bit-tech Shopping: Nintendo Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix Bundle

Rating: 8

Time with product: 2 Years

Strengths: Nintendo songs!

Weaknesses: Not a very difficult DDR game

Summary: DDR Mario Mix is a great game for the beginning DDR player, or for those who are looking for something new. Featuring a number of Nintendo-themed songs, it's certainly a soundtrack you'll never find elsewhere.While the difficulty is not up to par with the mainline DDR series, some songs can have you breaking a sweat all the same.

Rating: 6

Time with product:

Strengths: DDR for the gamecube!

Weaknesses: Very easy, not as entertaining as the other DDR games

Summary: DDR Mario Mix is another DDR with the same type of game play: Step on the corresponding arrows at the right time but this difficulty is really watered down in this version. This, of course, makes the game very boring after a little bit as the whole "challenge factor" is not there.

Rating: 8

Time with product:

Strengths: DDR fun set to Mario characters and music

Weaknesses: Fairly short, limited save feature, impossible to find

Summary: Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix combines the dance-pad craze DDR with the Nintendo armada of Mario characters. Just as in any other DDR game, you step on the dance pad arrows (either left, right, up, or down) in time with music to match icons scrolling vertically up the screen. This version features a story concerning Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom. Of course the rather flimsy story is just there to progress you to different stages, many of which feature Mario in a dance-off against another character. There are also minigames like a Whack-A-Mole variation. The game is fun and will get you off the couch and exercising (a bit). It will probably not be much of a challenge for DDR veterans, but might be a good first DDR game for children or people who just want to approach the game casually. The only problem in this respect is that there is a very limited save feature. Once you fail any of the stages in the linear story path a certain number of times it is game over and you must start at the beginning again. This can be somewhat frustrating for children who may then give up on completing the game. However, you do keep songs and modes unlocked throughout the progress of the story mode (which can be played during free play). On the plus side, the game is compatible with the Wii (as are all Gamecube titles). The only other problem with the game is that it has been rare on and off for a while and barring a reprint from Nintendo it will continue to become harder and harder to find for a reasonable price.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1 Year

Strengths: Its Mario, Dancing. Very accessible for anyone to enjoy. Nice remixes of Mario classics.

Weaknesses: A breeze for DDR veterans. Meaning the insane ones who move their feet at the speed of sound.

Summary: Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix is a great pickup for any GameCube owner. It has Mario or Luigi go on a quest to save the Mushroom Kingdom from doom through the power of dance. With a workout mode you can keep track of how many calories you lose while playing. There are minigames to unlock and also more songs. If you've never played a DDR game this the game to start with. I never did until I picked this up. Now I play, my father plays, my little cousins. With Mario, anything is fun.

Rating: 8

Time with product:

Strengths: Lets gamecube users finally play something other than Mario Party at their parties.

Weaknesses: Can be too childish at times. Too much talking/storyline, we just want straight up dancing.

Summary: I've only had this game for a week so I don't know its full potential but the creators of nintendo need to realize that more than just 10 year olds own gamecubes. A rather weak yet prolonged story line is created to set the stage for mario to dance it up. Once you have completed the stages you can unlock most of the songs in the game, then you can start having 2 player action, but up until then it's pretty boring. People buy this game to dance not to listen to toad carry on and on. Besides the cheap story line this game has been fun so far. It's not as hard as DDR for other consoles but I still haven't mastered "Very Hard" mode yet, so it's good enough to satisfy me. I would reccomend this product only because it's the only DDR game out for gamecube. If nintendo releases a clone of DDR for the gamecube I'll buy it in a flash, if not for the added challenge, but also for the non-nintendo-ish songs. There is some original nintendo theme songs in there but most of them are unique to this game.