A great twist on DDR
Gameplay: Mixed feelings here. You only start with easy and normal modes open (about equivelant to extra beginner {yes i know there sno such thing} and beginner in normal ddr games). Of course, it's fine once all of the modes are open. Hard is about equal to light on most ddr's, and very hard is about what standard is. So the ddr dorks with no friends who can 'break it down' to two mats on heavy mode will be at a loss.
In addition to normal dancing, there's a campaighn mode which includes mini games using the dance pad and specialized songs where you fight enemies or avoid bombs as you dance. It's definitely the most innovative ddr to date. But the campaighn is very cheesy, as several music keys have been stolen, and it causes massive dancing "oh, and death amd destruction wil lrain upon the mushroom kingdom". Heh. What i really enjoyed is how everything could bes olved by dancing. "Mario, the toilet is clogged again. You can fix it, by DANCING!".
As for multiplayer, i cant help you. You'd be hard pressed to find a seperate gamecube mat to buy. Maybe that one other game that gamespot says sucks butt. Or you can buy a ps2 to GC pad converter and use one of those pads. Of cours,e the gamecube one seems to be of higher quality and of betetr layout then msot ps2 mats, but it's better than nothing.
Graphics: Normal gamecube models of amrio and friends, good as always, but not great.
Sound: The music is good. You'll like the mario remixes best, but there are a few ok titles from the outside world as well. One thing that peeved me about this game, though, is that the normal annoucner is there. It should be mario, instead. "Can I call you a dancing master?!" should be replaced with "Great-a job! Have a plate of Spaghetti!", or something like that, hehe. Spaghetti with meatballs ranking rather than A, that would rock.
Value: There are enough songs and such to unlock to keep you occupied for a while, for sure. But it might get annoying going through the campaign again to rgab some of the songs that you may have missed.
Tilt: As I've said before, seeing mario dancing gives the tilt a 10, as it cracks me up every time.
Overall, this is a title that's inviting to newcomers to DDR, but shuns the DDR nerds who never leave the house except to buy the latest DDR.