JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (PS1 Game)

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険) is a game developed by  based on the third part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Stardust Crusaders. The game serves as a port of JoJo's Venture with elements taken from the game's revision, Heritage for the Future.

The game combines Capcom's trademark anime-inspired graphics, as seen in the  series, with the colorful characters and events of Hirohiko Araki's creation, resulting in a highly stylized and detailed visual style. It features many of the gameplay mechanics seen on previous Capcom fighting games, such as the use of power gauges for super moves, as well as a brand-new Stand Mode: a character's Stand can be summoned or dismissed at will by the player, resulting in variations in the character's move list and abilities.

The most significant addition present in the PlayStation port is Super Story Mode, an overarching campaign mode that incorporates battles, mini-games, and quick-time event stages to adapt every fight in Stardust Crusaders. Other additions include the new characters and storylines from Heritage for the Future, a Training Mode where the player can practice strategies, and two extra modes that provide bonus content as the player gains points in Super Story Mode.

Gameplay
The basic gameplay mechanics are those of a standard fighting game: one-on-one battles consisting of a series of rounds, in which the goal is to deplete the adversary's Vitality Gauge using regular attacks and character-specific special and super moves. Special and super moves require the input of button combinations and/or accumulated energy, which is displayed in a Super Combo Gauge that increases every time damage is dealt or taken.

The game uses a simplified four-button control scheme, consisting of three attack buttons (light, medium, and heavy) and a Stand button, which switches the character's Stand Mode on or off. Pressing all three attack buttons triggers a invulnerable forward dodge; pressing the three buttons while blocking pushes the opponent back a set distance. Depending on which button is used to select a character, a different color palette will be used for that character.

Two single-player modes are available: Super Story Mode, which follows the plot of Stardust Crusaders beat-for-beat and incorporates special gameplay modes, and Arcade Mode, which functions identically to Heritage for the Future ' s Story Mode. In addition, there is a two-player VS Mode and a Training Mode to practice moves and combos in. As the player clears stages in Super Story Mode, they can earn up to fifty JoJo Ability Points for each stage; as the player earns more JoJo Ability Points, additional playable characters and extras in Gallery Mode and Book Mode are unlocked.

Stand Mode
Fighting with Stand Mode on enhances a character's offensive and defensive abilities; these improvements heavily depend on the character and Stand, but the most common benefits are double jumping, absorbing residual damage when blocking special attacks, and more powerful special moves.

Stands themselves are physical extensions of their users, and thus damage and attack effects inflicted upon one carries over to its user. Like avatar/puppet-based characters in other fighting games, Stands are able to act independently of their users, allowing for several offensive gimmicks.

Most of the game's unique mechanics derive from the introduced Stand Mode. Many special moves and attacks send a combatant's Stand away from its user, making it more difficult to protect both at the same time; each character's orientation is based on their position towards their opponent, and not necessarily the opponent's Stand. If a character is damaged while their Stand is far away, the damage received is doubled. On top of the Vitality Gauge and Super Combo Gauge, there is a third gauge, the Stand Gauge, which decreases when a character's Stand is damaged and refills when Stand Mode is switched off. If this gauge is depleted, a Stand Crash occurs, leaving the character paralyzed and open to attack for a moment.

Another feature of Stands is Tandem Attack, which can be executed once a character has one stock of the Super Combo Gauge to expend. During the extended startup flash, inputs can be provided for the character's Stand; the Stand will then perform these button inputs on their own as a Program Attack, leaving the user free to do as they please and attack simultaneously. Controlling the Stand directly by performing a special move will cancel the Stand's predetermined onslaught early, however. Weapon Stand users such as Chaka and Joseph Joestar, who are unable to separate their Stand from themselves, can instead perform a Real Time Attack, in which most of their moves can be chained into one another until the stock is emptied.

Some characters lack the ability to enter Stand Mode, such as Mariah and Hol Horse; these Passive Stand Users introduce their own complex and specific mechanics into the game. Several nonplayable characters (Gray Fly, Enya the Hag, Death Thirteen, Judgement, and N'Doul) are either present in Stand form only or move completely independently of their Stand.

The mechanics of each Stand create strong differences between the game's characters, and force different offensive approaches for each one. This "character-dependent gameplay" style would inspire several subsequent fighting games, such as the latter entries of the  series (which, interestingly enough, also contains several rock and pop music references).

Clashing
If certain attacks of the same strength and intensity occur at the same time and collide, clashing occurs. This only happens with characters with an Active Stand. It is hard to see this system in action as it happens very infrequently. This mechanic would later be incorporated into future JoJo games, such as All-Star Battle.

In some cases, when two certain opposing special moves are performed at the very same time, a Blazing Fists Match can occur. When this happens, both combatants are prompted to rapidly tap the attack buttons to win the duel and decide who will receive damage, a feature first seen in . This feature has since been adopted and expanded in All-Star Battle.

Changes from JoJo's Venture
Every character from JoJo's Venture is available from the get-go, along with five new characters: Hol Horse, Anubis Dual-Wielding Polnareff, Mariah, Pet Shop, and a newly-playable Vanilla Ice. The names of Young Joseph (若ジョセフ) and Shadow DIO (影DIO) were changed to Proud Lineage Joseph (誇り高き血統ジョセフ) and Evil Incarnate Dio (邪悪の化身ディオ!!) respectively. In addition, four new hidden characters have been added, these being Rubber Soul, Khan, Hol Horse & Boingo, and Fearless Kakyoin. Additional palettes for each character have also been added to be used with the Stand button. Less significantly, Vanilla Ice's boss AI has been toned down, and Proud Lineage Joseph now wears his tank top from Battle Tendency.

Venture ' s menu systems have been mostly redesigned. Sound effects throughout the game have been added or changed, and the startup animations for super moves and Tandem Attacks have been altered. The Super Combo Gauge now resets to one stock after every round, unlike in Venture where it would keep energy between rounds. A save system has been added, and an in-game Option Mode allows you to adjust several game settings.

Game Modes
The PlayStation version of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure contains the following game modes:

Super Story Mode
Stages in Super Story Mode can take one of three forms: a VS Mode stage, which uses the traditional gameplay of JoJo's Venture; a Mini-Game stage, which can come in a variety of forms; or an Adventure stage, essentially a dialogue-based cutscene where the player must occasionally dodge an incoming obstacle. After the stage, the player will be graded on their performance: fifteen points each can be earned from remaining time and health, ten can be earned from a variety of special bonuses, and the remaining ten is earned by completing the stage's Secret Factor objective. Each category is saved individually, so the player does not need to gain all of a stage's points at once. After the player beats Super Story Mode once, four extra stages are unlocked, adapting various characters' encounters with Evil Incarnate Dio.

Differences from the Manga

 * In Super Story Mode, many of the scenes surrounding the battles are either altered or cut:


 * Much of each character's story in Arcade Mode is not logically explained. One example is in Kakyoin's storyline: after encountering Jotaro, his story immediately jumps to Devo without introducing his victim Polnareff in Hong Kong first.
 * Many character-altering injuries were downplayed or outright cut, such as with Polnareff and Iggy.
 * The playable villains have very different storylines from the manga in Arcade Mode. Most minor villains turn on Dio in their Arcade Mode storylines, while Dio himself must face a surviving Avdol and Iggy in his storyline.
 * New scenarios were also written for Fearless Kakyoin, explaining his lengthy hospital stay as a result of Mannish Boy's revenge, and Proud Lineage Joseph, explaining his appearance as a result of Alessi's Stand ability.
 * Midler is seen with a new character design as the result of a collaboration between Araki and Capcom. She has been drawn by Araki with this new design ever since.
 * In the Stardust Crusaders anime adaptation, her character design was reverted to her manga appearance.
 * DIO's explosive death is less violent in the game, as he merely flies offscreen to his doom. In the manga and anime, DIO's head explodes; in the arcade and HD versions, his upper body explodes with it.
 * While D'Arby's cat mini-game is rigged against the player the first time it is played in Super Story Mode, it is possible to win the mini-game legitimately by replaying it in Super Story Mode or Book Mode.

Localization
The game's English localization changes the names of several characters to avert possible legal issues. Most of these localized names have never been used since.


 * Proud Lineage Joseph (誇り高き血統ジョセフ) was shortened to JoJo (inadvertently making him the titular character).
 * Evil Incarnate Dio (邪悪の化身ディオ!!) was renamed to Shadow DIO.
 * Anubis Dual-Wielding Polnareff (アヌビス二刀流ポルナレフ) was renamed to Black Polnareff.
 * Fearless Kakyoin (恐怖をのり越えた花京院) was renamed to New Kakyoin.
 * Iggy was renamed to Iggi.
 * Devo the Cursed was renamed to D'bo, the Cursed One.
 * Vanilla Ice was renamed to Iced.
 * Chaka was renamed to Chaca.
 * Alessi was renamed to Alessy.
 * Mariah was renamed to Mahrahia.
 * Oingo and Boingo were renamed to Oing and Voing.
 * Rubber Soul was renamed to Robber Soul.
 * Khan was renamed to Kan.
 * N'Doul was renamed to N'Dool.
 * Holy Kujo was renamed to Holley Kujo.
 * J. Geil was renamed to J. Gale.
 * Enya was renamed to N-Yah.

In addition, the blood in the game is colored white, and DIO's defeat in Super Story Mode and Arcade Mode is changed to him being sent flying off-screen (where he presumably dies). Near the start of N'Doul's bonus stage, an animation of Geb reacting to the dead helicopter pilot's watch alarm and cutting off his hand has been removed, and the blade of Chaka's sword is changed to a wooden brown color in every sprite it appears in. Unlike in all other versions, these changes apply to the Japanese edition of the PlayStation version as well.

JOJO POKE
JOJO POKE (ジョジョポケ) is a game for the, a memory card peripheral for the PlayStation. The device was only released in Japan in 1999, as a response to the 's peripherals. The PocketStation requires physical connection to a PlayStation's memory card slot to utilize its storage functionality, but it is also capable of running standalone software; this software was typically included as bonus content on the discs of compatible PS1 games. By connecting the PocketStation to the PlayStation version of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the player can download JOJO POKE to the portable system. JOJO POKE features seven mini-games themed after Stardust Crusaders, and has its own unlockables in the form of character portraits. Unsurprisingly, JOJO POKE (along with all PocketStation functionality) was cut from versions of the game released outside Japan.

Gameplay Modes



 * 1) Independent Arm (インディーズアーム): The player controls Hierophant Green's arm and moves around a playing field, avoiding walls and collecting gems. Collecting the gems in the numbered order shown before gameplay greatly increases the player's score. The gameplay itself bears a resemblance to.
 * 2) Flip Over the Tarot! (タロットをめくれッ！): A memorization game that involves the player flipping over tarot cards in the correct order.
 * 3) Speed! (スピード！): The player must align the reticle with the moving arrow and press the large button at the right time in order to catch Lovers with Star Platinum.
 * 4) Find the Coffee Flavor! (コーヒー味をさがせッ！): A variant where the player must watch three moving pieces of flavored gum and select the correct one afterward.
 * 5) Oh... Bravo!! (おお…ブラボー！！): A game that requires the player to stab falling coins with Silver Chariot in time to the background music. Four difficulty options are available, with each having its own music and coin pattern.
 * Run, Joseph! (走れッ！ ジョセフ): A where the player, as Joseph, must run and jump over obstacles in one of four stages.
 * 1) Adventure Mode (冒険モード): A game that encompasses the other six mini-games. Players progress forward on a "Travel Trail" map from Japan to Cairo in real-time. Occasionally, characters will halt the player's progress and challenge them to a mini-game; completing the challenge will unlock their character portrait, while failing it will reset the player's progress on the map. Each time Adventure Mode is cleared, a hidden character in the PS1 game is unlocked and can be accessed by linking the PocketStation to the game.
 * 2) Travel Tracks (旅の軌跡): A gallery mode in which the player can view their unlocked character portraits and clear rewards.

Trivia



 * In the game's Secret File, there is concept artwork of Roses, Kars, Wamuu, Esidisi, Wired Beck, and Stroheim from Battle Tendency, indicating that they may have been set to appear in the game during development.
 * While some of its sound effects have been borrowed from the Darkstalkers series, the unique sound effects used in this game have been recycled several times in other titles from Capcom, including Capcom vs. SNK 2, Capcom Fighting Evolution, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and even the Street Fighter series.
 * Regarding the Darkstalkers series, Evil Incarnate Dio uses a voice filter similar to that used by one of the games' characters, Jedah Dohma (from Vampire Savior). In addition, Dio is voiced by the same voice actor as Jedah (Isshin Chiba) in this game. This adaptation is the only time Dio's voice is rendered with a filter; in all other adaptations, he speaks without any notable filters or distortions.
 * Some of the visual effects used in this game (particularly the sparks, dust, and super sparks) have been borrowed from Capcom's Marvel vs. series.
 * DIO’s Road Roller super move, which has him pummel a road roller repeatedly until it explodes, mirrors the 1993 OVA where the tank truck DIO uses explodes after he pummels it. In the manga and anime, the road roller does not explode.
 * GioGio's Bizarre Adventure, another JoJo game developed by Capcom, has its own versions of Super Story Mode and Gallery Mode, with the same names and functions. As such, the game's scoring and progression system also borrows heavily from this game, with GioGio Points standing in for JoJo Ability Points. The game also features an orchestral rendition of Polnareff's theme as the background music for Chapter 11-1; in addition, some cutscenes use a remixed version of the villain intro theme from this game's single-player modes.
 * The underlying mechanics of All-Star Battle (and by extension, Eyes of Heaven) borrow heavily from this game. In addition, All-Star Battle has two DLC costumes for Jotaro and Polnareff based on promotional material for this game.
 * Iggy's Sand Storm super move is a reference to the Shun Goku Satsu move used by Akuma in the Street Fighter series. This is further evidenced in the game's debug mode, where an unused graphic shows the kanji for the word dog (犬) stylized in a similar manner to Akuma's kanji for heaven (天).
 * Five of the game's voice actors return to voice different characters in All-Star Battle: Mitsuaki Madono (Kakyoin), Hōchū Ōtsuka (Proud Lineage Joseph), Sho Hayami (Vanilla Ice), Wataru Takagi (Cameo), and Toru Okawa (Joseph Joestar). Madono voices Part 8's Josuke, Hōchu voices Hol Horse, Hayami voices Enrico Pucci, Takagi voices Okuyasu Nijimura, and Okawa voices Weather Report.
 * Hayami reprised his role as Vanilla Ice in the Stardust Crusaders anime adaptation and Eyes of Heaven. As a result, Pucci is instead voiced by Jouji Nakata in the latter.
 * Takagi reprised his role as Okuyasu in Eyes of Heaven and the Diamond is Unbreakable anime.
 * Okawa voices the narrator in the anime, and reprises his role as Weather Report in Eyes of Heaven.
 * The game's English logo became the de facto English logo of the JoJo franchise's games after its release, as All-Star Battle adapted the style of this game's logo. The logo for 2016's Eyes of Heaven uses the style introduced by Crunchyroll, but All-Star Battle's 2022 remaster All-Star Battle R retains the original game's logo.