That Time Nintendo Made a Mario DDR Game on the GameCube
Over the years, Mario has done a lot, and there was a time when Nintendo dabbled in the idea of a Mario DDR game when the Dance Dance Revolution series was at its peak in the early 2000s. Move aside kart racing, golf, platforming, tennis, parties, and so much more, because Mario DDR was a real thing on the Nintendo GameCube!
Seeing Mario bust a move over the course of arguably one of the greatest games of all time is a sight to behold. I mean, what is better than watching the likes of Mario and Bowser breakdancing to some jams from Mario’s history? If your answer is nothing, then you are absolutely correct!
This is that time Nintendo made a Mario DDR game on the GameCube.
Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix released on the Nintendo GameCube in October 2005, and wouldn’t you know? It was received with positive reviews from the likes of IGN and others, cementing itself as a success with critics right out of the gate. Fans of the Super Mario series and DDR finally had something that combined their two loves together in one convenient package, and it is chock full of amazing moments that we need to talk about.
For starters, what is Toad’s deal in this game? If you have never played this brilliant title before, let me just tell you that Toad is one manipulative character in this Mario DDR game. He convinces Mario over and over again to jump into scenarios that do not make sense, and even more shockingly, Toad convinces Mario to beat up and destroy numerous characters throughout the game. I mean, Toad straight-up asks Mario to murder some Koopas!
Onward to the gameplay. Since this is a Mario DDR game, there must be dancing in this, right? Well, of course! Well… kind of… umm… okay. This is not a standard DDR game, that’s for sure, as there is no dance pad and everything is subject to the GameCube controller, which is kind of disappointing considering the possibilities. That plus the input lag and the lack of options to address the issue leave much to be desired. Despite, there is a lot of dancing happening on screen, but there is only thumb-dancing happening on your side.
The story is so ridiculous that it is kind of charming. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it is bad by all measures, but the fact that Nintendo found some way to make the entire story about dancing is both absolutely stupid and impressive. Even the very beginning when Toad is initially getting Mario to do things he would otherwise not want to do, they both approach a narrow river right by Mario’s house, and the two of them are like, “WTF? What do we do?!”
Well, the answer is of course DANCE! That’s right. You have to dance your way across the narrow river, that Mario could easily jump over (That’s probably how he crossed it prior to this experience). Instead, Mario goes into a groovy dance sequence, Mario and Toad magically appear on a boat, and they begin to cross this narrow river in a boat, while dancing, for what feels like ages. And this is how the game starts!
Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix just continues with this theme over the entire course of the game. You run into an obstacle? Dance. You have to get some Koopas out of the way? Dance! You need to fight to save your life? DANCE! Yeah. It is a bit obnoxious, but it somehow kind of works despite all of the absurdity. Waluigi even appears, and there is one point where Mario and Toad walk in on him dancing all alone, because that is apparently all anyone can do in this game.
One more note on Waluigi’s appearance, but this is legit the first and only time Waluigi is featured in a prominent role, as a main villain, which is surprising considering the amount of love out there for the bizarre negative Luigi character. It is only unfortunate that it happened to be on a game exclusive to a console that did not sell well at all. Who knows? If the GameCube had PS2-like sales numbers, Waluigi might have replaced Bowser as the main villain of the Super Mario series thanks to this. Maybe? Nah. But it is a funny thought.
The Mario DDR game on GameCube is simply an anomaly. It arrived out of the blue, obviously taking advantage of the DDR craze of the time, and Nintendo clearly put some Big N shine and stink to make the dancing genre kind of their own. I mean, it even has the ridiculous requirement to beat the game on each preceding difficulty to unlock the harder ones, and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about that. You have to beat the game on Normal Story Mode to unlock Hard Story Mode; you have to beat the game on Hard Story Mode to unlock Very Hard Story Mode; and you have to beat any song in Very Hard Story Mode in order to unlock Super Hard Mode. Yeah. It’s so Nintendo that it’s not funny.
And that’s it. This is just one of those crazy Super Mario games that exists, and believe me, we will never get a sequel to this bad boy. However, let us all pray that when Nintendo decides to bring GameCube games to the Nintendo Switch, Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix will be one of the first to drop!
Thank you for stopping by Nintendo Link and enjoying this “That Time” article. What did you think of this Mario DDR game on the GameCube? Did you play this one? Let us know what you think in the comments below! Happy gaming, everyone.
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