Pump it Up has tried to cater more to freestyle players than "technical" players with more freestyle-friendly charts, and as a result the game has more of a culture in the freestyle and breakdancing disciplines. However, the game still caters well to technical players with a vast array of high difficulty songs and stepcharts.

The game is played on a dance pad with five arrow panels: up-left, up-right, bottom-left, bottom-right, and a centre panel. Additional gameplay modes may utilise two five-panel pads side-by-side. These panels are pressed using the player's feet, in response to arrows that appear on the screen in front of the player.