SuperStar JYPNation ~ RIEview

 

Fan of Kpop music, especially JYP artists? Look no further than SuperStar JYPNation, part of the SuperStar rhythm-based series where the main goal is to collect your favourite artists’ cards and play to the beat of your favourite song. So what are the pros and cons of this game?

Game Plot

N/A

Character Diversity & Personality

While not straight-forward character diversity/personality as other games, there are a vast lineup of artists, including former and current artists. Former artists include Wonder Girls, but not Rain – which probably due to the fact that JYP owns Wonder Girls (i.e. the group itself) despite the group disbanding but not Rain (i.e. the stage name for Jung Ji-Hoon). 

A more complex situation is GOT7, a boy band with all members departed from JYP Entertainment on January 19 2021. While JYP Entertainment has announced that the GOT7 members are allowed to continue their promotion under their current group name, it remains to see whether JYP Entertainment can still use the group’s songs (up til the 2020 album ‘Breath of Love: Last Piece’).

Verdict (5/5)

Pretty solid lineup of eras (i.e. album themes) of character cards to choose from. Definitely what the collectors are interested in!

Game & CG Art

The art here is, really, the photographs of the artists themselves. Hence this section is ungraded. N/A

Game Mechanics

As a rhythm-based game, user interface or UI is the most important aspect for SuperStar JYPNation. The main goal is to score a high combo of super perfects, which can only be obtained by tapping the centre of the circles that speed down the music track without missing a beat. Each play consumes 1 headphone, with the maximum capped at 20. 

High scores are also achieved by the equipped character cards, which can be powered up (i.e. level up) and upgraded (i.e. by consuming the same character card as material). Equipping cards of the same theme in a deck will give additional bonus that also increases the overall score.

Verdict (3/5)

My main gripe is the countless game crashes. Sometimes it happens before I start a play, and other times right after a headphone has been consumed but I didn’t even have a chance to start. There were also times when I clearly pressed the circle at the right time and the right spot but still marked by the system as a ‘Missed’. I personally think it's the game app that is problematic, as my device was fairly new at the time I downloaded the app (approximately a month old).

The other, more minor, gripe is the success rate for powering up cards. Sure, a low rank card will have a lower chance of being successfully used to power up a card; the unsuccessful material card is still consumed, assumingly into the vast rejection bin in the system servers containing all other unsuccessful card attempts by all players. The game should at least return the unsuccessful material card; after all players have to pay (i.e. with the R currency) as an ‘offering’ alongside the material card, the game could just keep the R currency.

In-game Events

There are pretty consistent events, such as events celebrating the release of new albums and events in conjunction with holidays (e.g. Valentine’s Day, Chuseok). The rewards range from random limited-edition cards, to diamonds, and sometimes a lucky draw chance on scoring yourself the album of the event.

Verdict (4/5)

Good pacing of events to keep things interesting, but it is near impossible to complete events. Tasks like scoring super perfect combo in Hard mode is an extreme challenge if Normal mode is the best you can do. Personally I can bumble my way through Hard mode, but to score a full combo without missing a beat? Impossible. 

In summary, this game is suitable for fans of JYP artists and love music-based games. To be fair, issues with the UI can be addressed by the developers looking where and how to improve the experience. Of course, sometimes the issue could be with the device you’re playing on instead of the game itself. This game is a collector’s dream paradise, and I actually got into several groups after playing to their songs on the game. 

If you are looking for a rhythm-based music game, regardless KPop or no, I would suggest trying out the game just to see if it’s what you’re looking for. If you’re more into having a story plot to go along with your collector self, I recommend Uta no Prince Sama and/or Love Live!. Do note that they are JPop, with anime art style and a consistent main storyline. There are also events, and the achievements are more feasible than the ones here.

Will you be downloading this game and give it a go to see if this is your thing? Comment below your thoughts!

Happy Gaming!

~ RieRie