Gameplay remains relatively unchanged from the original game, as players must step on the marked arrows on a dance pad controller, or wave their Wii Remote or Nunchuck when the corresponding arrow or hand marker passes through a set of static arrows on-screen to the beat of a song. When played with the Wii Remote, a separate "hand combo" attached to the lifebar increases if the player can keep the beat of the song with the controller while in play. These hand combos can add a bonus to the player's score when a hand marker is eventually reached.[5][6]
New modes on Hottest Party 2 include a battle mode[2] and the "Groove Arena", an updated version of Groove Circuit from the previous version. As with the previous game, songs can also contain special "gimmick" arrows with unique behaviors. New arrow gimmicks on Hottest Party 2 include arrows that rebound when hit and must be hit three times in order for them to fully disappear, and arrows that only appear suddenly,.[2][6]