J-Stars Victory VS
J-Stars Victory VS (ジェイスターズ ビクトリーバーサス, Jei Sutāzu Bikutorī Bāsasu) is a tag team fighting game featuring characters from 32 franchises of the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The game was created to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Shonen Jump and was released for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita on March 19, 2014.
It was re-released for western territories as J-Stars Victory VS+ for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita, with an additional Arcade Mode for the international release. It was released in Europe on June 26, 2015 and in North America on June 30, 2015.
Overview
First announced in the second issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine of 2013, Bandai Namco Entertainment stated that they would be releasing the "ultimate Jump game." Previously named Project Versus J, it was made to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Jump.
Hironobu Kageyama, Akira Kushida, and Hiroshi Kitadani sang the game's theme song "Fighting Stars." People who pre-ordered the game received the J-Stars Victory Book, a volume bound like a Jump Comics book and filled with information and visuals of Jump heroes over the years. The localized version of the game came with a digital compendium. A free augmented-reality (AR) app lets you see the Jump heroes in your surroundings on the PS Vita.
Gameplay
J-Stars Victory VS lets up to four players battle it out against one another in a gameplay and graphical style similar to those of Dragon Ball: Zenkai Battle. Fighters can move and fight in all directions of a 3D battle field. Players should learn the lay of the land and formulate a battle plan with a character suited to it. A defeated character comes back after a set amount of time passes. To win the battle, all three sections of the WIN gauge at the top of the screen have to be filled; the gauge fills one section each time an opponent is defeated. Fighters can use regular attacks, power attacks, area-based attacks, and finishing moves. Regular attacks are the main part of the battle, and all combos begin with them. Power attacks leave the user open, but they have a big impact if they connect and their power can be increased by charging them up. Area-based attacks allow to hit opponents over a wide area. By using different techniques, the player can lead his team to victory; learning each character's different power, range, and effects is the first step towards being unbeatable.
Characters
There are 39 playable characters in the game. Only Luffy, Toriko, Naruto, Gintoki, Goku, and Ichigo are available at the start. The rest of the characters must be unlocked through the Story Mode or purchased in the Store using the in-game currency.
Additionally, there are 13 different characters who are only available as support. These characters appear on the screen and perform an action such as an attack or recovering the player's health before disappearing. None of the support characters are available at first. They all need to be unlocked in Story Mode or purchased with the in-game currency in the Store. All of the playable characters can be used as support as well.
Miscellaneous
All the characters who make a cameo appearance either in Story Mode or as part of some character's moveset.
Battle Stages
- Alabasta (One Piece)
- Namek (Dragon Ball Z)
- Konohagakure (Naruto)
- Vegetable Sky (Toriko)
- Dark Tournament Stadium (Yu Yu Hakusho)
- Soul Society (Bleach)
- Hall of the Flaming Hell (Rurouni Kenshin)
- Katsushika City (Kochikame)
- Yoshiwara Paradise (Gintama)
- Athena's Temple (Saint Seiya)
- Penguin Village (Dr.Slump)
Reception
The Japanese magazine Famitsu gave the game 32/40, with all four reviewers giving the game 8/10.
Trailers
Gallery
Jonathan Joestar's render
Joseph Joestar's render
Jonathan's Luck & Pluck Sword
Jonathan's Sunlight Yellow Overdrive
Joseph's Clacker Volley
Jonathan and Joseph Confirmed
Concept Box Art
Logo
Zebra and Jonathan promo
Gintoki and Joseph promo
Trivia
- Despite not having any specific interaction between each other, Jonathan and Joseph have certain dialogue said depending on the opposing character:
- Jonathan to Lala: "Hehe...shush, don't say another word. Ahh girls are so cute".
- Jonathan to Bobobo: "Forever descend into the darkness of history!!".
- Joseph to Taro Yamada: "You do say some interesting things... Come over here so I can beat you up!".
- Joseph to Kirisaki Chitoge: "Are you ignoring me, that kinda pissed me off... Ok, let's get a more extreme response from you shall we...".
- Joseph to Boa Hancock: "That...that woman's eyes... It's similar to a pig farms eyes...so cold...so cruel...".
- Joseph to Akainu: "Huh? Are you talking to me? Who the hell are you? Exactly what are you talking about? Is something wrong with your head?".
- Incomplete data for Jotaro Kujo and DIO (alongside Yoh Asakura from Shaman King and Dai from Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken) was found within the game's disc, suggesting that the two were planned for inclusion before being scrapped during development. Jotaro, DIO, and Dai were going to be playable, whereas Yoh was going to be a support character.
- Jotaro and DIO, along with Dai, would later become playable in Jump Force, with Jonathan and Joseph being absent.
- In the game's third trailer, both Jonathan and Joseph appear as the rivals of Gintoki Sakata (from the GINTAMA franchise). With their battle named "Kettou vs Amatou" (Kettou meaning "family lineage" and Amatou meaning "a person who loves candy").
- Interestingly, both Joseph and Gintoki share the same voice actor, Tomokazu Sugita. They even make a joke about it, where Joseph says "Your next line's gonna be: Hey, where do I know you?" and Gintoki replies "Hey, where do I know you...WHAAAT?".
- Also in the eighth trailer, Gintoki returns Joseph's trick by saying "Joseph...your next line's gonna be: My... special trick..." and Joseph replies "My... special trick...!!"
- The TV anime's first opening, Sono Chi No Sadame, appears in the game's special edition, called ANISON SOUND EDITION. It contains several famous openings from every series in the game, which can be listened to during battles.
- In the game's eighth trailer, several characters have special interactions with each other. During Jonathan's part he says "Let the darkness of history sink to the depths!!" and Bobobo (from BOBOBO BO-BO BOBO franchise) replies "The history of the Afro will always sink!".
- Interestingly, both DIO and Bobobo share the same voice actor, Takehito Koyasu.
- Unlike some other characters in the game, both Jonathan and Joseph's attacks heavily features Japanese Sound Effects (SFX) commonly seen in manga. This was presumably done to capture the series' unique use of onomatopoeia and match the style of the anime.
- Both Jonathan and Joseph are the only playable characters from the same franchise to appear on the game's cover.
- The appearance of some characters are taken from their most popular sagas instead of their current ones at the moment the game was launched. For example, this includes Seiya (from Sanctuary Saga), Yusuke (from Dark Tournament Saga), Ichigo and Rukia (from Aizen Saga), and Goku and Vegeta (from Cell Saga). Some others are taken from the current anime saga at the moment instead of the current manga saga. This includes Joseph Joestar (from Battle Tendency Saga), Toriko and Zebra (from Four Beast Saga), Gon and Killua (from the Chimera Ant Saga), and Naruto, Sasuke and Madara (from Ten-Tails Saga).
