Play Pump It Up

Are you new to the Korean dance game Pump It Up? Do you want to learn how to play it? This how-to could help you become the dancing whiz you've been dreaming to be.

Steps

  1. Choose a place where you can play. The price for one play shouldn't be very expensive, and the machines should be good quality for you to enjoy the game. If you need to stomp on the panels instead of just stepping on them, it's a sure sign that the platforms are not well-maintained; in that case, you should talk to the arcade staff about it.
  2. Be aware that the panels are used for menu navigation. The blue back panels cycle through options; the yellow center panels confirm the selection; the red front panels return to the previous menu. Because the center panel is essentially the A button during menus, it is hard to emphasize enough that you must not stand on it!
  3. Change the scroll speed if needed. Arrows start out at “2x” scroll speed, which means the speed where eighth notes (half beat apart) appear comfortably without overlapping. You can lower the scroll speed for easier songs, or raise it up to 4x in increments of 1 (or up to 6.5x on Full Mode, in increments of 0.5). The command to raise the scroll speed is ↖↗↖↗👣, and to lower the scroll speed is ↗↖↗↖👣.
    • Make sure to know the song's BPM (tempo). Scroll speed will depend on it; for example, a BPM200 song at 1x scroll speed and a BPM100 song at 2x scroll speed will have arrows moving at the same speed.
    • Some songs change scroll speed in the middle. They are typically marked with two BPMs if the song actually changes tempo, but if the chart has gimmicks where it speeds up, slows down, or stutters, it may not be shown in the BPM display in the song selection.
  4. Choose a song and difficulty. Every song has at least 3 difficulties. If you are completely new to the music game genre, try a song that has a chart with a difficulty of 1 or 2, and lower the scroll speed to 1x. If you have played music games in the past, or play a musical instrument, you might want to start out at around 4 or 5.
    • If a difficulty says “Double” and has a green background, it means one player plays on all 10 panels. Unless you know what you're doing, make sure to avoid these.
  5. Follow the rhythm. While many new players might watch each arrow closely to see the exact moment when it overlaps with its receptor (gray, stationary arrow), it's best to listen to the beat of the song and plan ahead your movement.
  6. Alternate your feet. Many new players may step on a panel then move the foot back to where it was before. This is bad technique, and it is integral to alternate your feet instead of returning to the center, since most Pump It Up charts are designed with footwork in mind.
    • Don't be shy to move around and twist your body. Instead of stepping and returning, walk around on the platform. It will make patterns like ↖↗↖↗ and ↙↘👣↗↖ easier.
    • Don't be afraid to turn your body to either side! Patterns like ↙↘↗↘↙, ↙👣↘👣↙, and ↙↖👣↗↘ will require you to do so.
  7. Check your grade. If you get an F, try an easier song; if you are already playing the easiest, try again, going over these tips once more. If you get a B, C or D, continue playing it until you can confidently get an A. Aim for an S (no MISSes), double S (only PERFECTs and GREATs), or a triple S (all PERFECTs)! (For versions up to Prime 2, these grades correspond to Silver S, Gold S, and SS, respectively.)

Tips

  • Each credit will last you 3 or 4 songs, depending on your location.
  • Remember that red means front, yellow means center, and blue means back.
  • At some point, the game is going to be so difficult that you cannot follow the arrows. Continued playing will improve your reading skills, which will let you ”read” these arrows as patterns, like we read letters as words.
  • When you miss 51 Combo in a row, you will be kicked out of the game! This will be announced by a cutscene where the game yells at you, “Hey! Why don't you just get up and dance, man?”.
  • Try playing alongside someone else. You don't necessarily need to play on the same difficulty. This will require 2 credits.
  • When you can play Level 5 steps, try playing a Double chart. Double means you use all 10 panels on the platform!
  • When you feel you're ready for harder charts, enter the code ↙↖👣↗↘↗👣↖↙ to enable Full Mode. You can see all difficulties of all songs, and you will be able to sort by genre or difficulty level. On top of that, you will have a control panel where you can change settings about the game, such as scroll speed, Note Skin, Rush (the speed of the song, which can be changed from 80% to 150% in 10% increments), and judgment difficulty. You can open the control panel by entering the code ↙↘↙↘↙↘.
  • On your home computer, consider downloading StepF2 or Stepmania to practise at home. They are free software that can mimic Pump It Up, and if you have a suitable dance mat at home, you will be able to play Pump It Up at home like you do at arcades.
  • For more tips on how to Improve at Pump It Up, check that article.

Warnings

  • Make sure what you're playing is, indeed, Pump It Up. Some similar games include Dance Dance Revolution, In The Groove (both with 4 panels on either side), StepManiaX (with 5 panels on either side, but in a + arrangement instead of the X arrangement of Pump It Up), Technomotion, and Rhythm Horizon (both with 9 panels on either side).
  • Some harder charts (about Level 10 and up) will have 3 simultaneous notes (e.g. ↙👣↗). This is called “bracketing”. Use one of your feet to step on two panels. One of them will likely be the center panel, but if you are playing double, you may have to bracket ↘↙ or ↗↖. A showier way of dealing with more than two notes is to use your knee, but this could give you injuries, and is likely not practical at that level anyway.

Things You'll Need

  • Money and/or a swipe card depending on your arcade
  • Comfortable clothes and shoes that are easy to move in

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