Arcade dance game Pump It Up Phoenix 2 is now available at GameOn Auckland CBD, making it the first arcade in the country to get the new installment.
Phoenix 2 is the latest version of Andamiro’s long-running Pump It Up series, a dance game known for its five-panel layout, varied soundtrack (including licensed K-pop music), and unique style of step chart design. The new version introduces tweaks to the “Pumbility” rating system introduced in Pump It Up Phoenix, a new rival system, and a Steam Link feature that allows those who own Pump It Up Rise on Steam to unlock extra songs for the arcade game.
The international version of Phoenix 2 officially launched on July 20, but it typically takes a bit of time for new arcade games to start showing up in local venues (due to shipping times and other logistical factors). That makes it a nice surprise to see Phoenix 2 in New Zealand just a few days after its official launch. GameOn Queen Street is the only place with it at the time of writing, but other arcades will hopefully get it soon.
Phoenix 2 released in Korea earlier this month, so there’s already a lot of information about it from Korean players. The tweaks to rating system include giving it more presence in the game by including it on players’ profile banners with badges for different ranks (in Phoenix you could only see it by viewing your play data on the game’s website).
There’s more emphasis on accuracy now—Pumbility takes into account both your score and the chart level you’re playing in determining the rating you get for each stage you clear, as it always has, but score carries a bit more weight now, so there’s more incentive to improve your scores on lower-level charts rather than just focusing on passing the highest-level things you can. There are also separate leaderboards for Single (playing on one half of the dance stage) and Double (a single player using the whole stage, all 10 panels) Pumbility, as well as a combined one.
The other big addition is a connection with Pump It Up Rise, which came out on Steam last year. By linking your Pump It Up arcade card with Rise, you unlock 10 of the original songs created for Rise in Phoenix 2, complete with new step charts designed for playing on the arcade dance pad. The link also unlocks “Rise Mix” in the arcade game, making Rise‘s “Half-Double” step charts (i.e. using both sides of the stage like Double, but only the middle six panels instead of all 10) playable in the arcade version—though it’s worth noting that these are charts designed primarily for keyboard/controller, and won’t necessarily be as suited for playing with feet as charts designed for arcade specifically.
