All-Star Battle/Kars

Kars makes his first appearance as a playable character in the PS3 title. He was confirmed alongside Rohan Kishibe. In the English release of the game, Kars's Light Blades are called "Shining Sabres" (keeping the alliteration of the Japanese name).

Along with Wamuu and Esidisi, Kars uses the Mode style as part of his moveset, which allows him to temporarily boost his strength and performance among other things, at the cost of the Heart Heat Gauge.

Vampire characters (Dio Brando, DIO and Vanilla Ice) and Pillar Men characters (Wamuu, Esidisi and Kars) can't fight on stages that contain sunlight. To play on those stages they need to be equipped with the Red Stone of Aja on the character select screen, which is unlocked by beating their respective parts in Story Mode.

If Kars, Wamuu or Esidisi fight in the Skeleton Heel Stone stage, the crowd will shout their names, recreating the scene in Part 2. When Kars isn't fighting, he will appear as a background character alongside Lisa Lisa. If Wamuu is one of the combatants in battle, Kars can be heard bragging about Wamuu's strength frequently.

Command List
Kars has 850 HP.

During a fight, Kars can use several different attacks that were featured in Battle Tendency.

Once his GHA is successful, Kars is dubbed as "Kars (Ultimate Thing)" for the rest of the battle and gains a whole new moveset that possesses greater overall range, speed, and damage than his previous state. Ultimate Thing Kars is not entirely infallible. If he falls victim to Kosaku-Kira's Bites the Dust GHA, Kars will revert back to his original form. He also loses access to his HHA, or enter Light Mode and Shining Sabres Mode.

Gameplay Overview
A tricky high-speed character that represents the "Glass Cannon" sub-archetype, firmly 'rushdown', Kars aims to close the distance and assault the opponent with his various Lightblade attacks. He has impressive base movement speed and strong normal attacks, and readily engages well in close combat. Beyond that, he possesses several attacks that move him large distances forward, as well as an attack that targets the opponent from anywhere in a high-low-feint mix-up. His Modes make his already-impressive offense especially dangerous, with many of his attacks becoming completely unblockable and his combo ability improved.

Should he successfully transform into the Ultimate Thing, Kars becomes a tremendously powerful, if not simplified character. With an unblockable attack, various fast high-low skills, and a wealth of mid-ranged attacks and projectiles that all deal or can lead into explosive damage, he dictates the flow of the match. All the while, most of these attacks rarely leave him vulnerable. Kars may also take to the skies and control the aerial space with his projectiles and sudden air dashes, where most characters can have great trouble challenging him.

However, as a glass cannon character, Kars has much lower-than-average health. In addition, many of his skills while in his regular form can be situational and not easily used well. He can have difficulty securing an opportunity to transform into the Ultimate Thing when battling certain characters, which limits his potential. Even after transforming, Kars loses access to many useful abilities like his Modes and certain skills, requiring some adaptation.

Kars specializes in moving in close to his opponent and using various mix-ups and unblockable attacks to outmaneuver them and bypass defenses. Once he ascends to the Ultimate Thing, his new arsenal of abilities are a balanced combination of high speed, damage, utility, and ease-of-use, requiring little effort to deliver devastating results.

Trivia

 * The dialog of Kars and the Light Dancer Kars from JORGE JOESTAR Chapter 16 is referenced in All-Star Battle in a mirror match of Kars against himself.