Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, known as Dance Dance Revolution with Mario in Japan and Dancing Stage: Mario Mix in Europe, is a Dance Dance Revolution game featuring Mario themes, and is considered part of both series, thus being a format crossover between the two.
The game features Mario and Luigi as the playable characters, and a story mode in the style of Mario games, where Waluigi tries to steal the powerful Music Keys, capable of granting him every wish, but is only able to keep one of them, while the other are scattered across the Mushroom Kingdom, so is up to Mario or Luigi to retrive them. The story takes place in five different worlds: World 1 is the sorroundings of Muffle Towers, where the Music Keys were held, and is an average Mushroom Kingdom zone; World 2 is a two island area, and takes place partly underwater; World 3 is an amusement park; World 4 is a frozen zone; World 5 is Bowser's castle.
Toad is featured as the protagonist's assistant, while Toadette, Shy Guys and Lakitus appear in minor supporting roles. Unplayable rival dancers met in Story Mode are Waluigi (World 1 Boss), a Pirate Lakitu, Hammer Bros. and Wario (World 3 Boss). Also, a giant Blooper represents the World 2 Boss, while Bowser is the World 5 boss, though the game technically doesn't consider them characters, since they're part of the background (in fact the game is not in split screen while fighting them in Story Mode, and they're still there in Free Mode).
The basic gameplay is the same as in the classic Dance Dance Revolution games, but features the new "Mush Mode", with Mario enemies and items appearing along the arrows on screen as extra challenges. Before each round featuring Mush Mode items, an explanaition is given onscreen. These are:
Goombas
Koopa Troopas
Bob-Ombs and Podoboos
Cheep Cheeps
Spinies (that are actually Spiked balls, not the regular Spiny enemies)
Mini-Bloopers and Blooper Tentacles
Hammer Bro's Hammer
Coin Switches (based on the P-Switch)
Boos
Arrow Cheep Cheeps
Freezie and Fire Flowers
Bullet Bills
Rocket Parts
Minigames[]
The game also includes Mario themed minigames, that are:
Whack-a-Goomba: the player has to whack the Goombas that come out of four Warp Pipes by tapping the relative arrow on the dance pad.
Flagpole Leap: based on the ending flagpoles from Super Mario Bros., the player has to tap the left and right arrows to accelerate and then the up arrow to jump, trying to jump as high as possible.
Banana Storm: the player has to tap the left and right arrows to collect as many falling bananas as possible, while avoiding the Spiny Eggs. These items are thrown at the player by the Ukiki monkies from Super Mario 64.
Punch Up: the player has to knock out as many Koopa Troopas and Koopa Shells as possible by tapping the left, up or right arrows to shoot a giant punching glove at them. Hitting a Toad stuns the player for a while.
Chain-Chomp Chase: The player has to tap the left and right arrows to run as fast as they can to escape the chasing Chain-Chomp.
Avalanche!: the player has to avoid falling snawballs by tapping left or right on the dance pad.
Hidden Treasure: the player has to choose one of two chests by tapping left or right, and then open it by tapping up. It either contains coins or a 1-Up mushroom.
Block Treasure: the player has to move left or right by tapping the relative arrows and up to jump and reveal what's inside the three bick blocks above the character's head. They may contain Coins, a 1-Up or a Spiny Egg, making the charachter shrink.
Coin Collector: the player must tap the up and down arrows to make the character jump or crouch respectively, while he's riding a cloud. The objective is to collect as many coins as possible while avoiding the Spiny Eggs. Note that the player's character enters the screen climbing a beanstalk and then jumping on the cloud, in the same style of entering a Coin Heaven area in Super Mario games.
Whee!: the player has to jump as high as they can to collect the coins floating above. The character starts by falling and then bounces on a trampoline. The player must start with the feet on the right and left arrows and jump at the right time.
Note Pickup: The character stands on a moving platform and the player must tap left or right to collect the notes on nearby pillars and then return on the moving platform, while tapping up to avoid obstacles by jumping.
Fire Up the SS Bras: The player must move the S.S. Bras ship by tapping the arrows on the dance pad, and guide it through the tunnels.
Songs[]
The game features 29 playable songs, 21 of which are from Nintendo games. Not counting one from Wrecking Crew, one from Yoshi's Cookie, one from Donkey Kong, one from Wario World, and one from the Famicom Disk System software, there are 16 songs from Mario games. These are:
Here We Go! - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Here We Go!, based on the main theme from Super Mario Bros.
Underground Mozart - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Underground Mozart, featuring music segments and sound effects from Mario Bros.
Jump! Jump! Jump! - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Jump! Jump! Jump!, based on the Athletic theme from Super Mario Bros. 3.
Pirate Dance - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Pirate Dance, based on the Athletic theme from Super Mario World.
Step by Step - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Step by Step, based on the Switch Palace theme from Super Mario World.
Blooper Bop - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Blooper Bop, based on the Underwater theme from Super Mario Bros.
Hammer Dance - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Hammer Dance, based on the main theme from Super Mario Bros. 3.
Rollercoasting - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Rollercoasting, based on the Mario Circuit theme from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.
Boo Boogie - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Boo Boogie, based on the main theme from Super Mario Bros. 2.
Cabin Fever - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Cabin Fever, based on the Toy Dream theme from Mario Party 5.
Ms. Mowz's Song - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Ms. Mowz's Song, based on Ms. Mowz's theme from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
Deep Freeze - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Deep Freeze, based on the Fever theme from Dr. Mario.
Midnight Drive - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Midnight Drive, based on the Introduction theme from Mario Kart 64.
Bowser's Castle - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Bowser's Castle, based on Bowser's Castle theme from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.
Hop, Mario! - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Hop, Mario!, based on the Opening theme from Super Mario World.
Where's the Exit? - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
Where's the Exit?, based on the Underground theme from Super Mario Bros.
The game also features the original unaltered Super Mario Bros. theme as the credits song. During the credits, the player can dance to it as in a regular stage, but the game doesn't show the points and the song is not unlocked, so the only way to play it is winning the game each time.
License[]
Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix was created by a collaboration between Dance Dance Revolution's company Konami and Mario's company Nintendo.