Jump Ultimate Stars (ジャンプアルティメットスターズ, Janpu Arutimetto Sutāzu) is a fighting video game developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. The game was released in Japan on November 23, 2006. It is the sequel to Jump Super Stars.
Overview
Jump Ultimate Stars preserves many of the features in Jump Super Stars, and improves upon them through sheer quantity, rather than deviation. Jump Ultimate Stars appears as an improved version of Jump Super Stars through the addition of many more Shonen Jump series (such as Kinnukuman, Hokuto no Ken, and Ninku) and more abilites for characters of major manga series (such as Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece). The game boasts 305 characters (56 of which are fully playable) from 41 different Shōnen Jump manga series; however, the characters from Hikaru no Go and Mr. Fullswing do not return in this sequel and Steel Ball Run has since been revised into a story arc within JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Almost all of the Battle characters are also Support and Help characters. This is also true for Support characters being Help characters. However, the exception is Sasuke Uchiha, Raoh, Frieza, Kid Buu, and Heihachi Edajima; these characters do not have a Support character koma, but they do have their Help koma alternative.
Like its predecessor, the game was not released outside of Japan largely due to international licensing issues for the plethora of series represented.
Gameplay
Character selection and usage is only possible through the koma in Jump Ultimate Stars (koma being structures that take up square areas on the lower screen of the Nintendo DS). A koma depicts a character from a particular series with a simple picture (one square), or appearing to do something tied to a certain section of his manga series (detailed with a statement on the koma). Koma can be Battle Komas (four to eight squares; are controlled directly by the player for fighting and movement), Support Komas (two to three squares; appear on the battle screen once touched on the lower screen to do a type of attack, then disappear), or Help Komas (single squares; apply certain effects to Battle Komas through an arrow or provide extra energy for special attacks). Larger komas (taking up more squares) signify greater health (and power).
Playable characters
There are 56 playable characters in this game.
- Eve (Black Cat)
- Train Heartnet (Black Cat)
- Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo)
- Don Patch (Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo)
- Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)
- Rukia Kuchiki (Bleach)
- Tōshirō Hitsugaya (Bleach)
- Renji Abarai (Bleach)
- Kazuki Muto (Buso Renkin)
- Allen Walker (D.Gray-man)
- Lenalee Lee (D.Gray-man)
- Arale Norimaki (Dr. Slump)
- Dr. Mashirito ('Dr. Slump)
- Goku (Dragon Ball)
- Vegeta (Dragon Ball)
- Gohan (Dragon Ball)
- Gotenks (Dragon Ball)
- Piccolo (Dragon Ball)
- Frieza (Dragon Ball)
- Kid Buu (Dragon Ball)
- Gintoki Sakata (Gintama)
- Kagura (Gintama)
- Kenshiro (Fist of the North Star)
- Raoh (Fist of the North Star)
- Taikoubou (Hoshin Engi)
- Gon Freecss (Hunter × Hunter)
- Killua Zaoldyeck (Hunter × Hunter)
- Jotaro Kujo (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
- Dio Brando (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
- Tsunayoshi "Tsuna" Sawada & Reborn (Reborn!)
- Kinnikuman (Kinnikuman)
- Ryotsu Kankichi (KochiKame)
- Neuro Nogami & Yako Katsuragi (Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro)
- Toru Muhyo (Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation)
- Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto)
- Sakura Haruno (Naruto)
- Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)
- Kakashi Hatake (Naruto)
- Fuusuke (Ninku)
- Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece)
- Roronoa Zoro (One Piece)
- Nami (One Piece)
- Sanji (One Piece)
- Nico Robin (One Piece)
- Franky (One Piece)
- Jaguar Junichi (Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar)
- Himura Kenshin (Rurouni Kenshin)
- Pegasus Seiya (Saint Seiya)
- Momotaro Tsurugi (Sakigake!! Otokojuku)
- Heihachi Edajima (Sakigake!! Otokojuku)
- Yoh Asakura (Shaman King)
- Anna Kyoyama (Shaman King)
- Yugi Mutou (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
- Yusuke Urameshi (YuYu Hakusho)
- Kurama (YuYu Hakusho)
- Hiei (YuYu Hakusho)
Manga series
Dragon Ball
The Dragon Ball series appears in Jump Ultimate Stars. Goku, the main character of Dragon Ball, is a major character in the game, and seems to have been the main character to Jump Super Stars, for he was the most prominent character on the cover. Dragon Ball is one of the most represented series in Jump Ultimate Stars, with Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Gotenks, Piccolo, Frieza, and Kid Buu being fully playable (they have Battle Koma forms). Dragon Ball has a large role in the game (through Dragon Ball Z influence of characters), with Goku and Vegeta being among the most powerful characters in the game. Dragon Ball seems to emphasize its might among the Shonen Jump series of video game with Goku having an eight square koma which is the highest and rarest type.
Represented series
This is a list of represented series in Jump Ultimate Stars. Most of the main characters from each series appear as characters within the game. There are 24 returning series with the addition of 17 new ones (the asterisk marks newly included series), concluding 41 in total.
- Black Cat (5 characters: 2 Battle, 1 Support, 2 Help)
- Bleach (17 characters: 4 Battle, 7 Support, 6 Help)
- Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (12 characters: 2 Battle, 4 Support, 6 Help)
- Buso Renkin (4 characters: 1 Battle, 3 Help)
- Captain Tsubasa* (5 characters: 3 Support, 2 Help)
- Cobra* (3 characters: all Support)
- D.Gray-man (9 characters: 2 Battle, 3 Support, 4 Help)
- Death Note (5 characters: all Support)
- Dr. Slump (7 characters: 2 Battle, 2 Support, 3 Help)
- Dragon Ball (13 characters: 7 Battle, 2 Support, 4 Help)
- Eyeshield 21 (17 characters: 11 Support, 6 Help)
- Gintama (13 characters: 2 Battle, 6 Support, 5 Help)
- Fist of the North Star* (7 characters: 2 Battle, 2 Support, 3 Help)
- Hoshin Engi* (4 characters: 1 Battle, 1 Support, 2 Help)
- Hunter × Hunter (7 characters: 2 Battle, 3 Support, 2 Help)
- I"s* (4 characters: 2 Support, 2 Help)
- Strawberry 100% (7 characters: 4 Support, 3 Help)
- Jigoku Sensei Nūbē* (4 characters: 2 Support, 2 Help)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (10 characters: 2 Battle, 6 Support, 2 Help)
- Jungle King Tar-chan* (4 characters: 1 Support, 3 Help)
- Reborn! (10 characters: 1 Battle, 6 Support, 3 Help)
- Kinnikuman* (10 characters: 1 Battle, 7 Support, 2 Help)
- KochiKame (15 characters: 1 Battle, 8 Support, 6 Help)
- Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro* (4 characters: 1 Battle, 3 Help)
- Midori no Makibao* (3 characters: 2 Support, 1 Help)
- Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation* (7 characters: 1 Battle, 4 Support, 2 Help)
- Naruto (9 characters: 4 Battle, 1 Support, 4 Help; Rock Lee, Neji Hyuuga, Hinata Hyuuga and Shikamaru Nara were removed from the Naruto cast)
- Ninku* (3 characters: 1 Battle, 2 Help)
- One Piece (10 characters: 6 Battle, 2 Support, 2 Help)
- Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar (7 characters: 1 Battle, 3 Support, 3 Help)
- Rokudenashi BLUES* (5 characters: 1 Support, 4 Help)
- Rurouni Kenshin (7 characters: 1 Battle, 4 Support, 2 Help)
- Saint Seiya* (7 characters: 1 Battle, 4 Support, 2 Help)
- Sakigake!! Otokojuku* (10 characters: 2 Battle, 4 Support, 4 Help)
- Shaman King (8 characters: 2 Battle, 1 Support, 5 Help)
- Slam Dunk (7 characters: 5 Support, 2 Help)
- Taizo Mote King Saga* (3 characters: 2 Support, 1 Help)
- The Prince of Tennis (9 characters: all Support)
- Tottemo! Luckyman* (3 characters: 2 Support, 1 Help)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! (5 characters: 1 Battle, 1 Support, 3 Help)
- YuYu Hakusho (6 characters: 3 Battle, 1 Support, 2 Help)
External links
- Jump Ultimate Stars official website (Japanese)