"This game is the reason the DS exists"

Imagine super smash bros melee combined with whatever collectible card game you're into (whether it be MTG, Yu-gi-oh, etc). Thats Jump Superstars. Yep, a card game that isn't limited to who has the best cards.

Graphics: Well the game is 2D but the sprites are impressive and everything lives up to the DS standards. Graphics were never that important to me but if they look good its nothing but a plus. Nothing is really lacking and some of the various attacks and special attacks are really well done.

Sounds/Music: The sound effects in this game are really good as well although there's no voice acting (which is understandable, I wouldn't want to hire 150+ voice actors either). There's the typical punching, kicking sounds and the works. As for the music, its nothing special but it blends nicely into the pace of the game and its not really repetitive or annoying.

Game play: Best game play on the DS since Mario 64 DS. Although I'd say this game does a perfect job of including the touchscreen into the type of game JJS is. On the top screen you have your action and characters and thats where all the fighting goes on. The bottom screen is where your "deck" is. This is one of the most unique things I've ever seen in a video game, you basically have your "cards" or Koma as they're called in the game which make up your deck. In a nutshell, you have a capacity of 20 spaces in each deck and different koma use more spaces (usually depending on how statistically useful they are but its more a matter of personal preference). Anyways its somewhat of a "puzzle" that you use where you place your different koma in the grid to make a manga comic. You have a few different categories which koma are divided into; Battle (which are the characters you use to battle as), Help (which cause varing beneficial effects), and Support (which generally come in, do some type of attack, then leave). During battles you touch the koma on the touchscreen to activate them. The game play in this game is by far the most creative and impressive I've seen on the DS so far.

Replay Value: If your playing single player alone, this game will still last you a good amount of time and I doubt you'd get bored with it anytime soon. If you have a friend or a few friends that have this game then you'll honestly NEVER get bored with this game. You can collect every koma which could take a while and battle your friends using different decks. The possibilities in decks are literally endless.

Conclusion: If you have a DS and don't have this game your missing out. If you want to buy this game you'd need to import it as I doubt an American version would be released. Even if you know little to no Japanese you'll still enjoy this game (It will take you a while to get used to the menus and the concepts but thats what the FAQ's are for) Once you know what your doing the Japanese doesn't make any difference to the fun you'll have with this game.

Overall: 10/10

This is the best portable fighting game out there, you won't be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/11/05