''Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix'', known in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

as ''Dancing Stage Mario Mix'', is a 2005

music video game A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...

developed by

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...

and Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the first ''

Dance Dance Revolution (''DDR'') is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, ''Dance Dance Revolution'' is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance ...

'' game to be released on a Nintendo

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...

outside Japan. ''Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix'' predominantly features characters,

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, and locations from the ''Mario'' franchise. The game was bundled with the

dance pad A dance pad, also known as a dance mat or dance platform, is a flat electronic game controller used for input in dance games. Most dance pads are divided into a 3×3 matrix of square panels for the player to stand on, with some or all of the pane ...

controller.

Gameplay

''Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix'' runs on a modified version of the '' Mario Party 6'' engine, and follows the gameplay formula established in all prior ''

'' games. The game features several gameplay modes: Story Mode takes the player through a linear progression of tracks, framed as a story of

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

and

Luigi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

traveling the

Mushroom Kingdom The is a fictional principality in Nintendo's ''Mario'' series. It is the setting of most main-series ''Mario'' games with an inconsistent presentation. There is no established canon regarding the topography of the ''Mario'' universe, and many ...

to retrieve the missing Music Keys. Once a track has been cleared in Story Mode, it becomes available for play in Free Mode, which allows up to two players to dance simultaneously. The player can purchase items at

Lakitu Lakitu ( or ), known in Japan as is a fictional flying Koopa in the ''Mario'' franchise. Created by Shigeru Miyamoto, he first appeared in the Nintendo Entertainment System video game ''Super Mario Bros.'', where he dropped enemies called ...

's shop during Story Mode that can be used to assist them if they are struggling. Some stages feature "Mush Mode" rules, which replace the traditional arrows with ''Mario'' enemies that feature unique mechanics. Special minigames will also appear during Story Mode, providing alternate gameplay styles such as jumping up on a flagpole or hitting

Goomba Goombas , known in Japan as , are a fictional mushroom-like species from Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise. They first appeared in the NES video game ''Super Mario Bros.'' as the first enemy players encounter. They have appeared outside video ga ...

s that emerge from pipes with a hammer. Like the tracks, these mini-games will be unlocked for free play in Mini-Game Mode once they have been cleared in Story Mode. Once the player completes Story Mode for the first time, they will unlock Story Mode EX, which features a slightly altered selection of songs. Additional difficulty levels can also be unlocked.

Plot

The game opens with

Waluigi is a fictional character in the ''Mario'' franchise. He plays the role of Luigi's arch-rival and accompanies Wario in spin-offs from the main ''Mario'' series, often for the sake of causing mischief and problems. He was created by Camelot em ...

stealing the four Music Keys, which can grant wishes, from Truffle Towers. However, when he tries to open the door to the room containing the Music Keys, three of them scatter across the Mushroom Kingdom, leaving him with only one key. From a distance,

Toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scient ...

watches these events unfold and rushes to tell Mario or Luigi, depending on which character the player chose, who then rushes off to retrieve the missing Music Keys. The keys are recovered by completing tasks for other characters who have found the scattered keys and then defeating them in a dance challenge. These characters are, in order, Waluigi, Pirate Lakitu, Big Blooper, Hammer Bros.,

Wario is a fictional character in Nintendo's ''Mario'' series, designed as an arch-rival to Mario. He first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy game '' Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins'' as the main antagonist and final boss. His name is a portmanteau ...

and Freezie. After recovering each key, Toad and the player's character sail the SS Brass, an instrument-themed airship, and head to new world unless all Music Keys are recovered/collected. After collecting the four Music Keys, Toad and the player's character then return the Music Keys to Truffle Towers. Soon after,

Bowser , or King Koopa, is a fictional character, the primary antagonist in Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. In Japan, the character bears the title of . Bowser is the leader of the turtle-like Koopa race. Despite the ...

steals the keys, but is followed by Toad and the player's chosen character. They infiltrate Bowser's Castle to recapture the Music Keys while being attacked by Bill Blasters and their Bullet Bills, and are promptly challenged by Bowser. After defeating him in a dance-off, Bowser tells Toad and the player's character that he planned to use the Music Keys to fix his tone deafness. This prompts the player's character to use the Music Keys to turn the area around Bowser's Castle into a green field and induces a feeling to dance in everyone, with Toad realizing that this was how the Music Keys were supposed to be used as the game's ending sequence plays.

Music

''Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix'' features 29 music tracks, including remixes of both tracks from previous ''Mario'' titles and

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

classical music. Only one track is initially available, while the remainder are unlocked by clearing them in Story Mode and Story Mode EX, or by purchasing them from Lakitu's shop. The following table lists the tracks in the order they appear in Free Play. *Replaces the previous song in Story Mode EX.

Reception

''Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix'' received mixed reviews, gaining aggregate critical scores of 71.70% and 69% on GameRankings and

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

Notes

References

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External links

''Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix''
at

Nintendo.com is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...

archives
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Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

). Accessed on 2005-05-20.
Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
on Mobygames {{Mario sports games 2005 video games Dance Dance Revolution games Konami games GameCube-only games GameCube games Single-player video games Hudson Soft games Nintendo games Mario spin-off games Crossover video games Video games developed in Japan