The game combines Capcom's trademark anime-inspired graphics, as seen in the Darkstalkers 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.
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 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 Hol Horse 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 Evil Incarnation Dio; 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 Guilty Gear series (which, interestingly enough, also contains 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 Samurai Shodown. This feature has since been adopted and expanded in All Star Battle.
Bonus Stages and Special Battles
In some battles in Arcade Mode, special rules are applied in order to reenact certain chapters of the original manga that were unable to be adapted into the normal circumstances of the 1v1 battles.
N'Doul is not fought directly; instead, the player character finds himself on a corridor level and must reach N'Doul at the end of the level. Throughout the stage, Geb will attack, and the player must avoid the Stand's attacks by jumping or dashing.
Mannish Boy (or rather, Death Thirteen) can only be fought in Arcade Mode if the player clears the first five stages without using continues and while playing as one of the heroes. His attacks exploit the dream-like nature of his stage, as well as the absence of his user. Whether the player wins or loses against Death Thirteen, they are allowed to continue Arcade Mode.
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. In addition, four additional 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.
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 need not gain all of a stage's points at once.
1
The Magician of Fire (炎の魔術師Honō no Majutsushi)
Near the Canary Islands, a strange coffin has been lifted from the bottom of the sea. Sometime later, a teenager named Jotaro Kujo locks himself in a Tokyo jail cell, convinced that he has been possessed by an evil spirit. At his mother Holy's request, Jotaro's grandfather Joseph Joestar visits Japan and attempts to coerce him out of his cell. When Jotaro refuses, Joseph asks his friend Muhammad Avdol to remove him by force. After the fight, Joseph explains to Jotaro that the appearance of his "evil spirit", later named Star Platinum, is caused by the Joestar family's enemy DIO, who has reawoken after a hundred years. Secret Factor: So you got me out of the cell? (牢屋の外、してやられたというわけか)
End the fight with Jotaro outside the cell and Avdol inside.
2
Who Will Be the Judge?! (裁くのは誰だ!?Sabaku no wa Dare da!?)
At his high school, Jotaro comes across an enemy Stand user named Noriaki Kakyoin. Summoning his Stand, Hierophant Green, Kakyoin reveals that he was sent by DIO to eliminate the Joestars. After the fight, Jotaro removes a flesh bud made of DIO's cells from Kakyoin's brain, freeing him of DIO's influence. When Holy's own Stand begins to weaken her, the Joestars and their allies board a plane to Egypt in order to kill DIO. Secret Factor: Ora-ora! My Stand will be the judge! (オラオラ裁くのは俺のスタンドだッー)
End the fight with Jotaro's Puttsun Ora super move.
3
Insect Attack! (奇虫襲撃！Kichū Shūgeki!)
On the plane to Egypt, an enemy Stand named Tower of Gray suddenly begins ripping out the other passengers' tongues. Though the enemy proves to be faster than Jotaro's Star Platinum, Kakyoin steps up to eliminate it himself. After the fight, the Stand's user is revealed to be an old man named Gray Fly. However, Tower of Gray has already killed the pilots, causing the plane to begin crashing. As Gray Fly dies, Joseph is forced to take control of the plane, remarking that this is the third plane crash he's been in. Secret Factor: I already extended Hierophant's tentacles... (すでに法皇の触脚がのびていたのだ)
End the fight with Kakyoin's Independent Arm super move.
4
Chivalry (騎士のおきてIshi no Okite)
The Joestar group arrives in Hong Kong's Tiger Balm Garden, where an enemy named Jean Pierre Polnareff challenges Avdol and predicts that his own Stand will overcome him. As the fight will take place in a wide-open space, Avdol prepares to use his Stand's full power. After the battle, Polnareff accepts his fate of burning to death, leading Avdol to deduce that Polnareff has been implanted with a flesh bud as well. Jotaro removes the flesh bud, and (to Jotaro's dismay) Joseph cracks a joke. Secret Factor: Can you dodge my Cross Fire Hurricane Special? (Ｃ・Ｆ・Ｈ・Ｓかわせるかッー)
End the fight with Avdol's Cross Fire Hurricane Special super move.
5
The Seafaring Trap?! (Adventure) (海路のワナ!?Kairo no Wana!?)
Polnareff tells the Joestar group that he is searching for a man with two right hands, who was responsible for his sister's killing; suspecting that his target is allied with DIO, Polnareff joins the Joestar group as they board a ship to Singapore. In the middle of the voyage, a little girl is discovered to have stowed onto the ship; the girl jumps overboard to escape the sailors, but is grabbed by the underwater Stand Dark Blue Moon, forcing Jotaro to save her. When the ship's Captain Tennille appears on deck to apprehend the girl, Jotaro tricks him into revealing that he is an impostor and Dark Blue Moon's user. The fake Tennille grabs the girl and pulls her into the water; Jotaro saves her again, but is pulled underwater by Dark Blue Moon's barnacles. Though the Stand creates a whirlpool to trap Jotaro, Star Platinum extends its finger and slices its head. Secret Factor: Seems you're the one who became sashimi. (やっぱりてめーだ刺し身になったのは)
Complete the stage without missing a single quick-time event.
6
The Empty Ship and the Ape (Mini-Game) (無人船と猿Mujinsen to Saru)
The group disembarks the now-captainless ship using one of the lifeboats. While at sea, they encounter and board a large freighter. The ship is devoid of life save one orangutan, whom Jotaro suspects to be a Stand user. The battle with the orangutan plays out as a whack-a-mole-style shooting game: Forever appears at one of nine spots, and the player must shoot him and any debris he throws to win. Occasionally, the stowaway girl will appear; shooting her or being hit with debris will cause Jotaro to take damage. After the battle, Jotaro realizes that the entire ship is a Stand, and the group escapes the ship on the lifeboat they arrived in. Secret Factor: This is a bit heavy for a little girl! (女の子にゃあきつすぎるぜ)
Complete the stage without hitting the stowaway girl.
Differences from the Manga
Jotaro removes Kakyoin's flesh bud at the hospital immediately after defeating him as an antagonist. In the manga and anime adaptations, Jotaro takes him to the Kujo household and removes the flesh bud there.
Perhaps due to programming constraints, 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 single-player 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 Arcade Mode, Jotaro taunts N'Doul instead of talking to him after defeating the latter.
DIO's explosive death is more violent in the game, as only his bloodied lower torso is left. In the manga and anime, his upper torso remains, sans his decimated head.
Steely Dan's brutal punishment by Jotaro in Super Story Mode is remarkably shorter than in the manga. In addition, many of the scenes depicting Jotaro's suffering at the hands of Steely Dan was cut.
Enya is killed after being defeated by Jotaro in Super Story Mode, whereas Steely Dan executes her in the manga and anime.
While D'Arby's minigames are rigged to lose on the first play in Super Story Mode, it is possible to legitimately win in D'Arby's minigames when replaying them through Book Mode (double-check this).
Name Changes
Many of the names in the game's English localization have been changed, mostly due to copyright issues.
Devo the Cursed is renamed to D'Bo, the Cursed One.
Vanilla Ice is renamed to Iced.
Chaka is renamed to Chaca.
Alessi is renamed to Alessy.
Mariah is renamed to Mahrahia.
Oingo and Boingo were renamed to Oing and Voing.
Rubber Soul is renamed to Robber Soul.
Khan is renamed to Kan.
N'Doul is renamed to N'Dool.
Holy Kujo is renamed to Holley Kujo.
J. Geil is renamed to J. Gale.
Enya is renamed to N-Yah.
Steely Dan is renamed to S-Terry Dan.
Arabia Fats is renamed to Alabia Fats.
Cameo is renamed to Kameo.
Kenny G is renamed to Ken-E Gee.
JOJOPOKE
The PocketStation is a Japanese only memory card peripheral for the Sony PlayStation. Released in 1999, it was designed to be the company's early attempt at a handheld system. The device 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 a game to the portable system titled JOJOPOKE (ジョジョポケ). The game features seven mini-games themed after Stardust Crusaders, and has its own unlockables in the form of character portraits.[3]
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 obstacles and collecting coins in numerical order. The gameplay bears a resemblance to the game of Snake.
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.
Speed! (スピード！): The player must align the reticle with the arrow in order to catch Lovers with Star Platinum.
Find the Coffee Flavor! (コーヒー味をさがせッ！): A Shell game variant where the player must select the correct flavored gum.
Oh... Bravo!! (おお…ブラボー！！): A game that requires the player to stab falling coins with Silver Chariot. The sound effects the coins make when stabbed reproduce Polnareff's theme in Heritage for the Future.
Run, Joseph! (走れッ！ ジョセフ): A vertically scrolling game where the player, as Joseph, must run and jump over obstacles.
Adventure Mode (冒険モード): A game that encompasses the other six mini-games. Players complete games in order to progress forward on a "Travel Trail" map, unlocking character portraits in the process.
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 IV 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.
Homages
The game pays homage to other JoJo-related media that came before it.
The normal color scheme used for The World's armor and skin bears a striking resemblance to the one used in the 1993 OVA.
One of Avdol's alternate color schemes colors his coat red and his shirt yellow, causing him to resemble his appearance in the 1993 and 2001 OVAs. Joseph Joestar and Polnareff also have alternate color schemes that resemble their OVA appearances.
One of Iggy's special moves creates a giant wave of sand that flows in the opponent's direction, similar to how he attacks Vanilla Ice in the 1993 OVA.
DIO’s Road Roller super move has him pummel a steamroller repeatedly until it explodes. The explosion aspect mirrors the 1993 OVA, where DIO instead uses a tank truck that explodes after he pummels it.
In turn, later JoJo games pay homage to this game.
In All Star Battle, Dio Brando's Space Ripper Stingy Eyes HHA uses the same animation as DIO's version of the move in this game. Furthermore, DIO's HHA move in ASB functions similarly to Evil Incarnate Dio's "Checkmate!" super move.
All Star Battle has two DLC costumes for Jotaro and Polnareff based on promotional material for this game.[4]
GioGio's Bizarre Adventure, another JoJo game developed by Capcom, features an orchestral rendition of Polnareff's theme as the background music for Chapter 11-1. In addition, some cutscenes use the villain intro theme from this game's single-player mode.
Besides being based on Part 3 (Stardust Crusaders), this is the first game to have elements from more than one JoJo part.
Part 1: Wang Chan is used for Evil Incarnate Dio's child form when he is affected by Alessi's Stand ability; a shot of the Stone Mask appears when a Stand Crash occurs; both versions of Dio have Space Ripper Stingy Eyes as a special move.
Part 2: Proud Lineage Joseph is based on Joseph's appearance in Battle Tendency, and as such uses several techniques from the part; Caesar appears in Proud Lineage Joseph's version of one special move, while Lisa Lisa appears in Old Joseph's version of it.
Part 4: The Stand Arrow appears during Polnareff's Requiem super move; one of Jotaro's alternate color schemes colors his coat, hat, and pants white, causing it to resemble his Part 4 outfit; one of DIO's alternate color schemes colors The World pink and blue, giving it an appearance similar to Crazy Diamond.
Part 5: Chariot Requiem appears as one of Polnareff's special moves; one of Polnareff's win quotes references his future appearance in Italy; on the world map used in Story Mode, Italy is marked by Giorno Giovanna's ladybug brooch.
Iggy's second special 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, inu) stylized in a similar manner to Akuma's kanji for heaven (天, ten).
Another connection to Street Fighter can be found in the animation used for the round announcements in the international versions, as the ripple effect is borrowed from Ryu's Shin Shoryuken move in Street Fighter III: The New Generation.
Localization
As JoJo's Venture marks the first time that a JoJo game was released outside Japan, the game changes the names of several characters to avert possible legal issues. Most of these localized names have never been used since.
The blood in the game is colored white in international releases, and DIO's defeat in the single-player mode is changed from his upper half exploding to him being sent flying off-screen (where he presumably dies).
Near the start of N'Doul's bonus stage, Geb reacts to the dead helicopter pilot's watch alarm and cuts off his hand. This is cut from the international release.[5]
For its PlayStation release, even the Japanese version of the game is censored.
The game's English logo became the de facto English logo of the JoJo franchise's games until 2014, as All Star Battle adapted the style of this game's logo. However, as of Eyes of Heaven, all English logos of the series now follow the style introduced by Crunchyroll.
Okawa voices the narrator in the anime, and reprises his role as Weather Report in Eyes of Heaven.
Throughout the game, characters are shown to be aware of the player.
Devo outright threatens to curse the player next in his ending.
Mariah flirts with the player in her ending.
Anubis Dual-Wielding Polnareff 'attacks' the player after running out of victims in his ending.
Both Evil Incarnate Dio and DIO point at the screen in one of their win poses, though DIO goes a step further and 'attacks' the screen with The World afterward.
Joseph shows a spirit photograph of DIO to the player in one of his win poses.
One of Hol Horse's super moves involves him shooting the player's camera, creating shards of glass for Hanged Man to jump between. In addition, one of Hol Horse's win poses sees Hanged Man appear in the player's camera in a menacing manner.
Easter Eggs
Holding Light Attack and pressing Start with Kakyoin, Fearless Kakyoin, or Vanilla Ice causes them to perform a different taunt.
Joseph Joestar and Midler have a special intro where Joseph tricks High Priestess into thinking it destroyed his hand.
Iggy and Vanilla Ice have a special intro where Vanilla Ice breaks Iggy's sand decoy of DIO.
When fighting Jotaro, Avdol, Kakyoin, or Polnareff, Proud Lineage Joseph has a special taunt wherein he predicts their own taunts.
Hol Horse will say "Aye aye, sir!" when using his special after the opponent is caught by his Hanged Man special move.
Jotaro, Joseph, Kakyoin, Devo, Polnareff, Avdol, and Fearless Kakyoin have a special intro against DIO where they yell his name.
Glitches
If a player is playing as Jotaro or DIO, they have a very small window of time to perform a time stop at the end of a round. If they are successful, time will stop as the next round starts, before the opponent can recover their health; thus, if the opponent takes damage while frozen, they will automatically lose the round once time resumes.[6]
If Avdol enters Stand Mode, plants his Ankh super move, and holds one attack button, he can remain invincible for two seconds.[7]
Chaka's VS Title appears when challenging a glitch character.
In the character select menu, pressing up and left quickly when selecting Avdol or up and right quickly when selecting Kakyoin will show glitched characters; pressing up, down, left, or right will show different character slots. Some of these glitched characters are playable and show corrupted sprites and moves; others will crash the game and display short pieces of garbage text on a black screen. If another player joins the game in the place of a glitch character, the usual text shown will instead show Chaka's VS Title in Story Mode.
Pressing the Stand button and then spamming up and down quickly with Hol Horse & Boingo will spawn a duplicate Boingo in the air. This duplicate Boingo can hurt the enemy, and will disappear if he is offscreen or Hol Horse is hit. Hol Horse can spawn as many of these duplicates as he wants.
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