Jump Ultimate Stars is a massive fighting game which follows the same game play style as the successful Smash Brothers series found on the Gamecube (and soon the Wii). Instead of popular Nintendo franchise characters fighting, Ultimate Stars features over 300 characters from 41 popular Japanese comic and cartoon series. This is the reason why it will never be released in the US; it contains different groups rather than one license from the past series.
You play the game using koma, which are panels on the bottom screen of the DS, which you build up into decks. 1-koma characters add abilities and are “help” characters. 2-3 koma characters will assist with an attack or ability in battle and are your “supports.” 4-8 koma characters are your “battle” characters, which you control and fight with on the top screen. In addition, each fighter has a nature: knowledge, power, or laughter, and each nature is strong against one and weak against another.
This allows players to fully customize their deck on the bottom screen to fit their style of play. If a player wants to do quick sneak attacks and dance around, they can load up on support characters. If they want a full offensive, then they can load up on fighters on the lower screen.
There are tons of modes of play. There is a mission/unlocking mode, where you fight with your starter deck across various worlds to unlock characters. Then there is the general arcade fighting modes common in any fighting game. There is also a multiplayer mode where you can play with up to 3 friends on one cart, or on wi-fi with 3 other players from around the world.
The best part is that the game is very import friendly. All Nintendo DS games are region free, which means that a US system can play games from around the world. Although it is in Japanese, this game isn’t text heavy and Gamefaqs.com has a great guide up for players who want to jump in. So all a diehard fighting game lover needs to do is hop online at an import site (like Play-Asia.com) in order to get this amazing game. It may cost more, but it is worth every penny.