tl098711's Full Review: Pump It Up: Exceed Bundle for Xbox
My wife who is not much of a gamer noticed a Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) arcade game at a movie theater and showed interest. I thought a dance game like this would be fun for us to play together at home (as well as help get us off the couch and moving a bit more).
While looking for decent-priced DDR games for the Xbox, I came across Pump It Up Exceed (PIU), which I had not heard of before. I ended up buying one on eBay and after one week have ordered a second one so that we can have two dance pads side-by-side.
I am not a DDR or any dance game veteran, so all my perspective is that of a well-read newbie.
PIU versus DDR. As I've said, I'd never heard of PIU. DDR seems to be the "standard" out there, but reading any of a number of reviews you will find PIU rated superior to DDR. Here's why:
Step placement
DDR has 4 pads arranged in up/down/left right (think of a plus "+" sign). PIU has them arranged in a upper left-left/upper-right/lower-left/lower-right configuration (think of an "X"). This makes it a little more comfortable for left/right stepping, and makes it easier for you to keep facing forward.
PIU Center button
PIU has a fifth button, located in the middle of the "X". This fifth button increases the number of steps and combinations significantly.
The game comes with three tutorials to get you going.
Navigating through the menus is a bit awkward as you must stay off the dance pad and just tap until all the selections have been made and whatever you have chosen is starting up. Knowing when you can actually step onto the pad takes some getting used to. The menus are not the most intuitive.
You are allotted limited number of songs, with a majority of the 97 songs locked until after you have successfully completed certain levels. The problem is that even the easiest levels are quite difficult. I had to do tutorial #3 a bunch of times before I could stumble through the easiest, slowest regular level.
Also, at the song selection screen the "beats per minute" (bpm) are often hard to see/read, and only after the song has started do you know how fast a song you have selected.
All this being said, it is fun to dance and fun to watch others do it, and I've ordered a second game so that we dance side-by-side. I haven't found a supplier of just dance pads, so I just bought a second game.
Here are some other good reviews of Pump It Up Exceed:
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/puzzle/pumpitupexceed/review.html
http://xbox.about.com/od/reviews/fr/piuerev.htm
http://reviews.cnet.com/xbox-games/pump-it-up-exceed/4505-9582_7-31399739.html
SquareTrade AP6.0 Welcome to AngeLs Bargain Shop MICROSOFT Xbox "Friends Dance" Bundle - 2 Pump It Up: Exceed And Dance Mat Bundles + 2 Great Games Mo...More at eBay
this bundle includes: x box - pump it up: exceed & dance bundle- with mat 2 brand new xbox games- each retailing for no less then 10 dollarsfeatures s...More at UnbeatableSale, Inc.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.