Doppelganger

Credited to MonstDeath, "Doppelganger" was added to Pump It Up PHOENIX with the 2.05 update after placing in the Andamiro Music Contest, the competition through which the company sources original music for the series. The track holds a steady 210 BPM, and the BGA visuals are by Mitsugane. CONRAD designed the charts, and in PHOENIX the song spans a wide range: Single 9, 13, 16, 20, 22 and 24, plus Double 15, 18, 24 and 26.

A signature touch shows up on the top two difficulties of each mode: at one point the steps spell out the word DOPPELGANGER as note art. Because that section is built from high-tick freeze notes, it acts as a "potion" that pads your score and eases the life gauge. The S24 demands roughly twenty seconds of nonstop 210 BPM running that mixes twists and brackets with no breathing room, which becomes its make-or-break passage.

The D26 plays like an unfolded version of the S24. Its breaking point is the ultra-long closing run at 210 BPM; clearing the bracket-laced burst that appears just before it ends is the key challenge. Apart from that finish, there is nothing a level-26 player would call hard: because the central Doppelganger note art uses headless freeze notes, gauge and stamina management are far more comfortable here than on most other D26 charts. Notably, that closing run lasts a few seconds longer than the highlight section of "Neo Catharsis," which shares the same 210 BPM.