Dance Dance Revolution series - in short DDR - comes under party games as popular music video games on Arcade, Sony PlayStation, Sony PlayStation 2, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows; first introduced in Japan in 1998 and later in North America and Europe in 1999.

There is a stage called the dance platform and all the players stand on it. They are supposed to hit with their dancing steps the colored arrows that are laid out in a cross as they get a cue of the music either auditory or a visual one. If they do it right and well they are judged as having passed the round and are authorized to choose the next round of music.

The games in the Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) series have become a fad for the health conscious generation used as an exercise tool in many gyms and schools and not only as party games for entertainment. Hundreds of home home video game console releases have come up since its first introduction into the market. There is no dearth of arcade-based releases all through the world as well. It has won a global fan base of millions of enthusiasts who have created original simulators of the game to make the experience much richer both in quality and quantity.

If you could successfully hit your arrows in time with the music, the Dance Gauge goes filled up; but if you failed, it gets drained. Draining it full loses the game for you and you are barred from playing any more music. If you could avoid draining till the end, your performance is rated with a letter grade as well as a numerical score. Depending on your performance you may get another chance to play the music again and dance to its tune on the arrows once again trying to improve your performance further.

There are many levels of difficulty one can play along named as "Beginner", "Basic/Light/Standard", "Another/Trick/Standard/Difficult", "Maniac/Heavy/Expert" and "Challenge".

There are also quite a few gameplay modes that have kept being introduced with the introduction of new additions in the Dance Dance Revolution or the DDR series with the passage of time as these popular music video games kept widening their base, and are named as Nonstop modes, Workout Mode, Event Mode, Unison Mode, Battle Mode, Step Battle Mode, and many mission modes in the recent home versions of these popular dance party games.

Associated Deals on eBay

Dance Dance Revolution Mario mix Nintendo gamecube CIB    US $59.99

Dance Dance Revolution PS3 Bundle + 2x DELUXE 1" Thick Pads + Game CD *NEW*    US $76.99

Dance Dance Revolution II Wii Bundle Game +Dance Mat Controller NEW FREESHIP DDR    US $57.77

Dance Dance Revolution Wii Bundle Game + Dance Mat Controller NEW FREE SHIP! DDR    US $57.77

Mario Party is the first board game in the Mario Party series as party video games for Nintendo 64 console. The game was released on February 8, 1999 in North America around two months after its inaugural release in Japan on December 14, 1998. Europe saw its release on March 9, 1999.

It's a simple traditional board game of moving ahead on the spaces of the board by rolling the dice. Spaces where the players land have something or the other in store for the players on them.

The aim of the game for the players is to collect as many stars as they can. The one with the highest number of stars in possession becomes the winner as the game comes to end. At one time there is only one of it on the board, which the players need buying by paying a certain number of coins. Once it is bought, a new one appears on the board for the players to vie anew for it.

Stars and coins can be stolen from other players with the help of Boo who charges his fee for the help offered for stars whereas coin stealing is free. Coins are earned by landing on the blue spaces as well as by winning mini games which are there 56 in numbers. Landing on red spaces or on a Browser space loses coins as well.

There are six playable characters named Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Princess Peach, Wario, and Yoshi. Mini games that are played at the end of each round of turns along with some other situations are divided in four categories named four-player, 2-on-2, 1-on-3, and one-player.

The popularity of Mario Party - the first board game in the Mario Party series as party video games for Nintendo 64 console - led to its seven sequels named by numbers added to it as Mario Parties 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, along with Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and E-Reader versions as on date, all of them being hot cakes to sell.

Associated Deals on eBay

DJ M.C. MARIO Party Mix - CD 2000 - Celine Dion - Dance    US $20.04

Mario Party N64 (PAL) Cartridge Good condition! FREE POSTAGE!    US $28.47

Nintendo 64 Mario Party Cartridge and Case JAPAN N64    US $25.00

MC MARIO MASTERMIND Party Mix (CD 2000) Canada DJ DANCE    US $19.50

Mario Party 2 is the second board game in the Mario Party series as party video games for Nintendo 64 console. The game was released on January 24, 2000 in North America more than a month after its inaugural release in Japan on December 17, 1999. Europe saw its release much later on October 12, 2000.

There are six playable characters named Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, and Donkey Kong who all keep changing their costumes as the new boards keep coming in the play. Bowser and Koopa Troopa never appear on the board though they have other roles to play.

There are many mini-games categorized as four-player, one vs. three, two vs. two, and battle games that come under play depending on the number of characters either gaining or else losing the coins and the stars. If all the four players are either gaining or losing coins, four-player is played. If three are gaining and one is losing or vice versa, one vs. three is played and so on. In all 43 new mini-games are introduced in the second version of the party keeping the old ones intact and some of them renamed. Three new types of mini-games are also introduced named as the Battle mini-game, the Item mini-game, and the Duel mini-game.

New buildings - the Item Shop and the Koopa Bank - as well as new spaces - the Battle Space, the Item Space, and the Bank Space - have been introduced in the game too. They mostly deal with initiating mini-games, depositing and disbursing coins in/on them.

Mario Party 2 - the second board game in the Mario Party series as party video games for Nintendo 64 console - has been welcomed all over with its new features that it has come up with.

Associated Deals on eBay

BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED MARIO PARTY 2 NINTENDO 64 GAME    US $159.99

MARIO KART #2 WII Edible Party Cake Image Topper Supply    US $12.90

Mario Party 2 Cartridge Only for Nntendo 64 N64 MarioParty Cleaned and Tested    US $19.99

MARIO PARTY 2 II NINTENDO 64 N64 NRMT CONDITION CARTRIDGE     US $27.99

Mario Party 3 is the third board game in the Mario Party series as party video games for Nintendo 64 console. The game was released on May 7, 2001 in North America exactly three months after its inaugural release in Japan on February 7, 2001. Europe saw its release much later on January 16, 2002.

There are eight playable characters named Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, and the newly-added Waluigi and Princess Daisy. The game has duel maps in it where the players engage themselves in duels aiming at lowering the opponent's stamina to zero with the help of non-playable characters, e.g., Chain Chomps.

The players hit a dice block and move their characters around the board in order to win coins and stars. After a full round of turns is over, a minigame automatically comes into play.

In the Story Mode, one single player initiates a campaign through every board trying to defeat the computer controlled opponents and earn stamps from the Millennium Star. After 7 stamps are successfully acquired, the player has to defeat the Millennium Star in the final duel of a minigame called the Star Dust Battle. The final target is to turn your character into a Miracle Star that makes you win the game.

In the standard party mode, up to four players play through a board and try to win against one another or else, in teams.

Mario Party 3 - the third board game in the Mario Party series as party video games for Nintendo 64 console - won the Console Family Award at the 2002 Interactive Achievement Awards.

Associated Deals on eBay

Mario Party DS for NDS or Nds Lite or ndsi or ndsll 3DS    US $10.50

Mario Party 3 N64 with Original Gamebox, instructions    US $39.99

Classic game Mario Party DS game Nintendo DS/DS Lite/DSi 3ds    US $10.92

Mario Party 3 (Nintendo 64, 2001) Original Box and Game    US $27.00

Party video games on Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles are popular as party games both among kids and adults alike. It all started in 1981 when Starpath came up with Party Mix for the first time in this genre through braving the famous video game crash of 1983.

Right now Mario Party series is going most popular in parties as well as other gatherings where its games are played in multiplayer mode.

Different games are played on different consoles, which are handheld electronic controllers controlling the visual output of a physical action on a video monitoring screen.

These interactive games gathered momentum with the introduction of Super Spike V'Ball in 1989 on the console named Nintendo Entertainment System, which further developed as Super Nintendo Entertainment System with the introduction of Super Bomberman in 1993.

Then came Nintendo 64 with Mario Party series in 1999, and along came a horde of new console with new games like Crash Bash on PlayStation in 2000 and Fuzion Frenzy on Xbox in 2001, with Nintendo developing to Nintendo GameCube with the introduction of Super Monkey Ball in 2001.

Once it gathered its full momentum in the year 2002, there was no looking back and newer consoles with still newer games proverbially with every passing day have become the craze of the day today.

I'll be covering them all in my posts to come.

Associated Deals on eBay

Nintendo Wii Limited Edition Blue Console (NTSC)    US $105.00

Nintendo Wii White Console (NTSC)    US $250.00

Nintendo Wii White Console    US $199.99

Nintendo Wii Fit Black Console (NTSC), Bundle with extras, Yoga Mat, NEW!!!!    US $255.00