Difficulty

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Over the years, Pump it Up used a number of different difficulty classification systems.

Early games (1st-The Prex 3)[edit | edit source]

Difficulty levels in pre-Fiesta Pump games are sometimes called modes, as they were initially considered separate game modes. The concept of modes in these games includes both difficulty levels and game modes, in later terminology.

In 1st Dance Floor, it was not possible to switch between modes at all. The first Pump game to allow free switching between all modes was Extra. The Prex is the last game to not allow mode switching at all. Rebirth and The Premiere 2 allow switching between Normal, Hard, and Crazy modes only. The Prex 2 and later allow switching between all modes. In all cases, however, both players must play the same mode.

These games, unlike later games in the series, effectively had separate rating scales for each set of charts. This means that it is not possible to compare ratings from different difficulties. Even within modes, the rating scale is riddled with problems and cannot be trusted in many cases. (One particular example: Can Can Double was rated Lv. 5 from The Prex-The Prex 3, even though its Exceed rating suggested it was harder than Mr. Larpus Double, which in the same games was rated Lv. 10.) None of the Division mode or Nightmare mode charts had ratings.

Description of Modes[edit | edit source]

These descriptions use the latest name for each mode.

  • Normal, Hard, and Crazy modes contain single-pad charts with progressively increasing difficulty.
  • Freestyle and Nightmare modes contain double-pad charts with progressively increasing difficulty.
  • Half-Double mode contains charts that use the center 6 buttons of the combined double-pad layout.
  • Division mode contains single-pad charts. These charts are broken up into various sections and each section has three different versions which are chosen while playing.
  • Battle mode is a two-player, single-pad mode. It uses Hard charts. The player with the highest Max Combo at the end of the song wins.

Changes to Modes[edit | edit source]

  • 1st Dance Floor introduces Easy, Hard, Double, Battle and Nonstop Remix modes. 1st Dance Floor's Battle mode never appeared again, though 2nd Dance Floor also has a Battle mode.
    • The Fusion does not have a separate Nonstop Remix mode and includes all Nonstop Remix single charts in Hard mode and all Nonstop Remix double charts in Double mode.
  • O. B. G. introduces Crazy mode, in the form of a code that could be used in Hard and Nonstop Remix modes.
    • The Fusion 3rd includes all Crazy charts as separate songs in Hard mode.
  • Perfect Collection promotes Crazy to an independent mode of its own, but Nonstop Remix Crazy charts still require a code to be accessed.
    • Its PC port, like The Fusion before it, does not have a separate Nonstop Remix mode. It includes Nonstop Remixes' normal charts in Hard mode, their Crazy charts in Crazy mode, and their double charts in Double mode.
  • Extra renames Crazy mode to Extra Expert, and includes both single and double charts within that mode and Nonstop Remix mode. Nonstop Remix Crazy charts are gone.
  • The Premiere uses the exact same mode set as the PC version of Perfect Collection, but does not include Nonstop Remixes at all.
  • Rebirth and The Premiere 2 rename Double mode to Full Double mode. In addition, they add Half Double and Division modes.
  • The Prex 2 uses the same mode set as Premiere, renaming Full Double back to Double and removing Half Double and Division.
  • The Premiere 3 adds Half Double mode back in and renames Double to Full Double once again.
  • The Prex 3 renames Full Double to Freestyle and adds Nightmare mode.

Later games (Exceed - NX Absolute)[edit | edit source]

Exceed and its successor games introduced a relatively clean system compared to the older games. The modes that corresponded to "normal" gameplay became difficulties, and were used in all modes. Exceed still had Battle mode as a separate difficulty in the same game mode as normal play, but this was abandoned in Exceed 2.

In addition, Exceed introduced a brand-new level scale. Unlike the old scale, all charts were rated on the same scale, regardless of difficulty. This means that, regardless of mode, it is likely that two charts with the same rating are about as difficult as each other. Exceed 2 introduced ?? as a special rating, indicating an exceptionally difficult chart; later games tended to give these charts explicit ratings and assign ?? to even harder charts. This numerical scale topped out at 20 in Exceed, increasing as high as 25 for one Nightmare chart in NX Absolute.

The three single difficulties are Normal, Hard, and Crazy. The double difficulties are Freestyle and Nightmare.

Players were not required to choose the same difficulty starting with Zero in the arcades and Exceed SE at home, the latter only in its Home Mode.

Latest games (Fiesta - present)[edit | edit source]

Fiesta mostly removed the concept of fixed "difficulties". Instead, charts are classified by level and whether they are Single or Double. There are also Performance versions of these categories; for low-level charts these indicate that the chart is intended to be used for freestyle performances, while for high-level charts they indicate the presence of complex spins and other patterns. Co-op charts are also present. While technically Double charts, they are intended and marked for two or more players to play simultaneously.

The level scale used in Exceed and later is still used in these games, with one exception: the ?? rating no longer corresponds to a high rating. It now has two purposes:

  • For the special case of a Double Performance Lv. ?? chart, indicating that the chart is a Co-op chart.
  • Indicating that a chart is not intended to be playable. The only chart that uses the ?? rating in this way is Exceed2 Opening Double Lv. ??.

Starting with a later revision of Prime, Co-op charts are displayed as their own category. They do not have levels, but instead indicate how many players the chart is meant for where the level is displayed for other charts.

In addition, there is a tag system. Fiesta introduced the Another tag, which indicates that the tagged chart was an Another chart before Fiesta; it was never used on any new charts and was removed in Fiesta 2. Prime introduced the UCS tag, which indicates that the chart is a UCS contest winner and was not made by Andamiro; charts with the UCS tag that survived into Prime 2 lost the tag.

The current highest chart rating is held by PARADOXX, which has a Double chart rated Lv. 28.

Infinity, though not a mainline game, uses this system in largely the same way as Fiesta EX, with the following exceptions:

  • Half-Double charts are available and have their own category.
  • Co-op charts are called Routine charts, have their own category, and have levels.
  • Performance is a tag rather than a category.
  • Charts imported from the Pro series are tagged Pro.
  • In v1.10 and later, charts introduced in Infinity have an infinity symbol (∞) tag.

Fun in Motion series (Pro - Pro 2)[edit | edit source]

Pump it Up Pro was released after NX, and as such its difficulty system reflects the then-current mainline system with some changes. The five main difficulties are all present. A new Easy difficulty is also present; every Easy chart is rated 1.

The r5 update to Pump it Up Pro added Half-Double steps, placed under the difficulty Half-Double. Pro 2 added Routine steps, which are cooperative double charts.

The level scale used in the Fun in Motion series is completely different from that used in the mainline games. Like many traits of the Fun in Motion series, it is designed to be more familiar to In the Groove players. It ranges from 1-15 in Pro, expanding to 16 in the r5 update. Pink Fuzzy Bunnies Routine is rated 20, but this is only to indicate that it is not meant to be played by two players, unlike all other Routine charts in Pro 2.