Pump It Up: Exceed for the Xbox
I did a review of Andamiro Entertainment’s Pump It Up: Exceed on Starling Fitness (Starling Fitness » Pump It Up: Exceed for the Xbox). It is a very active game and can be used for a good workout, but how does it stand up as a game?
Like, Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), Pump It Up (PIU) uses a dance pad to control the game. Instead of four arrows (up, down, left and right), PIU has four arrows on the diagonals and a middle button, which makes the play more complicated than DDR. You cannot use the fancy metal dance pad that works with DDR for PIU, so you are pretty much stuck with the pad that came with the game, which is a very thin pad. Here are directions for a mod that you can do to make it nice and soft on your feet, however:
PIU has the same problems as the DDR line: They do not allow different players to create thier own personal profiles, where each one has their own “grades†for the songs. That is incredibly frustrating with two DDR players in the house. You never really know if that perfect score (an “S†on PIU) is yours or your little brother’s unless you go to the trouble of writing down your personal bests. That’s a waste, because the individual profiles are built right into the Xbox console. It would take a small programming feat to solve that problem.
Additionally, they have added the chore of having to unlock the songs in various modes. There are some songs that are locked in Home Mode, but not in Arcade. Some that are locked in the Arcade Mode, but not the Sudden Death Mode. And still others that are locked in the Arcade Mode, but not the Home Mode. If I want to come home, stick in the game and play without it kicking me out if I can’t do it, there are very few songs that I can practice with that come in the Home Mode. I find this irritating, but it’s all about the dancing for me, not about “winning†the game. For me, winning doesn’t constitute unlocking all the songs. It’s earning an “S†for every song.
The music selection is far different than the DDR line. There are more songs in Spanish than in any oriental language, which is strange since Andamiro is a Korean company. There is one Elvis remix that is kind of fun to play and “Name of the Game†by The Crystal Method. Here is a link to the complete song list:
All in all, I have enjoyed playing it. If you like dancing games it will be a challenging change of pace. If you are a beginner, it’s an interesting introduction, but I would probably recommend DDR: Ultramix 2 over PIU.