For $50 you get Mario Mix and the dance pad, which is a pretty good price when you consider past DDR games retail for $60 with the pad. Unlike the other games in the series, Mario Mix relies more on orchestrated Mario tunes than the latest music tracks. The dance pad will have the player stepping on arrows that correspond to those shown on the television. There are four different arrows to press (Up, Down, Left, Right) and sometimes two arrows must be stepped on simultaneously. Thankfully, the pad is extremely reliable and of high quality. The main part of the game consists of a story mode that will have Mario embark on a quest across several areas to recapture the scattered music keys. Toad will join Mario on the adventure, giving tips as well as augmenting the story, of which is extraordinarily simplistic, but I can see how young kids might get a kick out of it.

Of course, to regain the keys Mario must dance. He will face off against many opponents in a dance-off, which shows off each dancer in real-time. To add some variety to the mix, most dance missions will throw in some new challenges. For example, in one of the early dances in the game koopa troopas will appear where the arrows normally do. When they reach the top, you’ll have to stomp on the corresponding arrow on the mat to knock it back inside its shell, and then stomp immediately again to send him back down the screen. Failure to do this will result in your dance meter dropping significantly. If this drops all the way down you’ll lose the dance and have to start over. In between boss battles are smaller quests and events that add even more fun to the mix. These can be as simple as running away from an avalanche or running using the “L” and “R” arrows to gain speed to jump onto a flagpole, ala the original Super Mario Bros. The developers did a fantastic job of infusing this game with traditional Mario elements, all of which true fans will no doubt enjoy.

At the heart of any DDR game is the music. Fans of past Mario music will be in heaven after hearing this soundtrack. There are many tracks of music from prior Mario games that are completely reinvented for Mario Mix. Some are fully orchestrated pieces, and others are up-tempo and fast moving. There are a few non-Mario songs thrown in for good measure, but they really aren’t that great. Fans of past DDR games will no doubt be disappointed by the limited music selection and the easiness of the game. It’s obvious that Konami and Nintendo wanted this game to be accessible to kids and adults of all ages. Thus, the first portion of the game is excruciatingly easy. Luckily, the replay value is quite high. Even after completing the story mode (which I did on my first try at the game) more songs will be available to unlock by playing through it again. There is also a 2-player mode to keep things competitive. At press time an extra dance pad for the GameCube wasn’t being sold in stores and had to be purchased online at Nintendo of America’s store for $20. In addition to the story mode and 2-player dance competitions, the game has mini-games that, once unlocked, can be played at any time. These are sort of like Mario Party games, but use the dance pad instead of the controller. These are a nice diversion, but can get old really fast. For the fitness freaks out there, you can dance away your calories as the game can keep track of your dancing maneuvers.

Mario Mix is a worthy addition to your library if you have kids 6 to 12 that would like to dance and don’t mind doing so with Mario and company. It’s also a game that hardcore Mario fans will want to pick up for its fan service alone. Hardcore DDR players will most likely want to steer clear from this game as it will be beaten in one try and the music variety just isn’t present. It’s nice to finally see a DDR game hit the GameCube after all these years. Mario Mix is a fun game, but it’s short-lived and could have been even better with more songs and a longer story mode.