Disney Stitch Jam

Overview

Disney Stitch Jam (known in Japan as Disney Stitch! DS: Ohana to Rhythm de Daibouken, the subtitle loosely translated to "The Adventure of Ohana and Rhythm") is a rhythm game developed by Cattle Call and published by Disney Interactive for the Nintendo DS in Japan (on December 3, 2009), North America (on March 23, 2010), and Europe (on March 26, 2010).

Based on the Japanese Disney anime series Stitch! (which is based on the 2002 animated film Lilo & Stitch), players use both the stylus and buttons to guide little blue alien Stitch and his friends as they try to rescue his pink alien girlfriend Angel from the clutches of Gantu and Dr. Hämsterviel.

Gameplay

Stitch Jam involves the player playing the melodies of ten songs in the game. Players can use either the stylus on the DS's touchscreen or the DS's buttons to play the game. Players can select which control method they want to use in the options.

In each stage, Stitch (or whoever else the player is playing as, but Stitch will be assumed for the sake of this section) will move across the stage while notes will appear on the screen from the right. When Stitch overlaps a note, the player must tap/swipe the screen or press a button in time to have him do a rhythmic action to the song. Players must hit notes to do well and reach the end of the stage. If the player misses a note, Stitch will take damage. If he takes enough damage, the screen will flash yellow to warn the player that they're not doing well, then red if the player is close to losing. If the player misses too many notes after that, Stitch will collapse and the player must retry the stage from the beginning.

Notes

There are six different notes in the game:

• Rhythm notes — The basic notes. They look like stylized musical notes (whatever style they assume depends on the stage). They are hit by tapping the screen or pressing any of the four face buttons (A, B, X, and Y).
• Heart notes — Like rhythm notes, but they restore health.
• Action notes — Special notes where Stitch either attacks or dodges an enemy or obstacle when hit. They appear as exclamation points (!) in a circle. The player must do a specific action when Stitch overlaps these notes (except on Easy difficulty which the player can just tap the screen or press a button); either they swipe the screen up or down if they're using the stylus, or they press A or B if they're using the buttons. Where the icon for the specific action appears depends on the difficulty; at Normal difficulty, the action icon will change to the specific action when Stitch gets near it, while on Hard difficulty, the specific action will appear near the enemy or obstacle forcing the player to keep an eye around other parts of the screen.
• Arrow notes — Arrows pointing up or down for Stitch to move up or down on the screen. The player must swipe the screen up or down, or press up or down the D-pad based on the direction it's pointing.
• A/B notes — Only appear when the player is using the buttons. The player must press A or B depending on which one is shown. These notes appear either as part of action notes or in Challenge Mode.
• Circle arrow notes — Rhythm notes that are treated like arrow notes. The player must press or swipe up or down depending on the direction the arrow's pointing. Like A/B notes, they appear either as part of action notes or in Challenge Mode.

Modes

There are various modes in the game that are selected from the main menu:

• Story Mode — "An exciting adventure featuring everyone's favorite alien, Stitch!"
  
  • Players play as Stitch through each of the game's ten stages in order. In the story, Stitch goes after Gantu and Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel, who kidnap Stitch's girlfriend Angel (Experiment 624) to use her siren song to take over the galaxy. Cutscenes are interspersed before stages.
• Free Mode — "Play any stage you like as one of 4 characters. Wear fun outfits as well!"
  • This mode is unlocked after completing Story Mode. Players can play as Stitch, Angel, Reuben, or Felix in one of the game's stages. Players can play for high scores and to earn stars, which are used to unlock outfits and other bonuses every time the player earns fifty stars (see below for the table). The player can earn up to five stars per stage, and any stage can be replayed to earn more stars. However, more than five stars can be earned through three different bonuses:
    • Perfect Bonus — If the player hits every single note on a stage perfectly (indicated by "Great!" rating appearing when the player hits a note on time; any "Good!" ratings don't count), they earn fifty stars the first time that stage is perfected and ten stars for each time thereafter.
    • Difficulty Bonus — Players will earn double stars if they play on Hard difficulty.
    • Fever Bonus — On the stage selection screen, a swirly icon will appear in the upper-left corner of the screen next to a random stage's name. If the player decides to play that stage, they will earn double stars for doing so.
• Bonus Story — "A special story that takes place after the events of Story Mode!"
  • Players play as Angel in an unlockable post-story Story Mode where she goes around the island with Stitch following, helping, and trying to impress her. This short mode features restyled versions of the game's third, eighth, and first stages, in that order. There are no cutscenes.
• Challenge Mode — "Do you have what it takes to clear all 3 challenge levels?"
  • An unlockable variant of Free Mode which features harder versions of the game's ten stages. The higher the level, the harder it gets.
• DS Download Play — "Play together with a friend in a special cooperative stage!"
  • Players play a special cooperative stage with a friend who doesn't have the game via the DS Download Play feature. The player with the game plays as Stitch while the other player plays as Angel.
• How to Play — "Learn and practice the rules of the game!"
  • Tutorial mode to learn how to play with the stylus or buttons. Note that if a player starts the game for the first time and goes straight for Story Mode, they will be forced to take a tutorial.
• DGamer — "Access DGamer."
  • DGamer was Disney's family-friendly social networking service for Nintendo DS. Players can set up a DGamer account where they have a customizable avatar. As players played Disney's DS games, they could earn honors (similar to achievements) to collect and stuff like clothing and gear for their avatar to wear. Disney Stitch Jam players earn Lilo & Stitch-themed items as they complete stages in Story Mode. The service was discontinued in 2013, although the feature still works offline and through local wireless communications.
• Options — "Select the game difficulty and choose a control type."
  • Players can change the game's difficulty level and control method here, or decide if they want to erase all their save data.

Unlockables

The following are unlocked, in order, based on how many total stars earned in the game (the zero star entry being earned from completing Story Mode):

Characters

• Stitch (Experiment 626) — "A lovable but destructive alien!" The titular alien genetic experiment protagonist of the game, as well as the franchise, the story revolves around him going against Gantu and Hämsterviel to rescue Angel. He's playable in every mode except the Bonus Story, in which he only appears in the background.
• Angel (Experiment 624) — "Her song turns good-doers evil!" Stitch's girlfriend who is one of the experiments, she can sing a siren song that turns experiments made before her evil. She gets kidnapped by Gantu and Hämsterviel in the main story. She is a playable character in Free Mode and Challenge Mode, the playable protagonist of the Bonus Story, and the Player 2 character in DS Download Play.
• Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel — The main antagonist of the game and the franchise, he is a hamster-like evil alien scientist who wants to take over the galaxy. He seeks Angel to use her ability to make other beings evil.
• Gantu — A giant whale-like alien who was formerly a captain of the Galactic Armada, he serves Hämsterviel as his henchman.
• Reuben (Experiment 625) — "Sandwich lover extreme!" One of Stitch's experiment "cousins", he has all of the same abilities as his immediate successor (and better English fluency). He works as Gantu's sidekick, but is too much of a lazy coward to fight and prefers to make and eat delicious sandwiches. He is a playable character in Free Mode and Challenge Mode.
• Dr. Jumba Jookiba — The "evil genius" alien creator of Stitch and the genetic experiments, he helps out his Stitch wherever he can.
• Felix (Experiment 010) — "A cleaning machine!" One of Stitch's "cousins", he is designed to be an effective cleaner. He has no role in the story but appears as a playable character in Free Mode and Challenge Mode.
• Slushy (Experiment 523) — One of Stitch's "cousins", he can generate snow and ice. He gets converted to evil by Angel's siren song and causes chaos, appearing as an enemy in the game's second stage.
• Sparky (Experiment 221) — One of Stitch's "cousins", he is designed to cause electrical outages. Like Slushy, he also gets converted to evil by Angel's siren song and causes chaos soon afterward. He appears as an enemy in the game's second stage.
• Finder (Experiment 158) — One of Stitch's "cousins", he is designed to find anything or anyone and honk when he finds it. He appears in the game's sixth stage.
• Slugger (Experiment 608) — One of Stitch's "cousins", he is designed to deflect projectiles with his baseball bat-shaped tail. He appears in the game's sixth stage.
• Kijimunaa — A yokai from the Stitch! anime who is friends with Stitch. He appears in the game's seventh stage and has a brief role in Story Mode.
• BooGoo — A cute, mysterious alien from the Stitch! anime who flies around. He only appears in the title screen and credits.

Outfits

After completing Story Mode, players can unlock outfits for Stitch, Angel, Reuben, and Felix to wear. Players can change an experiment's outfit by selecting the one they want on the character select screen, then pressing X or tapping "Outfit" on the screen. There are nine outfits in the game:

• None — "Default. Be your normal, fun alien self!"
  • The default "outfit". The experiments appear as their cute and fluffy selves, au naturel. This outfit's icon on the lower-right of the "Change Outfit" screen is blue with a silhouette of Stitch on it.
• Beach — "Casual wear that's perfect for a day at the beach!"
  • The male experiments wear different colored flat caps, sunglasses, and striped polo shirts based on what Stitch wore in an episode of the Stitch! anime, while Angel wears a white and red dress, white on red polka dot skirt, red bowties, and white lensless glasses. This outfit's icon on the upper-center is pink with intersecting hearts; one hollow, one filled.
• Santa — "Merry Christmas! It's a Santa... Alien!?"
  • The experiments wear red Santa suits with white fur trims and stocking caps. No boots, though. This outfit's icon on the center-right is red with a silhouette of a Santa cap.
• Funky — "A funky outfit that's bound to make you stand out!"
  • The experiments wear different colored tenugui (purple for Stitch, teal for Angel, green for Reuben, and blue for Felix) tied in a manner that make them look like they grew horns. This outfit's icon on the upper-left is orange with a hibiscus.
• Pirate — "Ahoy! Take to the seas in this pirate outfit!"
  • The experiments wear different colored classic pirate outfits with jackets, puffy shirts, bandannas, hats, pants, belts, and cutlasses strapped on their backs. This outfit's icon in the center is grey with two crossing cutlasses.
• Hula — "No Hula dancer would be complete without this!"
  • Bound to make many a Lilo & Stitch fan smile, the experiments wear different colored grass skirts, leis, grass bracelets, and floral headbands that invoke images of the islands where the experiments once called home. This outfit's icon on the upper-right is cyan with a palm tree and waves.
• Karate — "Just one more step before getting your black belt!"
  • The experiments wear nice white karategi with different colored obi wrapped around their waists (a blue belt for Stitch, a pink belt for Angel, a red belt for Reuben, and a violet belt for Felix). This outfit's icon on the lower-left is green with a karategi.
• Kijimunaa — "A special outfit that'll turn you into Kijimunaa!"
  • The experiments wear large red wigs and grass skirts to resemble the little yokai. This outfit's icon on the center-left is yellow with a silhouette of Kijimunaa.
• Space — "Become a space hero, ready for action!"
  • The experiment wear spacesuits with yellow holster pads that resemble Stitch's spacesuit from the original Lilo & Stitch film. Stitch's suit is a throwback to that particular red-orange spacesuit that he wore back then, while Reuben's suit is colored purple, Felix's suit is colored blue, and Angel's suit is white with the yellow pads replaced with heart symbols. This outfit's icon on the lower-center is purple with stars and a Saturn-like planet.