In 2002, at the DisneyQuest five-story arcade facility in Disney World, I played DDR for
the first time. Holy hell, did I suck. So I quickly retreated to the safety of the fighting-game
wing, to throw down on Street Fighter II, Marvel Vs. Capcom, hell, they even had an
EHRGEIZ machine. But between that point and about 2007, I experienced pretty much every
flavor of DDR known to man, from 3rd Mix Korean to Oha Star to, yes, even Disney Mix. Konami
spread DDR - and the whole Bemani concept, for that matter - onto every property and
platform they could manage, including handhelds that really, really had no business playing
games like this. But lo, here it is, direct from Felicity in Worcestershire whose ability
to obtain absurdities knows no bounds: the GAME BOY COLOR version of Dance Dance Revolution:
Disney Mix. May Altana have mercy on our souls.
Yep, you�ve got a black background, a bunch of arrows, an 8-bit rendition of Electrical
Parade, and assorted Disney mascots shakin� it awkwardly over to the side. Sounds like
a recipe for disaster, doesn�t it? Especially since, y�know, you can�t actually DANCE,
as per the title? It�s Thumb Thumb revolution, if anything, And then, since you can�t readily
break your D-pad in half, you�ve gotta bifurcate your inputs onto two rather non-intuitive
hands, with right-steps on the A-button, up-steps on the B, and the D-pad for left and down.
At least, that�s how I managed to brain it out. Once you get into the hang of it,
you might just recognize some of these turns and spins and jumps, and eventually come to
the realization that these stepcharts are EXACT copies of the PS1 version, just with
no scroll speed options, everything�s flat (in that beat position isn�t indicated in
arrow color, as in most DDR games), and the music has been 8-bit-ified. Ever wonder what
an 8-bit cut of Night of Fire sounds like? Here ya go, Jim.
There are even some extras, like your gameplay unlocking accessories for Minnie�s wardrobe
here, which then can be combined to unlock new songs like Supercalifr... Super... that
really long name from Mary Poppins. There�s also a one-miss-and-you�re-out challenge
course, kind of an Oni mode on steroids, which is made ridiculously difficult by the lag
inherent in this recording system. I realize there�s a lot of DDR we didn�t get here
in the States, and I realize there�s a good reason for a lot of that. A portable version
of a strange arcade phenomenon, as arcades were quickly leaving the public consciousness
and portables were all �OMG POKEMON� at the time, wouldn�t have caught on. But playing
this... thing... makes me appreciate the effort that went into making a playable - and actually
kinda fun - interpretation of honest-to-goodness Dance Dance Revolution on the freakin� Game
Boy Color. My instincts told me this would be a train wreck, when in fact it�s just...
as good as a GBC DDR could be. Heck, they even packed in a few of Disney Mix�s non-Disney
tracks into the fifteen songs included, like Let�s Groove, and Mr. Bassman, and... the
Macarena. You have been warned.