With an influence from Korean culture as well as the cultures of America and Latin-based countries, Pump It Up gives players a new view about music as well as the physical aspect of "dancing" as some people will call it. In this game, the player must step on certain colored panels depending on how the arrows are positioned on the screen while the arrows will move according to the beat and rhythm of the music. The game itself is separated into certain difficulties in order to ensure that many people will be able to enjoy the game on different settings.

Here's a run down of how the dance pad itself is situation.


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This is a single pad.

1 = Upper Left
2 = Center
3 = Upper Right
4 = Lower Left
5 = Lower Right

When positioned at the top of the screen, the arrows will be in this order.

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The object of playing on a single pad is to be as accurate as you can as the arrows start from the bottom and reach the top of the play area. The first player will have their arrows display on the left of the screen while the second player will have the arrows display on the right side of the screen. When a song starts, the entire screen will be blank except for place holders near the top and a life bar that displays how close the player is to possibly fail the song. When it comes to arrows on the screen, you will see something similar to this:

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4
2
3

When a colored panel reaches the place holder at the top of the screen, the player is expected to tap that panel on the floor with their foot at the same time it passes over. Tapping a little bit before or after will give less points, and missing the panel will deduct from the life bar. If the life bar reaches all red, or runs out, the player has failed the song.

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This is a double pad.

1 = Left Side, Upper Left
2 = Left Side, Center
3 = Left Side, Upper Right
4 = Left Side, Lower Left
5 = Left Side, Lower Right
6 = Right Side, Upper Left
7 = Right Side, Center
8 = Right Side, Upper Right
9 = Right Side, Lower Left
0 = Right Side, Lower Right

When positioned at the top of the screen, the arrows will be in this order:

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The game is a lot similar in this fashion, except there are five more arrows to deal with when playing on the pad. The arrows will come on both sides of the screen, though the arrows will meet in the center of the display as one player will be playing on both pads.

Here's a run down of the different difficulty settings:

Easy - This is for those who are starting out in the game. People will be able to play comfortably after a little practice on this level as it is meant to prepare people for the hard mode of the game.

Hard - The step charts in the hard setting will exhibit a more advanced style of game as there will be some faster songs to step to. The charts may become a bit difficult and fast, but nothing too difficult will be given in this mode. For example, on the number scale, Dignity and Final Audition are two of the hardest songs in this category as of PIU: Exceed.

Crazy - The step charts in this setting are meant to be played by people who are comfortable with this style of play. The steps can be both fast and frantic as the player will have to jump around a single pad with accuracy. Another aspect of this style of play is the introduction of large amounts of steps where one will have to hit three or more panels at the same time.

Double - This is the easier of the two difficulties that are played with two pads. One would want to be able to clear Hard if they are to check out the Double difficulty as the range of difficulty is a bit more diverse here.

Nightmare - This is the harder of the two difficulties. Steps in this category will most likely resemble the crazy steps of that song, though the steps will be a bit more difficult and will have the player stepping accurately on both sides of the pad. Expert players will have a hard time with the hard songs in this category, such as Canon-D and Dignity.

I personally enjoy this game because of the music and the rhythm that comes with this style of gameplay. People who play Dance Dance Revolution and Beatmania may also find themselves interested in this style of gameplay, though the style is a bit more frantic than other dance games. The Crazy and Nightmare modes have been considered a bit too difficult for the average player.