The main game's gameplay is a takeoff of the Japanese rhythm game Osu!.
Songs are sung by cover artists, and not the original artists. The eastern and western releases of the game have almost identical track lists, with the western releases having 3 additional crossover songs exclusive to that version.
It starts when Sharpay signed up the gang auditioning for a national music competition. They have problems in between (i.e.: Taylor thinking Chad is cheating on her, while Chad was just scared of heights since the other part of the competition would be held at a high altitude).
There are three different types of gameplay: Dance, music, and video making showdowns.