Twenty minutes later you're out of breath, wondering what the heck happened.  You're tired.  You're sweaty.  Your heart is beating faster than you could imagine – even faster than the time you beat five Tekken masters in a cash prize tournament.  Yet you're compelled to stay.  You get back on the dance pad, insert more quarters and force your legs to bust a move.  You could be sore for days because of this, but that's not a concern you'll waste time having.  The Dance Dance Revolution bug has sunk its teeth into your hardcore soul and there's nothing you can do except allow yourself to be consumed by its calorie-burning gameplay.

Konami started a worldwide revolution with its DDR series, leading the way for numerous copycats, imitators, and several mini-games.  With all this thievery going on, it'd be easy (and in some cases wise) to say, "No more dance games!  I'm done!  My obsession ends with DDR!"

Doing that now would mean missing out on the first dance game developed for Nintendo GameCube, MC Groovz Dance Craze.  Don't care?  Then you probably think this is another clone.  Besides being a GameCube-exclusive and having its own song line-up (including songs from modern pop and rap artists), MC Groovz Dance Craze has something that no other American dance game has: eight directional arrows!

The eight arrows are mapped out on your Mad Catz-developed dance pad, the first and only dance pad available for GameCube.  It may be a packaged deal (the game comes with the pad and is not sold separately), but you're not getting gypped.  The GameCube pad works as well as the ones Mad Catz designed for Xbox and PS2.  No home pad is ever going to perfectly match the quality of a $4,000 arcade machine, but you won't be disappointed by this pad's responsiveness.  It's very accurate, keeping the pace with every step you take and every move you make.

This is a soft dance pad, which is great for storage because it can be folded up and stuffed in a closet without taking up too much space.  On the downside it has the same problem that all soft pads have: go too fast, play on the wrong surface (a stiff rug works better than soft carpet), or wear the wrong socks and the pad becomes weak and slippery.  Most people won't have a problem so severe that it impairs their game, but hardcore DDR players are going to wish they could use their $200 metal pads instead.

Saying that this game keeps you on your toes would be an understatement.  Just Dance (the game's standard playing mode) has three difficulty settings, all of which can be finished on the first try.  Arrows will be missed for certain.  No DDR master can play through each and every song on the hardest difficulty setting without missing a beat or two.  And while the Workout mode might make you feel like a weakling, Mad Catz's intention was not to humiliate, but to encourage you to play and make progress whether you win or lose.  That's why no matter what happens in this game, you won't lose.

I enjoyed this game a lot and will play it just because I like to dance*.  However, I have a real problem with games that don't set goals.  If there is no consequence for not doing your best, what's the incentive for continuing?  MC Groovz Dance Craze has the advantage of being a music game that can easily become a daily workout routine.  You'll enjoy the music, break a sweat, and if you're playing Workout mode, you'll know exactly how many calories were burned.

This game also has the advantage of being a great stepping-stone for gamers who want to be DDR masters but don't have the skills to play on the heavy difficulty setting.  Miss too many arrows in DDR and the song will end.  Since that doesn't happen here, you can keep going, pushing yourself until you finally reach the point where you could hit all the arrows if you had to.

GameCube's audience is presumably younger than its competitors, so once again this gives MC Groovz Dance Craze an advantage.  Newcomers to the genre should definitely start here.  They'll save a lot of money learning the basics by playing a game that doesn't cost $1+ per game.  Not having to re-start a song every time you miss a few arrows is another plus for newcomers.

As you could imagine, all these advantages work against the DDR masters of the world.  If you've spent eight months jamming your feet at the arcade, gaining high scores on the most challenging songs, you're not going to get much replay value out of this game.

*In a video game.  No gamer likes to dance for real.  Real dancing is more frightening than going outside on a sunny day.

Gameplay: 7.5
Rewarding eight-step gameplay that doesn't reward you for performing well.  It's not so much a game as it is the second greatest excuse to exercise (the first greatest excuse is still Dance Dance Revolution).  The song lineup isn't as catchy, and the arrows aren't always matched with the songs' beats.  The target audience can't complain though.  I really can't either.  I'm no DDR master, and I'll be playing this game long after I become one just to stay in shape (if that day ever comes).

Graphics: 4
Not much to see.  Just a silhouette of a girl who thinks she can dance.  Believe me she can't.  I think it was intended to be sexy, but if they wanted to achieve sex appeal they should have talked to the guys at Tecmo.

Sound: 7
The soundtrack is geared at casual gamers (and perhaps MTV viewers), featuring music by Jewel and Jessica Simpson.  Those are the two biggest names on the soundtrack (among those who are still making music).

Whether you like the artists or not, the songs are a lot catchier when you're dancing to them.

Difficulty: Easy
It might take you a while to master every song, but with no goals or a significant reason to do so, MC Groovz Dance Craze is not at all challenging.

Concept: 6.9
I love having eight stepping points.  I don't love not having a goal.

Multiplayer: 7.5
The only challenge you’ll find in this game is the one your friend creates.  Two dance pads aren’t necessary for multiplayer, but I think the GameCube controller is a bit small to stand on, wouldn’t you agree?

Overall: 7.5
Fitness experts say that it's good to become distracted while working out.  I suppose one of the benefits of being distracted is that it helps relax your muscles.  The obvious benefit is that it makes you forget you're working out.  People hate to work out because it has the word "work" in it.  We don't want to work.  It's not fun.  MC Groovz Dance Craze makes it fun just as DDR has.  The difference here is that you don't have to work as hard with this game.  You can move at your own pace and work your way up to DDR's level.