Since the original Pump it Up is a physically demanding game and the PSP version isn't, it's best to view the portable version in the same vein as a game such as DJ Max Portable. That is, a rhythm game where onscreen cues must be hit with proper timing and coordination. There's nothing more and nothing less to it since PIU purists won't be moving their feet to this release. That said, PIU Exceed is an enjoyable rhythm game with a large selection of K-pop and remixes of classical music pieces thrown in for good measure.

In the early going in Home Mode which allows for multiple misses without kicking you out of the game, all eight of the playable songs are from Andamiro's internal music production crew known as Banya. The music selection screen is appropriately dubbed "Banya Channel" where songs are selected from a rotary array where the name of the song and some artwork is displayed for each track. In addition to the 8 available songs, another 19 may be unlocked upon fulfilling game conditions.

In Arcade Mode, players have 1 minute to select a song from the available roster of 34 songs and a few unlockable tracks that aren't ready for play yet. Unlike the forgiving Home Mode, miss too many cues in Arcade Mode and the game ends with a thunderous slam

View the back cover and screenshots on the main NCSX website.

NCS Game Notes
» The intro shows a bunch of disparate images from fighter jets to anime girls to atomic explosions in fast cut sequence before the PIU Exceed logo pops up. Leave it alone and the title screen appears with a spinning metaalic logo of "Exceed" which revolves to show "Pump It Up" in graffiti lettering on the opposite side. Leave it alone some more and an "Arcade Score Top 20" shows the best ranked players followed by some impressive demo play where hundreds of "Perfects" are chained together.

» Start the game and the following options appear:
ARCADE MODE..................."Clear 4 Songs for an Internet Ranking"
SUDDEN DEATH MODE......"One Mistake and it's Game Over"
HOME MODE......................"Use Unlimited Retries to Polish Your Moves"
OPTIONS............................Set sound volume, toggle arcade/home mode, choose language (ENGLISH/KOREAN), view credits
STATISTICS........................View the Top 20 rankings for Arcade and Survival, Song Statistics, and Step Mileage
DATA FILE..........................Save, Load, or Delete save game data

» Start the Arcade Mode and an assortment of 34 songs may be selected with the name and BPM listed on top of special artwork for each song.

» When the action starts, an animated video plays with blaring music and cues that start rising up on the left portion of the screen. Watch the cues as they hit the cue delimiters on the top left side of the screen for perfect scoring. If you miss a number of cues, the game slams the door shut and ends the game immediately - kicking you back to the title screen. For newbies, NCS recommends the Home Mode which is more forgiving and gives players a chance to test their portable Pump It Up skills.

» The cues and their triggers are as follows

Southwest facing arrow - D-Pad Down
Southeast facing arrow - X-Button
Northeast facing arrow - R-Trigger
Northwest facing arrow - L-Trigger
Center Square Gem Icon - SQUARE

» In Home Mode, only the "NORMAL Beginner Mode" is available at the outset but the following may be unlocked if you're talented enough:

▪ HARD Professional Mode
▪ CRAZY Stepper Mode
▪ FREESTYLE Performance Mode
▪ NIGHTMARE Burning Mode

Game Songs (all from Banya) in Home Mode include:

▪ Pump Me Amadeus BPM 170
▪ Blazing BPM 158
▪ Final Audition 3 U.F. BPM 130.5
▪ Get Up! BPM 180
▪ X-Treme BPM 162
▪ Winter BPM 168
▪ Mr Larplus BPM 190
▪ Beethoven Virus BPM 162

The theme of the video in the song, "Blazing" is a gunfighter who makes good against evil and "Final Audition 3 U.F." features some rocking aerial combat footage.

» There's a cover version of Sixpence None the Richer's "Kiss Me" sung by Debbie Scott and a song that sort of sounds like "I Saw the Sign" from Ace of Base.

» It's easy to score a perfect "A" on songs like "Final Audition 3" where the BPM runs at a lenient 130.50 but tempt fate with "Mr. Larplus" which scrolls along at BPM 190 and things become challenging.

» Cues are ranked as:

Perfect
Great
Good
Bad
Miss
Max Combo

» After a game, a letter grade is also assigned from A to F.

» Each stage requires deft reflexes and superb motor skills but failing that, memorization is normally good tactical planning to conquer higher level songs.

» PIU Exceed requires an update to firmware 2.81 in order to play. The firmware is available on the game UMD and will prompt for the user to update once the disc is inserted into the PSP.

» Loading times are fairly lengthy and often. In the Now Loading screen, light revolves around the spokes of a 12-spoke radial object on the lower-right corner of the screen. At least there's something to watch while waiting for the UMD to load.

» If you miss consecutive cues, you can chain the misses together if you're looking to create a 100-miss combo.

» NCS gets offers for the PS2 and Xbox versions of Pump it Up Exceed with Controller for $25 all the time. We might stock some just to hold in our inventory for the next decade...

Korean PSP games will play on USA and Japanese PSP handhelds - there is no region protection on PSP game software.

UPC Code: 8809169610103

This document is ©NCSX 2006. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.