Dance Dance Revolution game. In Story Mode, the player can choose every difficulty except Super Hard at the beginning of the adventure and it stays permanent throughout all the songs. It can only be changed by a Music Wand. [edit] Dance-OffsTwo players, one as Mario and the other as Luigi, can face off in any song, at any difficulty like Free Mode. However the initial package comes with only one dance mat. A second one must be ordered online at Nintendo's official website. [edit] Music
*This only appears in the regular Story Mode. In Story Mode EX, it is replaced by the song immediately below [edit] Modes
[edit] Mush ModeMush Mode is the Mario twist to the DDR genre. Common Mario enemies and items replace steps on the screen and must either be stepped on or avoided. Others cover the screen when missing steps, giving the brothers less time to react. Initially, Mush Mode is enforced in Story Mode, but it can be turned off in options. Mush Mode is optional in Free Mode. On the hardest difficulties, two Mush Mode effects is not uncommon. 
[edit] MinigamesMinigames are unlocked when the players play them in Story Mode. In Story Mode, they provide coins so that the brothers can buy items. The last two games can only be found in Minigame mode. 
[edit] Items Items can be bought from a store in each world from Lakitu after the player completes Stage 1-3. The classic 1-Up Mushroom can also be won in certain minigames. Sometimes bonus songs are available. All items except the 1-up mushroom had to be triggered before a stage for the player to feel its effects. The player can only carry three of these items at a time. The player may access the store if they visit it during their progress or before any stage after 1-3, by pressing the Z button. [edit] Staff
[edit] References to Other Games
[edit] References in Later Games
[edit] Gallery
[edit] Trivia
[edit] References
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- Everyone
- Three years and older
- All ages
