57. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is the commonly given name to any one of the versions and ports of a fighting game developed by Capcom based off the Japanese manga of the same title.
It was originally released in the arcade in 1998 on the CPS-3 arcade system; this version was known outside Japan as Jojo's Venture. An updated version of the game was released in 1999 as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure : Heritage for the Future, becoming the sixth and last game released for the CPS-3 board (the second-to-last being the third revision of Street Fighter III, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, released only four months earlier). Console ports for the Playstation and Dreamcast were also released that year.
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 also 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, consisting on a guardian spirit that accompanies each character and can be summoned or dismissed at will by the player, resulting in variations on the character's move list and abilities.
Mangaka Hirohiko Araki served as a consultant for the game and created exclusive pieces of artwork for its promotion and packaging; most notably, he developed from scratch a new character design for Midler, since Capcom was interested in using her in the game and she had been only vaguely shown in the original manga.
The story follows the adventures of a Japanese teenager Jotaro Kujo, who, after developing the bizarre supernatural abilities known as the "Stand" and learning from his grandfather Joseph Joestar of its relation with their bloodline and with the ancestral enemy of his family, the vampire Dio Brando, embarks on a quest to defeat Dio and save his mother, whose life is threatened as she's been unable to control the power of her own stand.
The game's events and characters are based off the third part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga series, usually titled Stardust Crusaders. It should be noted that many of the events featured in the game (as well as some character designs) directly contradict the depiction of the story in the OVA adaptation, so the game should be considered to be specifically based off the original manga.
The basic rules of the game are those of a standard fighting game : one-on-one battles consisting of two or three time-limited rounds, in which the goal is to deplete the adversary's health bar using both regular attacks as well as character-specific special and super moves, which require the input of button combinations and/or spending accumulated energy, outputted in a power gauge which fills with every attack.
The game uses a simplified 4-button control scheme, consisting of three attacks (light, medium and strong) and a Stand button, which switches the character's stand On and Off.
Fighting with the Stand Mode "On" enhances both the character's offensive and defensive abilities; these improvements heavily depend of the character and stand, but some common ones are for example double jumping, absorbing residual damage when blocking special attacks, powered-up special moves, etc.
Most of the game's specific mechanics derive from the introduced Stand Mode. For example, attacking the physical manifestation of the enemy's stand will cause damage on both of them; this is a crucial strategic element, since many of the special moves and attacks send the stand away from the user, adding the difficulty of protecting both of them at the same time. On top of the usual health bar and power gauge, there is a third meter, the Stand Gauge, which decreases when the stand is damaged and refills when the Stand Mode is switched off; if this gauge is depleted, a Stand Break is caused, and the character is paralyzed and wide open to any attack for an instant.
Other features of the Stand Mode include summoning the stand with an instant attack, the possibility of "programming" attack patterns on the fly and unleashing them at will, "releasing" the stand and controlling it directly, and so forth.
Some characters lack an "active" stand, though; some of these "passive" stand users introduce even more complex and specific mechanics into the game, such as Hol Horse's gun-stand or Mariah's magnetic stand.
The stands create strong differences between the characters, and force often radically different offensive approaches for each one; this "character-dependant gameplay" style would be present in posterior fighting games, such as the latter entries of the Guilty Gear series; insterestingly enough, both that series and JoJo's Bizarre Adventures include many Rock music references.
Across the game and if certain conditions are met, the player will have to clear special stages and face secret opponents in which special rules apply and which reenact certain chapters of the manga that were less "translatable" as regular combats. Among these special events are a sidescrolling sequence in which the player has to overcome a water stand and find its user N'Doul, or a special battle against the Death 13 stand.
Similar to Guilty Gear's system, if certain attacks of the same strength and same intensity occur and collide at the same time, clashing occurs. This only happens with characters with an Active Stand. Currently, it is unknown if the new Active Stand-wielding characters introduced in the 2nd JoJo game can cause attacks to clash. In some cases, clashing can lead to a Blazing Fists Match.
One of the less known features of the game, but also one of the most impressive, it's caused when two certain opposing special moves performed by certain characters at the very same time collide; the player/s are then prompted to quickly bash the attack buttons to win a Blazing Fists duel and decide who will receive the damage.
Protagonists:
* Jotaro Kujo
The main character of Part III.
Stand : Star Platinum | Stand Type : Active | Present in : All Versions
* Joseph Joestar
Grandfather of Jotaro and protagonist of Part II
Stand : Hermit Purple | Stand Type : Active | Present in : All Versions
* Young Joseph
Joseph transformed into a teenager by Alessi's stand, uses his signature moves and attacks from the manga.
Stand : None | Present in : All Versions
* Mohammed Avdol
An egyptian fortune teller and friend of Joseph.
Stand : Magician's Red | Stand Type : Active | Present in : All Versions
* Noriaki Kakyoin
Classmate of Jotaro and initially his enemy by Dio's influence.
Stand : Hierophant Green | Stand Type : Active | Present in : All Versions
* New Kakyoin
Secret unlockable character, a version of Kakyoin after having his eyes injured by N'Doul's stand.
Stand : Hierophant Green | Stand Type : Active | Present in : Console Versions Only
* Jean Pierre Polnareff
Former enemy of Jotaro and company, a frenchman on a quest for revenge.
Stand : Silver Chariot | Stand Type : Active | Present in : All Versions
* Iggy
A grumpy stand user dog from New York, he's forced to aid JoJo's group on their quest.
Stand : The Fool | Stand Type : Active | Present in : All Versions
Enemies:
* Dio Brando
An evil vampire, enemy of the Joestar family. From neck down his body is Jonathan Joestar's, which he took over at the climax of Part I.
Stand : The World | Stand Type : Active | Present in : All Versions
* Shadow Dio
A powered-up version of Dio, it represents the shadowy and overpowering depiction of Dio on many of the original manga's scenes; his face is depicted as covered in shadows, and his stand is an ambiguous and blurry shape.
Stand : The World (Semi-hidden) | Present in : All Versions
* Devo the Cursed (or D'Bo)
A sinister, hideously scarred evil stand user who lets his enemies hurt him, since his stand's power is fueled on his hate for the victim.
Stand : Ebony Devil | Stand Type : Active | Present in : All Versions
* Rubber Soul
An arrogant and narcisist stand user who tries to attack JoJo's group impersonating Kakyoin with the power of his stand.
Stand : Yellow Temperance | Stand Type : Passive | Present in : Heritage for the Future and Console Versions
* Hol Horse and J. Geil
A shameless and oportunist cowboy mercenary who only dares to attack when backed up by a partner, in this case J. Geil and his almost invincible stand, the "Hanged Man".
Stands : Emperor and Hanged Man | Stand Type : Passive | Present in : Heritage for the Future and Console Versions
* Hol Horse and Boingo
After the death of J. Geil, Hol Horse recruits the introverted Boingo, user of the Thoth stand.
Stands : Emperor and Thoth | Stand Type : Passive | Present in : Heritage for the Future and Console Versions
* Midler
An exotic female stand user, wielder of the metal-controlling "High Priestess". Only her stand appeared directly on the original manga.
Stand : High Priestess | Stand Type : Active | Present in : All Versions
* Gray Fly
Non-playable character. Just his stand does the fighting.
Stand : Tower of Gray | Stand Type : Passive (his stand fights) | Present in : Playstation console version. Sprites exist also in Heritage for the Future in the debug, but no coding exists for the character to work in game.
* Mannish Boy
Non-playable character. Just his stand does the fighting.
Stand : Death 13 | Stand Type : Passive (his stand fights) | Present in : All Verisons
* Kameo
Non-playable character. Just his mechanical "genie" stand does the fighting.
Stand : Judgement | Stand Type : Passive (his stand fights) | Present in : Playstation console version. Single sprite appears in the debug for the first game among other bits, hinting his inclusion was planned.
* Enya Geil
Non-playable character. Can summon her Justice stand and turn civilians into zombies.
Stand : Justice | Stand Type : Active | Present in : Playstation console version. Single sprite appears in the debug for the first game among other bits, hinting her inclusion was planned.
* Daniel J. D'Arby
Non-playable character. An expert at gambling and can steal souls if he wins.
Stand : Osiris | Stand Type : Passive | Present in : All Versions
* N'Dour
Non-playable character. Only attacks with his stand from far away.
Stand : Geb | Stand Type : Passive | Present in : All Versions
* Chaka and Anubis
A young farmer possessed by the stand sword of Anubis.
Stand : Anubis | Stand Type : Active | Present in : All Versions
* Khan and Anubis
A barber asked to keep hold of the Anubis sword by Polnareff. Subsequently was also possessed by the sword before it took over Polnareff.
Stand : Anubis | Stand Type : Passive | Present in : Heritage for the Future and Console Versions
* Black Polnareff and Anubis
Polnareff possessed by the Anubis sword. The effect carried on to his stand as well.
Stand : Black Chariot & Anubis | Stand Type : Passive | Present in : All Versions
* Mariah
An attractive young woman, wielder of the stand of magnetism, "Bast".
Stand : Bast | Stand Type : Passive | Present in : Heritage for the Future and Console Versions
* Alessi
A cowarldy and strange man who uses his "Sethan" stand to turn his foes into little kids he can easily beat up.
Stand : Sethan | Stand Type : Active | Present in : All Versions
* Pet Shop
A falcon, guardian of Dio's mansion and wielder of the Horus stand
Stand : Horus | Stand Type : Passive | Present in : Heritage for the Future and Console Versions
* Vanilla Ice (or Iced)
A playable version of the sub-boss. Dio's fanatic personal guardian, wielder of the deadly "Cream" stand.
Stand : Cream | Stand Type : Active | Present in : Heritage for the Future and Console Versions. An unplayable boss version exists in each game too.
Port for the Sega Dreamcast which includes perfect translations of both arcade versions as independent games, as well as the exclusive characters from the Playstation version among other features.