Reference.com

Pump It Up

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Pump It Up, commonly abbreviated as PIU or shortened to just Pump, is a rhythm video game developed by Andamiro, a Korean coin-operated games producer. Players use their feet to step on arrows according to the music. It is different from other arcade dance games in that it is mostly focused on music originating from Korea (both by popular K-Pop artists and Korean-based in-house musicians) and is less focused on technical gameplay. It is also known for the unique freestyling and breakdancing culture that surrounds the series.

Gameplay

Each Pump It Up dance machine consists of a pad connected to the machine's computer hardware. On the dance pad are 5 buttons: two red ones on the corners closest to the cabinet, two blue ones on the corners farthest from the cabinet, and a yellow one in the middle. On the screen of the machine itself, arrows corresponding to each of these buttons scroll towards the top of the screen, and the player steps on the buttons on the dance pad when the arrow corresponding to the direction on the pad aligns itself with a set of stationary arrows at the top of the screen (sometimes called "targets" or "receptors").

Players receive a judgment for each step based on the accuracy of the step. Judgments include, from best to worst, Perfect, Great, Good, Bad and Miss. The size of these judgments vary from version to version, and sometimes depend on the difficulty of the machine set by the machine operator.

Players generally play until the number of songs they have paid for have been played (usually between 2-5 songs), or the player has failed a song. In some cases, players may "fail" a song and cause their play to end early, and in others, players may earn a bonus song for exemplary performance on songs played previously during the round. Also, the machine operator may turn on a function known as "Stage Break", causing play to stop immediately once a player's lifebar is depleted. If Stage Break is off, players only fail the song (and cause play to stop) by getting a combo of 51 consecutive misses.

Difficulty

The steps for the various levels of difficulty available for a particular song are ranked using a numerical scale, which varies from version to version.

Before Exceed — more information about game versions is available in the Releases section — was released, the difficulty for all game modes ranged from 1 to 10, with the exception of "Vook", a song introduced on The Premiere 2, which was level 12 on Double mode. These difficulty ratings were only useful with respect to other songs in the same mode: a level 5 Crazy song will likely be easier than a Crazy song ranked 8, but is probably more difficult than a 7 on Hard. With Exceed's debut, all levels were reworked, in a unified range from 1 to 15 for Crazy mode and ranging as high as 20 for Nightmare mode. The rating system was again slightly reworked for the upper level songs with Exceed 2's release, raising the range to 20 for Crazy and going even higher for Nightmare mode, with a high of 22. Exceed 2 also added the infamous "??" rating for the truly top-tier songs. With Zero's release, the difficulty was scaled from 1 to beyond 20, with the highest at 23. Some unrated songs were arguably more difficult than the level 23, including some of the "another step" songs, which were all given a level of "??". The release of New Xenesis saw a return to representing levels symbolically. It uses a star scale to measure the lower levels, which goes up to 7 in half increments (for a maximum level of 14). The higher levels are measure by a skull scale which goes up to 8 in whole increments.

The difficulty ratings are subjective by nature and are therefore not always deemed accurate.

The way the difficulty rating appears on screen also varies a bit, depending on the version's interface: on The Premiere, The PREX, The Premiere 2, Exceed, Exceed 2 and Zero, the difficulty is indicated by a natural number, like "3" or "8"; on all other versions, they are indicated by a line of circles, with as many circles as the level of the song.

Combos

Combos are attained by successfully pressing consecutive arrows, earning a judgment of "Perfect" or "Great". Combos greater than or equal to 4 are displayed below the judgment rating during gameplay. Step judgments of "Good" do not break a player's combo, but do not add to it. Before "Extra" version "Good" does break a player's combo. Attaining a combo of the entire length of a song is called a full combo, and completing a song while attaining all "Perfect" judgments is called a full perfect combo or FPC.

Jumps

Sometimes, a player may be asked to press two or more arrows simultaneously. When two arrows arrive at the receptors simultaneously, this is known as a jump, as the player must jump in the air to hit the two arrows with their two feet at the same time.

On the harder songs, three arrows or more may go up at once. In such cases, players normally try to hit two pad buttons with a single foot (as almost all triples involve the center panel), or stoop and use their hands and/or knees to help.

In newer versions of Pump It Up, jumps increment the combo counter by one. However, the versions up to The O.B.G. SE, however, scored jumps differently: each arrow was independent, meaning hitting only one arrow of a two-arrow jump would count as a non-MISS (a PERFECT, for example) followed by a MISS, and hitting both could increase the player's combo by two. This behavior resembles Beatmania and other rhythm games, as well as Dance Dance Revolution's Solo series. Multi-arrow steps were introduced first in Pump It Up, on the first release of the game in 1999.

Hold notes

The Extra, Exceed, and Premiere 3 versions as well as the Prex series also feature another kind of arrow on screen, normally called a hold note, a freeze note or a long note. These arrows look like stretched versions of the regular arrows. Their corresponding button must be held until the whole arrow passes through the gray arrows on the top. If the arrow is released before the hold is completed, one can resume holding it regardless of how long the note wasn't held for (unlike DDR and other similar games, where letting go of a note for a long enough time would count the note as a MISS). If a pad button is held down prior to the note reaching the top of the screen, the player can score the note without having to re-press the button. For instance, a series of consecutive hold notes on the same arrow can be scored by holding the arrow down, without having to step on the pad for each individual arrow.

For each half-beat or quarter-beat — the duration depends on the game version and song "tick count" — a hold note is held, a PERFECT is scored; if it is not held, a MISS is counted. As a result, it is especially crucial to score every hold note.

Modifiers

Since the first release, all game modes accept modifiers which are enabled by using special codes. The effects vary from speeding arrows up to making them fade as they go up, or making them appear in random places instead of their pre-defined column (while still being on the same beat).

Most players, after a starting period, get used to applying the modifiers to make arrows faster, which makes them more spaced. This is a matter of personal preferences, but top tier players generally prefer to apply these modifiers to make the arrows scroll towards the top of the screen at a very fast pace.

Final rating

When a song is cleared, a results screen appears, which shows how many PERFECTs, GREATs, GOODs, BADs and MISSes were attained, the max combo, and a number score. Then a final rating is given, which may be S, A, B, C, D, or F. An S means that no MISSes were made, while an F means a fail, and generally the player can't proceed to play another song.

Bonus stage

If all stages are cleared with an A or an S the player will be able to choose an extra song to play. This is called the bonus stage.

From a bonus stage, it is not possible to get another bonus stage.

Game Modes

Currently Available Modes

Normal (Easy)

This is the basic difficulty designed for new players.

On a few versions called Easy, but most often Normal, arrows hardly ever are off-beat. Additionally, jumps normally have no other arrows close to them, so players can understand them and get prepared in time.

The difficulty for this mode ranges from levels 1 to 8.

Hard

Hard difficulty is the next difficulty after Normal, and is designed for more experienced players. Almost all songs have off-beat arrows, especially 8th notes (half-beat). 16th-notes are infrequent. Some of the more difficult Hard songs contain steps where players must press three panels at once.

The difficulty for this mode normally ranges from 3 to 8, with a few exceptions ranging from 2 to 10.

Crazy

The hardest single mode. All songs have half-beat notes, and most also have 16th or 24th notes. In addition, there are large amount of steps where players must press three or more panels at once.

The difficulty for this mode, until Exceed was released, ranged from 1 to 10; now, however, all levels were reworked, and this mode now ranges from 7 onwards, now stretching to 21 with Zero's release. New Xenesis saw the introduction of the "skull" difficulty system. Some songs received difficulties of 1 to 8 skulls, with the hardest ones being rated ???.

Freestyle (Double)

Previously called Double, but since The Prex 3 called Freestyle. In this mode, a single player uses both pads, having a total of 10 panels to potentially navigate. Most songs here are very similar to their Hard counterparts, with the additional challenge of having to move across both pads.

The difficulty for this mode normally ranges from 3 to 8, with a few exceptions ranging from 1 to 12, or more. Vook and Love is a Danger Zone 2 are the extreme exceptions, with ratings of 15 and 18 respectively.

Nightmare

Introduced in The Prex 3, Nightmare is a harder Double mode. It is deemed as the ultimate challenge Pump it Up has to offer.

In The Prex 3, all Nightmare songs are of level 99 (which just shows up as a horizontal line of skulls going from one side of the screen to the other), but on Exceed the songs have actual difficulties and can go from 8 to 20.

In Exceed 2, difficulties for Nightmare mode went up to "21", "22" and "??". In Pump it Up: Zero, the song "Love is a Danger Zone 2" has been rated at "23", and the skull difficulty system was used in New Xenesis to categorize difficult songs.

Battle Mode

In this game mode, two players compete on two songs in hard mode and a song in crazy mode. The winner for each song is the player who gets the highest score.

On versions up to The Premiere, a player could "attack" (cause the effect of a modifier, like speed up or vanish) to the opponent's scrolling arrows by accumulating a combo and then breaking it. The effect depended on the combo accumulated by the attacker. On The Prex and Extra this attacking feature was removed. Recently released Exceed 2 brought it back in a whole new "station" as it was referred to. There would be extra bonus arrows containing power ups activated by action steps that come up later which launches the attack. The battle could be decided in only 1 song in most cases.

Stage Break does not affect this mode.

Nonstop Remix

This mode first appeared in Korean releases, and featured longer songs normally mixing two or three songs from artists featured in other songs of the game (most of the mixed songs also were part of the game). As the songs are longer, many people consider them also more tiring. Most versions of the game consider songs played in Remix mode to be worth more than one song due to their length, so often players will get to play fewer songs in Remix mode than in a normal mode.

Just like Extra Expert, this mode also features single and double versions of each song.

The difficulty in this mode ranges from 4 to 7, with an exception at level 9.

Nonstop Remixes later made a return in the Exceed 2 version, and are now graded on the same 1-20 scale as the rest of the songs, despite having higher numbers than certain stepcharts might normally have. Also, all the remixes in Exceed 2 now have Crazy, and occasional Nightmare, modes of play, a first in the series.

Mission Mode

Introduced in PIU Zero, this mode is basically clearing songs that are modified as "Missions" and more are unlocked after finishing other missions. There are about 30 missions. Clearing them will give reward like hidden songs, skins, and other modes.

Each mission is divided into three songs, or stages, and are ranked in difficulty by the number of stars shown.

If a song is failed, the player is also given an option to continue the mission and attempt the stage again.

Another Step

Introduced in PIU Zero, this mode has songs which have alternate stepcharts. Most of the charts on this mode are experimental with unique (and often weird or extremely difficult) elements inside unlike any other stepcharts found in the game.

Another steps are only playable in one remix from Exceed 2, while Zero devotes an entire Channel to it. Zero's channel includes several regular songs from the game. The songs in it and even the channel itself have to be unlocked slowly over time by playtime and clearing missions. The full song list of this station can be found later on in this article.

Training Mode

Introduced in PIU NX, this mode is a series of lessons each of which come in 3 difficulties. Each lesson demonstrates a unique concept; the first lesson teaches the location of arrows on pad and it increases in complexity to doubles steps and twisting. The step charts in Training Mode are unique to this mode, and are clearly made to stress the concept of the lesson.

Deprecated Game Modes

These game modes have appeared in previous versions, but has since been removed with recent releases.

Division

In this mode the player(s) are presented with choice making sections during a song which give them choices to change the mode at the point (each side being separate):

  • G – Groove Style: a sort of step chart for freestyling; most commonly resembles hard mode.
  • W – Wild Style: a harder set of steps, resembles Hard mode and Crazy mode depending on the song — it can also get more difficult than Crazy if only Ws are pressed on certain songs.

If no choice is made during the choice making section the player who missed the choice making point is set to normal mode. It should also be noted that the songs have no set difficulty levels and instead the level is displayed as "??" due to the fact the player can change the difficulty. Until Zero, this was the only way to have separate difficulties for two players on PIU, and was only present on Rebirth and Premiere 2. Andamiro only made 23 songs available on this mode, one of which seemed unfinished — A Prison Without Bars

Extra Expert (XX)

Instead of featuring the traditional Crazy mode, the Extra version had the Extra Expert, where songs had a special difficulty rating. Other versions use the same steps from this mode in their Crazy mode.

One unique characteristic, though, is that songs have both single and double steps listed in this mode. The Extra Expert Double steps were, like the later-introduced Nightmare steps, harder than the original Double steps. However, these step sequences are not available in any other release – even the songs that already had XX Double steps in Extra got brand new sequences for their Nightmare versions.

The difficulty in this mode ranges from "1st Level" to "5th Level", with one song ("Can Can") being of a 6th "Final Level".

Half-Double

In this mode, a single player stays in the center of both pads and uses the inner six arrows to play: the center and rightmost arrows from the left pad, and the center and leftmost arrows from the right pad.

The difficulty in this mode ranges from 2 to 10. This mode was present in Rebirth, Premiere 2, Premiere 3, and Prex 3.

Combo Battle Mode

In this mode the players rack up combos and the highest combo count wins. The only requirement to win is to get a higher max combo.

This mode was introduced in The Premiere 2/Rebirth.

Hybrid Battle Mode

Introduced in PIU Exceed 2. Players could select one NSR for the price of one player (equivalent of 2 songs) and battle each other using icons that would scroll up to the indicators as well. Different icons represented different attacks... players could also just play plain Hybrid. The step charts change depending on how well the players are doing.

Easy Mode

Only appearing in PIU Zero, this mode is intended for beginners. It uses a simplified interface for song selection (similar to PIU NX), where the down arrows navigate through songs, the up left arrow chooses speed mods, and the up right arrow changes note skins. The songs selectable are normal difficulty songs from arcade mode ranging in difficulty from 1 -3 represented by stars. It also has a brief interactive tutorial.

Home versions

Andamiro eventually released home versions of the arcade game. These versions are designed to run on PCs, coming with a CD containing the game and a special dance mat, with arrows of the same size as the arcade's pads.

On Korean versions, the mat is connected through the PS/2 port, and comes with an adapter to share it with the keyboard. On international versions, the mat uses a USB plug.

PIU can be simulated by programs such as Kick It Up and StepMania.

On November 11, 2004, Andamiro released the Korean version of Pump It Up: Exceed on the PlayStation 2, which includes most of the songs from the arcade Exceed version. A Japanese/Asian PS2 is required to play the game. An American version of the game was released on August 31, 2005 for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 under the title Pump It Up!: Exceed SE This version includes most of the songs from the Korean PS2 version, six US licensed songs as well as revivals and removals from Exceed 2.

The songs

The songs used in Pump It Up are normally Pop songs or specially-produced music, created by a musical division of Andamiro. As of Pop, the first versions featured several K-Pop artists, like Baby V.O.X., Fin. K.L. and S.E.S.. As the game's popularity grew on other countries, international Pop and Latin Pop began to appear, specifically when Premiere 3 was released.

A special musical division of Andamiro, called Banya, is in charge of making new songs targeted especially for the game. Of all songs released until the Exceed version (202, not counting the nonstop remixes), there are 60 songs by Banya (about 30% of the total).

Songs are all between 1:20 and 1:55, with Nonstop Remixes being greater than approximately 2:30 minutes in length.

Releases

Pump it Up: The Ultimate Remix [1st Dance Floor] (Arcade - Korea)

Released: October 1999

Available game modes: Easy, Hard, Double, Nonstop Remix, Battle

The first version released. Features 15 normal songs, and 4 nonstop remixes.

From this version, songs that became particularly popular were "Funky Tonight", by the Korean pop group Clon, and "Another Truth" (also known as "Cordiality"), by Novasonic. "Funky Tonight" is one of the most used songs for freestyling.

2nd Dance Floor (Arcade - Korea)

Released: December 1999

Available game modes: Easy, Hard, Double, Nonstop Remix, Nonstop Remix Double, Battle

The second release, featuring 4 old songs, an old remix, 17 new songs and 6 new remixes. The same interface from the first version is used, and one of the new nonstop remixes is hidden and can only be found with special codes.

To play the Nonstop Remix songs in double, a special code is needed when selecting the Nonstop Remix mode.

The Fusion / 1st & 2nd Dance Floor (PC - Korea)

Released: 1999

Available game modes: Easy, Hard, Double, Nonstop Remix, Nonstop Remix Double, Battle

The first home version; there are no arcade counterparts for this one. It includes songs from both 1st and 2nd releases, summing up 32 songs and 10 nonstop remixes.

No new songs are introduced in this version; it is the first "collection" release, which just packs old songs.

3rd Dance Floor / O.B.G. (Oldies But Goodies) (Arcade/PC - Korea)

Released: May 2000

Available game modes: Easy, Hard, Crazy, Double, Nonstop Remix (single/double), Battle

The first version which offered Crazy mode, though a special code was needed to enable it. The code also has effect on Nonstop Remix, but cancels out the effect of the Nonstop Remix Double code if used.

Having a completely renewed song list, this release brought back to life many well-known Korean hits from the 90's. The Banya songs, although new, were also Korean-90's-styled. Only 2 songs from a total of 23 were from older versions, and both came with new harder stepcharts: Extravaganza and Another Truth (this one also had a new BGA). The 7 remixes included the hidden remix from 2nd Dance Floor (which was no longer hidden), also with a whole new stepchart.

3rd O.B.G. SE (Season Evolution) (Arcade/PC - Korea)

Released: September 2000

Available game modes: Easy, Hard, Crazy, Double, Nonstop Remix (single/double), Battle

Apart from songs, there isn't much new in this version. Same interface as the previous version.

14 songs and a single nonstop remix were added, as well as several songs from previous mixes.

The Collection (Arcade - Korea)

Released: November 2000

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Double, Nonstop Remix (single/double), Battle

A new "collection" release, which packs all previously released songs (except for SE's secret song) in an O.B.G.-style interface.

Though there are no new productions, this version features a total of 66 songs and 18 nonstop remixes.

Perfect Collection (Arcade/PC - Korea)

Released: December 2000

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Double, Nonstop Remix (single/double), Battle

As the title suggests, this version improves The Collection by featuring all songs that appeared in that version and adding 17 new songs (no new remixes). That means 83 songs and 18 remixes.

The interface is similar to the previous ones, but with a new game mode selection screen which offers Crazy mode without the need of a special code. Also, in the song select screen, instead of representing songs by small pictures it shows a roulette with slanted labels, each with a song name written to it. This change is particularly unfriendly among non-Korean players (which, though this is another Korean release, may play this version on arcades that imported the game).

This version was later released for PC, but using an interface similar to The Premiere, described below. The PC version was released internationally.

EXTRA (Arcade - Korea)

Released: February 2001

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Extra Expert (single/double), Double, Nonstop Remix (single/double), Battle

As it is another Korean release, this version should be considered another successor of The Perfect Collection, not from The Premiere.

This version is quite unique: it changed Crazy's name to Extra Expert (or XX for short), introduced a brand new interface, a new Double challenge (the XX Double) and the hold arrows. As it is a Korean release, the Nonstop Remix mode returned.

On the new interface, the blue arrows choose the songs as usual, but the red arrows change the game mode. With a single credit one can play songs from any mode (considering the limitations like Double modes only being available when there's only one person playing, and Battle mode only being available when there are two players). Like in The Premiere, the center arrow is used to confirm the selection.

This version was actually produced by F2System, an Andamiro affiliate which also produced in 2000 the Techno Motion dance simulation game. Two of the songs from this version are signed by F2: "Holiday" and "Can Can". Can Can, which now has an artist of Radezky since its inclusion on Prex 3, appears in the KPOP section of Exceed, despite being produced specifically for Pump It Up. It has since been moved to the Banya channel in Exceed.

The Premiere (Arcade - international/Brazil)

Released: June 2001

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Double, Battle

The first international release. Features 6 new songs, all of them covers of American Pop songs, from *NSYNC to a-ha, and 81 old songs (in other words, almost all the previous songs, minus remixes). Several songs were renamed, so that they had English names – or, at the very least, romanizations.

The interface has been redesigned: the blue arrows still navigate through the songs, but only one song appears on screen, which is confirmed with the center button. The red arrows are used only for entering codes, which are a lot simpler (and thus easier to memorize), and there's a single code for speeding up arrows instead of separate codes for each velocity, making it more user-friendly.

A special Brazilian version was also released, which featured, as well as the 6 international Pop songs in English, 8 additional Brazilian Pop songs in Portuguese by original artists (not covers).

Evolutionary Dance Floor (PC - international)

Released: June 2001

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Double

This version of the game was Andamiro's attempt at releasing a game for the interntional market. It's been widely panned as the worst PC release, having only a small handful of songs and no Crazy mode, however this game marked the only instance where Andamiro released their original high-quality (and expensive) mats for the international market. These mats can be re-used in future releases such as Prex 3 and Exceed for the PS2, thus making it a collector's item.

The PREX (Arcade - international)

Released: November 2001

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Double, Battle

A new collection, aimed to fuse The Premiere and Extra (hence the name PREX). Contains The Premiere's 87 songs and Extra's 22 normal songs (nonstop remixes and the new version of Clon's "First Love" were not included).

The interface is from The Premiere.

Rebirth (Arcade - Korea)

Released: January 2002

Available game modes: Easy, Hard, Crazy, Double, Half-Double, Division, Combo Battle

This Korean release features a slightly improved Premiere interface: different codes, and a new code to switch between Easy, Hard and Crazy modes (changing game mode from other modes is not possible).

Two new game modes were introduced: Division and Half-Double. Unfortunately for the Division lovers, this mode was dropped and no other version has offered it again, save Premiere 2.

There are 36 new and no old songs available in this version. Though it is a Korean release, the Nonstop Remix mode was not included.

This version was simultaneously released with The Premiere 2.

Premiere 2 (Arcade - international)

Released: March 2002

Available game modes: Easy, Hard, Crazy, Full Double, Half-Double, Division, Combo Battle

The international counterpart for The Rebirth. The 36 new songs from Rebirth are featured, with 66 old songs from The Premiere. The new songs from Extra, which appeared on The PREX, are not available.

This version is normally not considered a collection, just an alternative version of The Rebirth. When attributing the new songs to a release, people often call those 36 songs (the Rebirth ones, plus Vook and Csikos Post) as "Premiere 2/Rebirth songs".

PREX 2 (Arcade - international)

Released: November 2002

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Full Double, Combo Battle

Fusing again the Premiere series with Extra, this international collection was released, with an Extra-style interface, all 36 songs from Premiere 2/Rebirth, 21 songs from Extra (the same included from The PREX, except for "Circus Magic") and the remaining 36 songs from previous versions that appeared in Extra, making up a total of 93 songs.

Premiere 3 (Arcade - international)

Released: May 2003

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Full Double, Half-Double, Combo Battle

This international release features an Extra-style interface and 20 new songs, all from American Pop and Latin Pop, the latter due to the increasing success of PIU in Latin America, especially in Mexico.

However, featuring only 36 old songs (summing up to 56), and with 16 new ones being from unknown singers (although there's a cover of Gloria Estefan's Conga), not mentioning that most of the new songs had no challenging/difficult steps, this version is considered by an expressive number of fans as the worst PIU version ever made.

PREX 3 (Arcade/PC - international)

Released: October 2003

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Freestyle, Nightmare, Half-Double, Combo Battle

Breaking the PREX tradition, this version is not a collection, as it features 3 new songs and does not feature very many Extra songs. It uses the same interface (including same graphics) from The Premiere 3. In total, there are 77 songs.

Apart from the new songs, this version also featured the return of Banya's "Hypnosis" and "Ignition Starts", songs from the first version which never appeared in international releases, a few new step routines for old songs and the Nightmare mode, bringing the challenge in the game to a new degree.

There were also some major international licenses that were made for this mix and intended to be released with the game, but since Andamiro didn't get the licensing for them they were taken off the Stage.cfg file, which the machine uses to show songs on the song select screen. One could "unlock" these hidden songs by altering the Stage.cfg file.

There was also a special release of PREX3 for arcade that did not include the rap songs with profanity in them, which brought the song list down to 72 on this version.

In December, the PC version of The PREX 3 was released, with all the songs from Prex 3, plus Banya's song An Interesting View from 3rd OBG.

Exceed (Arcade - international/PS2 - Korea/PSP - Korea)

Released: April 2004

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Freestyle, Nightmare, Battle

As this is the 10th arcade release (not counting collections), this version has an X (a Roman 10) in its logo, and a name making a reference to that: Exceed.

This release introduces yet another interface, where the songs are divided into three channels (Banya, Pop and K-Pop). The player uses the red arrows to change the channel, and the blue arrows, as usual, to change the song. Once the player confirms their song choice with the yellow center sensor, the player can choose on which difficulty they'd like to play the song.

An interesting fact is that this version uses a completely new hardware, making upgrades from older versions not so simple, but offering a much more responsive and visually improved interface and interaction.

Exceed also uses a new operator menu interface which allows an arcade owner to lock out songs they deem inappropriate for the arcade.

This version features 24 new songs from a total of 102.

Exceed 2 (Arcade - international)

Released: December 2004

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Freestyle, Nightmare, Battle, Remix

Featuring a slightly modified Exceed interface, the player first must choose between three game modes, called Stations:Arcade station : The gameplay is similar to the previous games, featuring Normal, Hard and Crazy, and also Freestyle and Nightmare for single-players.Battle station : A mode made especially for matches, featuring four different battle modes. It takes only one credit (instead of the usual two for two players), but only one song is played. The song is also limited to being selected from the remix selection (hard mode only). Special modifiers can affect gameplay, which are activated during gameplay by stepping on particular arrows, signified by specialized icons. The variety of available modifiers depends on the mode of battle selected (i.e. 'Minesweeper', 'Item Battle'). A pair of characters are also depicted on screen, who react to the loss of health during gameplay.Remix station : A mode specifically for playing longer songs, in the old Nonstop Remix fashion. In this mode the player normally plays only 2 songs, with a bonus song called "Raw" only being earned if the player obtains a grade of S on both Remix station songs on Crazy. "Raw", a song whose steps are impossible for one player, is originally the demo music for the game.

This version features 18 new songs from a total of 136.

Exceed SE (PS2/Xbox - international)

Released: August 2005

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Battle, Freestyle, Nightmare, Sudden Death, Home, Survival, Arcade, Video

Features the same interface as Pump It Up : Exceed arcade version with new features : an easy modifier menu and the ability to select separate difficulty levels from the other player under home mode.

There are 101 songs on the PS2 version and 97 songs on the Xbox version. These console versions featured 6 new songs to the series; Junkie XL's remix of A Little Less Conversation, Let's Groove by Earth, Wind, & Fire, I Love You Baby by Pandera, Name of the Game by Crystal Method, Rapper's Delight from Sugarhill Gang, and Walkie Talkie Man by Steriogram. The game also included song revivals and removals that make the song list closely match Exceed 2.

The Xbox version contained a step editor, which allowed the player to create custom stepcharts for the songs in the game. Also included was the capability of downloading new song packs for the game using Xbox Live, although this feature was never used.

In lieu of a song pack download feature and step editor, the PS2 version included two songs from Exceed 2: Canon-D by Banya and We Don't Stop by Asoto Union.

Zero (Arcade - international/PSP - Korea)

Released: February 2006

Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Freestyle, Nightmare, Another, Mission, and Remix, plus Easy Station for beginners.

In February 2006, Andamiro released a brand new version of Pump It Up: The International 7th Dance Floor. An easy mode was added for beginners. A brand new interface was implemented that allows preview of background animations when the player views a song prior to selection. Also, for the first time ever in an arcade release, two players are able to select two different levels of difficulty in the same song, at the same time.

New Songs

  • BanYa - Beat of the War 2
  • BanYa - Jump
  • BanYa - Love is a Danger Zone 2
  • BanYa - Moonlight
  • BanYa - Papa Gonzales
  • BanYa - Phantom
  • BanYa - Witch Doctor
  • Cachy Huang - Up Up
  • Cho PD - My Friend
  • Drunken Tiger - Emergency
  • Eugene - Wuthering Heights
  • Eun Ji Won - All Famy
  • JTL - Enter the Dragon

  • Jang Yoon Jung - Oh My
  • Lazy Bone - Do It Yourself
  • Louis - Chung Hwa Ban Jeom
  • Mina - Turn Around
  • Spooky Banana - Mr. Fire Fighter
  • Pandera - I Love You Baby
  • Perry - Storm
  • T.O - Footprints
  • Turtles- What's Goin' On
  • Remix: Try to B.P.M - LIADZ
  • Remix: K-Hip-Hop Mix Vol. 1
  • Remix: K-House Mix Vol. 1

Another Step songs

Another Step songs are not entirely new songs. Rather, they are songs with experimental steps. When the Another Step category was first introduced, the songs were not given a specific category. Generally, however, the difficulty of the songs range from easy to extremely hard, with some songs (for instance, Love is a Danger Zone 2 Another Nightmare) being impossible to complete without a second player.

Another Step songs were reintroduced in the sequel, Pump It Up: New Xenesis.

  • time/point-release unlocks

  • Eres Para Mi - Another Freestyle - unlocked upon unlock of Another station
  • Final Audition 2 - Another Crazy - unlocked upon unlock of Another station
  • Final Audition 3 U.F - Another Nightmare - unlocked upon unlock of Another station
  • Mexi Mexi - Another Nightmare - unlocked upon unlock of Another station
  • My Friend - Another Freestyle - unlocked upon unlock of Another station
  • Solitary 2 - Another Crazy - unlocked upon unlock of Another station

  • Extravaganza - Another Crazy - time/point-release unlock - after opening of mission 7
  • Final Audition 2 - Another Nightmare - time/point-release unlock - after opening of mission 11
  • Love is a Danger Zone 2 - Another Hard, Crazy, and Nightmare - time/point-release unlock - after opening of mission 13
  • Naissance 2 - Another Nightmare - time/point-release unlock - after opening of mission 15
  • Final Audition - Another Nightmare - time/point-release unlock - after opening of mission 17
  • Do it Yourself - Another Nightmare - time/point-release unlock - after opening of mission 19
  • Solitary 2 - Another Nightmare - time/point-release unlock - after opening of mission 21
  • Mr. Larpus - Another Nightmare - time/point-release unlock - after opening of mission 23
  • Extravaganza - Another Nightmare - time/point-release unlock - after opening of mission 25
  • Another Truth - Another Nightmare - time/point-release unlock - after opening of mission 27
  • Witch Doctor - Another Nightmare - time/point-release unlock - after opening of mission 29

    • mission unlocks: must clear mission

  • Love is a Danger Zone - Another Freestyle and Nightmare - mission unlock (mission 16)
  • Witch Doctor - Another Crazy - mission unlock (mission 17)
  • Final Audition - Another Crazy - mission unlock (mission 19)
  • Join The Party - Another Nightmare - mission unlock (mission 20)
  • Circus Magic - Another Nightmare - mission unlock (mission 26) [note: only mode playable for this song in the entire game]
  • Vook - Another Freestyle and Nightmare - mission unlock (mission 27)
  • I'll Give You All My Love - Another Nightmare - mission unlock (mission 28)

    • Pump it up: ZERO for PSP

    The PSP version of Pump It UP: Zero contains all the New Tunes from The 8th International Dance floor, New Xenesis. However, you must unlock them in Store Mode.

    NX (New Xenesis) (Arcade - international)

    Released worldwide (although with slower distribution in certain markets): December 15, 2006

    Available game modes: Normal, Hard, Crazy, Freestyle, Nightmare, Remix, Full Song, Another Step and World Tour, plus Training mode for beginners

    • New Station: World Tour, consists of brand new stepcharts for each featured song, as well as songs no longer available in Arcade Station
    • New Station: Special Zone, consists of remixed songs, full songs, and Another mode songs
    • All of PIU Zero's unlockable items are immediately available in Special Zone
    • Introduction of a dramatically different cabinet style which contains a brand new design and a 42" plasma display (FX cabinet. Other cabinets were DX (Rear Projection) and GX (normal))
    • Lots of new unlockable features
    • Yahpp has split from the BanYa team, and his solo works are making their first appearances (such as Chimera, Arch of Darkness, Final Audition Ep. 2-1 and 2-2, and Witch Doctor #1) They have also made some full versions of Zero songs (Love is a Danger Zone 2, Beat of the War 2, Fire).
    • A completely new difficulty system consisting of stars, skulls, or question marks. There are eight slots for either stars or skulls; one star is equivalent to two difficulty points on the Exceed/Zero scale (half-stars equal one point and seven stars is the maximum amount seen for any song), and skulls, while widely believed to roughly represent one difficulty point above 15 or 16, is in actuality a new scale with all songs re-evaluated and re-rated, giving the songs new ratings which don't necessarily correlate with ratings of past mixes. A "????????" rating is given to songs that are "beyond the charts" (such as Chimera or Final Audition Episode 2-2 Nightmare - although both have been A'ed by expert players), gimmick charts that are meant to be impossible for one player (FAE2-2 Another Nightmare, Bee Another Nightmare, Chimera Another Nightmare), or charts that are meant for two players at the same time (LIADZ and LIADZ2 Another Nightmare).
    • There are at least three unique versions of NX. First is a beta version, released in test locations in Mexico. It is notable for not having the calorie ratings, having Final Audition Episode 2-2 available immediately, and, perhaps most notable of all, ability to play charts using keyboards connected to the machine. Next, there is version 1.05, which is currently the most popular release of NX and was released upon launch. Lastly, there is the newest version which is being sold, 1.08, where the songs Valenti and Fighting Spirits (and its Another) have been completely removed, both in Arcade and World Tour stations. This version has brand new Another charts for Witch Doctor #1 not playable in any other mix. It also contains various bug fixes and disables the ability to boot the game via USB, which has been used by many to exploit the unlock system and insert a file to unlock all the songs in the game.

    New Songs (Arcade version songs)

    • Yahpp - Arch of Darkness
    • Yahpp - Chimera
    • Yahpp - Witch Doctor #1
    • Yahpp - Final Audition Episode 2-1
    • Yahpp - Final Audition Episode 2-2 [requires unlock]
    • Yahpp - Fire [World Tour only]
    • BanYa - Bullfighter's Song
    • BanYa - Do You Know That -Old School-
    • BanYa - 2006 Love Song
    • BanYa - Gun Rock
    • BanYa - Ugly Dee
    • Hyun Jin Young vs. Yahpp - U Inside My Dim Memory
    • Park Hyang Lim vs. Yahpp - My Brother is Street Singer
    • B.E.G. & Cho PD - Hold the Line
    • Epik High - Fly

    • Dynamic Duo - Go Back
    • DJ DOC - One Night
    • N.Ex.T - For You
    • Jong Kook Kim - Lovely
    • Apple Jam - Snow Dream
    • Jiny - Free
    • Hyun Jin Young - Hyun Jin Young Go Jin Young Go
    • Typhoon - So
    • Ururbu Project - Terminal Depository
    • May - Handsome Character That Pass
    • DJ Dookie - HYBs
    • DVS - Bust Back
    • Andrew Kim - Throw 'Em Up
    • Haley Feat. Sam I Am - Sam-I-Am
    • Gyfted - We Goin' Fly Remix

    New Remixes

    • Pop House Mix [unlock: Beijing mission]
    • K-Pop Dance [unlock: Paris mission]
    • Chicago Club [unlock: La Paz mission]
    • Groove Party [unlock: Washington mission]
    • BanYa-P Classic [unlock: Wing mission]
    • Wi-Ex-Doc-Va [unlock: B.P.M mission]
    • Bemera [unlock: Yahpp mission]

    New Full Songs

    • Yahpp: Beat of the War 2 [unlock: Warsaw Mission], Love is a Danger Zone 2 [unlock: Bogota mission], Fire [unlock: Ahgoo mission]
    • K-Pop: U Inside My Dim Memory [unlock: Jakarta mission], Lovely [unlock: Havana mission], Hold the Line [unlock: George Town mission]

    World Tour Charts

    • 192 charts in 64 missions - each named after capital cities of various nations throughout the world as well as after the developers of NX at Nexcade - where over 95% of charts are unique charts for existing songs, not playable anywhere else

    New Another charts

    • Another Truth - Another Freestyle
    • Mr. Larpus - Another Crazy and Nightmare (old Nightmare chart moved to Freestyle)
    • Love is a Danger Zone - Another Crazy
    • Witch Doctor #1 - Another Hard, Freestyle, and Nightmare [unlock: Santo Domingo mission; available on NX versions 1.08+ only]
    • Fighting Spirits - Another Crazy and Nightmare [unlock: Santo Domingo mission; available on NX versions before 1.08 only]
    • She Likes Pizza - Another Nightmare [unlock: Over Death mission]
    • Beethoven Virus - Another Crazy [unlock: Quito mission]
    • Dr. M - Another Crazy [unlock: Bern mission]
    • Csikos Post - Another Nightmare [unlock: Kuala Lumpur mission]
    • Bee - Another Crazy, Freestyle, and Nightmare [unlock: MS Goon mission]
    • Final Audition Episode 1 - Another Hard and Nightmare [unlock: Pyongyang mission]
    • What Do You Really Want - Another Crazy and Nightmare [unlock: Amsterdam mission]
    • Kiss Me - Another Nightmare [unlock: Berlin mission]
    • Shake it Up - Another Crazy and Nightmare [unlock: Prague mission]
    • Deja Vu - Another Nightmare [unlock: San Salvador mission]
    • Hi-Bi - Another Crazy and Nightmare [unlock: San Jose mission]
    • Phantom - Another Nightmare [unlock: C.H Twenty Four mission]
    • Chimera - Another Hard, Freestyle, and Nightmare [unlock: Asuncion mission]
    • U Inside My Dim Memory - Another Freestyle [unlock: Buenos Aires mission]
    • For You - Another Freestyle [unlock: Hanoi mission]
    • Gun Rock - Another Crazy and Nightmare [unlock: Kang2 mission]
    • Final Audition Episode 2-1 - Another Crazy and Nightmare [unlock: Baghdad Mission]
    • Final Audition Episode 2-2 - Another Hard, Crazy, Freestyle, and Nightmare [unlock: Yasangma mission]

    NX2 (Next Xenesis) (Arcade - international)

    NX2 is the current release of Pump it Up, which started shipping from the factory in January 2008. The game's title was first announced in a very low-key blog post by one of the lead developers of the game. Andamiro has published information on this new version, along with a promotional video, located on their official Pump It Up website. All NX2 models (GX, FX and a variation of NX2 called PRO) now come standard with new USB ports, which allow players interaction with the machines using a proprietary USB thumbdrive sold directly by Andamiro.

    There was a "22.11.07" date on the official website (Nov. 22, 2007). When this day came, the website added a teaser video of the new mix. Several days later, a song list was released. These new songs will be located in the Arcade Mode.

    NX2 currently has 4 stations, Arcade Mode, Training Station, WorldMAX(Similar to NX's World Tour), and Special Station. Only the Arcade Mode new songs have been released.

    New Songs (Arcade version songs)

    • Gil Gun - A.U. Ready
    • Joanne - Shiny Day
    • 015B - Very Old Couples
    • Bae Chi Gi - Nice to Meet You
    • No Brain - You Fall in Me
    • Crying Nut - Astral Song
    • Hot Potato - No Despair [USB-only song]
    • Pia - A Maelstrom
    • May - Compunction
    • HEadTriP - Beat # No. 4
    • Sonic Dimension - Chopstix
    • Sonic Dimension - Groovin' Motion
    • Elpis - Dance Vibrations
    • ZigZag - Energizer
    • Oscillator X - Dance All Night

    See also

    External links



    Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
    Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 13:27:31 PDT (GMT -0700)
    View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation