Previously only available in the Arcade as well as a variety of Windows PC ports, Andamiro's Korean Pump it Up series is outside of Korea only known to mostly hardcore music game fanatics. Among these, it's been admired as a Dance Dance Revolution challenger with a large music selection and some of the toughest tunes and difficulties you can imagine.

Finally, Andamiro has been doing lots of fans a huge favor and ported Korean's number one music game to PlayStation2™. We've been fascinated and curious at the same time, how this Dance Dance Revolution challenger will be accepted by the Bemani community.

Our first shipment of Pump it up EXCEED has arrived today and preorders have been dispatched. New orders are welcome at US$ 79.90 (which includes a dancing control pad) to ship within 24 hours. The first shipment of the game includes the "Banya 3rd Original Soundtrack Album: UNFINISHED" preorder gift as long as supply lasts.

---

Impressions

Turning on our PlayStation2™ console, we've been tensely waiting how this game is gonna perform. At first, every import fellow will be happy to hear that the game language can be fully switched to English language in the option menu, so even the tiniest detail can be picked up by any gamer.

The following game modes are available to chose from:

ORIGINAL STYLE

ARCADE STYLE

MUSIC VIDEOS

We were not able to notice a big difference between the first 2 game modes. Basically in "Arcade Style" mode the song will be played until the end, no matter how bad you perform, while the "Original Style" mode is comparable to the common DDR game mode where the "Game Over" screen will appear after missing too many arrows.

The "Music Video" mode lets you watch all available songs along with their background animation. Certainly a nice feature for just hanging out and listening to all tunes on the disc.

Getting into the game, a total of 5 difficuly levels are available: "Normal", "Hard", "Crazy", "Freestyle" and "Nightmare". Being first into the game, we very much recommend to start with the easist game mode. All videos we have taken (see further below) were played in "Normal" game mode by the way.

Similar to Konami's Dance Dance Revolution series, you will be able to pick your song from a variety of "BANYA", "K-POP" and "POP" songs. Totally, around 100 songs have found place on this DVD. (check the product details for a complete track list or download our song list videos from below).

The game can be played with the included soft dancing controller or any common Dual Shock 2™ controller. Pump it Up is played with basically 5 buttons (compared to Konami's 4 button DDR series): UPPER LEFT, UPPER RIGHT, DOWN LEFT, DOWN RIGHT and a CENTER button. Using a Dual Shock 2™ controller, the arrows revert to the L1 (upper left), L2 (down left), R1 (upper right), R2 (down right) and X (center) buttons. It might sound a little confusing for DDR enthusiasts, but trust us you will find into it in just no time.

The rest of the game is very much similar to Konami's DDR series. You will dance in step to the music by pressing/jumping onto the correct arrow at the right time. The music is accomponied by 3D background animations. At the end of the game you will receive a rating depending on your performance.


The Pump it Up Soft Controller

Pump it Up EXCEED ships including a soft dancing controller with a similar size compared to Konami's official soft dancing mat control pad (approx 98 x 91cm). For a soft mat controller we have been positively surprised by the overall quality. The surface of the is made by an anti-slip material, ideal for playing on carpet and still guaranteeing a stable gameplay. The mat easily unfolds itself onto the floor without any formation of creases. Additionally it is thicker compared to Konami's official DDR controller.

Check out some comparism shots in our gallery below.


Product Gallery & Screenshots

Here is an excerpt of the item's product gallery and screenshots. Click on each thumbnail for a larger shot. You can access the total gallery including 58 screenshots here.



Video download

We have compiled a total of 14 videos giving a good impression about the game. Click on each individual link for a download of the intro, several song selections and finally several stages.

Pump it Up EXCEED Intro (5MB/0:45min)

BANYA Song Selection (5.9MB/0:44min)

K-POP Song Selection (14.3MB/1:49min)

POP Song Selection (10.7MB/1:21min)

2 Player Demo Play (4.8MB/0:36min)

U:NEE - GO (13.2MB/1:46min)

Born to be Alive (15MB/1:58min)

Bambole (14.4MB/1:53min)

BANYA - Final Audition (9.1MB/1:15min)

Novasonic - Another Truth (13.5MB/1:46min)

FIESTA (13.8MB/1:47min)

BANYA - Pump me Amadeus (8MB/1:02min)

Debbie Scott - Kiss Me (13.7MB/1:52min)

BoA - Valenti (15.6MB/2:01min)


More Pump it Up & Music Game round-up

Apart from the brand new PlayStation2™ port, the predecessor is still available as Windows PC port:

Pump it up 7th PREX 3 (w/ Dancing Mat)	KOR		US$ 69.90
Pump it up 7th PREX 3 2P USB Controller			US$ 59.90

And not to forget, we are carrying a large variety of music games. Check out our selection of beatmania, Dance Dance Revolution, Pop'n Music, Taiko no Tatsujin and even more PlayStation2™ music games.

Along with your most favorite games comes a selection of the best music controllers, including soft and metal dancing controllers, DJ turntables & a lot more.