When it comes to the pirated video game circuit, multicarts are definitely a popular breed. Sometimes carts boast upwards of 4, 5, 7... 20... 30... even a thousand different games (most of which end up simply being clones of each other). Sadly, there are only two games in this particular compilation, and that sounds pathetic by comparison. But you've probably never experienced an unlicensed game quite like this one. This is 2-in-1 Street Dance + Hit Mouse, containing two very opposing games. But here's the kicker: you get to use a dance pad. Not exactly a shocker to many, considering the fact that the Dance Dance Revolution series has been using one for years AND that there actually was an officially licensed similar pad for use with Dance Aerobics, a game designed solely for exercise. So what makes this so special?
The dance pad IS the console.
There is nothing to hook up to a Famicom (the Japanese version of the NES) because there's no need to do so. The dance pad contains the two games, Street Dance and Hit Mouse, as well as all the circuitry of the console itself. It's what the scene calls a "Famiclone", a knock-off of the Famicom. Typically, a Famiclone can play other Famicom games; this one, however, can only play its own pair of games. And what a strange pair of games they are: one is clearly a Dance Dance Revolution ripoff, while the other has nothing to do with dancing whatsoever, yet both get to use the pad as a controller. Huh.
First off is Street Dance, the blatant dance game wannabe. I say that it's a bit of a ripoff, but I'm putting that mildly. For one thing, the playlist consists pretty much entirely of famous tracks from the DDR series, such as "Boom Boom Dollar", "Dub I Dub", "Butterfly" (written as "Butter Fly"), and "Boys", plus such great fan favourites as "Barbie Girl" and "The Rhythm of the Night". Now here's the impressive part: featured here aren't just chiptune versions, but actual conversions of the songs into a format that the Famicom can process and output. So when you select "Boom Boom Dollar", for example, you actually hear the song in its entirety. Granted, the sound quality reminds me of that time I was at the zoo and an elephant let some bad gas slip, but to get all these songs to play through the measly Famicom sound chip (or a reasonable facsimile) is nothing short of amazing. As well, the game acts like DDR in that, while you listen to the music, those legendary arrows slide upward, and you have to step on the matching arrow on your dance pad as they glide to the top, often two at a time, all to the beat. As a bonus, you get to watch a hip sprite person dance while you do the same! You might have to observe Jar-Jar Binks on occasion. We don't know why.
The other game is Hit Mouse; the name itself would lure anyone to play it! Presumably using the four arrow keys on the dance pad, you get to endure a lovely game of Whack-A-Mole, except with a mouse. Every time his head pops out of a hole, you have to step on that arrow to give him a good whomp on the noggin. How many times can you hit the mouse within the time limit? How many times do you WANT to do that?
This would have been a neat product if it was officially licensed and not associated with terrible software. As it stands now, it's more like a funky curiosity... with a dancing Jar-Jar Binks in it. How quaint. Let's have the screenshots tell the rest of the story:
