Superstar (series)

The Superstar series (スーパースター) is a series of video games by Multisoft starring its mascot, Billy Scotch. It follows a colorful cast of characters and their adventures in Stellar City. Such characters include Buster, a grumpy dog owned by Billy, and Kelly Valentine, a pink-haired girl with a tomboyish personality. The first game was released in 1992, around the time Multisoft (Gamesoft) began to feel comfortable in making games. The majority of the games is action-adventure based, with three racing games, two sports games, a party game, and an RPG for the spinoffs.

Setting
The majority of the Superstar games takes place in the Land of the Sky, where humans and monsters co-exist. The main locale is Stellar City, home of our heroes. Most of the locations are nods to video game references, such as Quarters County, a place run by arcade owners, Cartridge Sea, the ocean where game cartridges (possibly obsolete ones) are seen in a shipwrecked position, and Game Over Underground, a low-level town where the injured, deceased, and retired reside. Outside of the Land of the Sky is the Miasma Fortress, home of the evil Demon Prince Draco. There is also the Sol Mansion, residence of Kylee Hens.

Characters
Billy Scotch - the main protagonist and mascot of the series. He is a good-willed human who is clad in a blue hoodie and shorts. He has to deal with the attacks of rampant monsters, the challenges of Draco, and the advances of crazed and dippy scientist Alex Dawn. He will often do anything worth ending his boredom, though he is marginally more sane and calm than his female friend. He has access to a variety of weapons made by Pepper Ronee, most of which he use to take down the fiercest villains. Starting with Superstar Adventures, Billy is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Kelly Valentine - a female companion of Billy. Like him, Kelly is usually willing to go out of her way for her friends. She is sometimes depicted as the "damsel in distress" type of character, something which mentally annoys her. Kelly claims that she takes care of herself more often, yet she has plenty of maids and butlers who watch over her anyway. In addition, she wields a large kendama, which has been revealed in Superstar Mania. As of Superstar Adventures, she is voiced by Tress MacNeille.

Buster - an anthropomorphic dog with a grumpy personality. He would care less about what his owner Billy does, always stating that he is always "an arrogant idiot." He is one of the alternate characters for Billy in the second game, where he would touch the Switch Star item to switch with him, Mac, or Drew. In the Unity series, Buster finds himself traveling with Billy and Drew, though the three managed to remain friends and he occasionally displays a sense of loyalty to his partner and his friend. It was also revealed that he was caught in a pool of magic, causing him to speak. Starting with Superstar Adventures, Buster is voiced by John DiMaggio.

Stellar Guardians - a group of manmade monsters created with the intent of protecting Stellar City, as their names imply. They were created by Lazuli "Laz" A. Ronee, but Prince Draco used his magic to control them so they can serve his evil purposes. Luckily, after Prince Draco's first defeat, Billy sends the guardians to Lazuli so he can fix them up. The Stellar Guardians are: Cutter Beetle (a stag beetle who handles deforestation), Macho Ape (a large ape who helps with construction), Flake Frost (a small snowman who watches over the arctic areas), Blaster Bill (a platypus skilled with demolitions), Burn Lion (a pyrokinetic lion who assists in waste disposal), Raid Eagle (an eagle that overlooks the weather), Clock Hoot (an owl that controls the city's clocks), and Sink Blob (a slime monster that unclogs pipes). Two more are later revealed in Superstar Duality, named Bond Tortoise (a tortoise that can use a glue cannon) and Mind Borg (a brain-like monster that provides information).

Prince Draco - an evil prince and one of the series' major antagonists. He is an only child of a powerful family of vampires who sought to claim the light of the land and lives by himself in a large fortress on the edge of Stellar City. Draco possesses a chilling personality and a very short temper, and uses his minions for his own amusement, often to the discomfort or belittlement of them. In addition, he is skilled with magic, which he use to control monsters, and weaponry. In some of the early video games, Draco's plans involve him capturing Kelly, in order to lure Billy into a trap. But in certain games he is depicted helping the heroes in certain situations, to the point where he became his own protagonist in Superstar Trinity. Starting with Superstar Adventures 2, his voice actor was Eric Stuart.

Drew Baker - a dark-skinned man and arguably the fourth main protagonist. He is a slick trickster who loves pulling off tricks to almost everyone in Stellar City. Whenever someone knows about his pranks, he usually lies and gets away with it. Despite his tricks, he can be trusted by Billy and his friends on some situations. In the second game, he is one of the alternate characters for Billy in the second game if he touches the Switch Star item to switch with him, Mac, or Buster. Plus, he is part of the threesome of protagonists in the Unity series. In Superstar Adventures, Drew is voiced by Phil Lamarr.

Mac Arnold Ronee - a young blonde boy who is mild-mannered and shy. He is Pepper's younger brother who is often teased because of his name and tendency to stutter. Because of this, he never truly socializes with anyone. He would pitch into anyone's conversations, but only to listen. But after a few attempts, he learned how to befriend Billy, Kelly, and other people. He is one of the three sidekicks for Billy in the second game, next to Buster and Drew. His name is a pun on "macaroni." Mac was originally voiced by Pamela Adlon until Superstar Universe, where he was then voiced by Rob Paulsen.

Alex Dawn - a young girl who is obsessed with science and history, even chasing after ancient artifacts that are worth experimenting on, knowing little of the consequences. She is one of the reoccurring antagonists of the series starting with the second game. Alex accidentally summoned Needel while doing research on a relic she found underground. She was not sure why she summoned him, but she was known as his master regardless. Alex has been voiced by Cree Summer in Superstar Adventures, and by Grey DeLisle starting with Superstar Heroes.

Scraps Duster - a robot with a built-in vacuum cleaner. He claims to be the leader and founder of the Starbright Detective Agency, with its only members being Haiji, Ivory, and Marino. He originally appeared in Drew's Starbright Battle, as one of the unlucky ones brainwashed by Alex and Needel. After destroying the helmet that was brainwashing him, Scraps helped Drew defeat the two villains. While a good sanitation robot, Scraps often overestimates the amount of garbage he can handle, and thus his vacuum jets often get jammed due to the mass amount of garbage he can end up inhaling, which requires him to be cleaned out. He is voiced by Patrick Warburton since Superstar Heroes.

Haiji - a young jackal who works as a scout for the Stellar Force. He also works with Scraps, Ivory, and Marino as part of the Starbright Detective Agency. In Drew's Starbright Battle, he was the first victim to be brainwashed by Alex and Needel, but was freed by Drew. While independent and reliant on his duties as a raider, unfortunately he has a tendency to act timid around beautiful women. In Superstar Heroes, he is voiced by Jeff Bennett.

Ivory - a jolly skeleton with a tuxedo who works at a pinball-based casino in Quarters County run by a masked woman named Kim Shells. He is also a part of the Starbright Detective Agency with Haiji and Scraps. When it comes to stuff like video games and gambling, he is a good strategist, and is meticulous in his attention to detail. In addition, he appears in the pinball game Kim & Till, along with Kim and her sister Till Shells. In Superstar Heroes, Ivory was voiced by Carlos Alazraqui, and he is now voiced by Kirk Thornton in Superstar Universe.

Marino - a submarine robot who is the fourth member of the Starbright Detective Agency. He tried to fight Alex and Lord Needel, but dismantled himself in the process. He was lucky enough to be rebuilt by Scraps, and he gained enough trust to join the Agency. Prior to the events of Superstar Heroes, Marino disappeared to take care of important matters. This mysterious disappearance was discovered in Superstar Duality, where he was settling the score with his evil twin brother, U-Bow.

Lord Needel - the supreme leader of the extraterrestrial colony and one of the series' major antagonists. Since his resurrection by Alex Dawn, he has posed a serious threat towards Billy and his friends, especially compared to Draco. While mostly serving as Alex's obedient and silent enforcer, Lord Needel is an intelligent organism with a very dark side. A cold-hearted, aggressive and ruthless killer, he is obsessed with proving his superiority to the world and eliminating everyone for good to the point where he has rebelled against his master more than once to achieve his goal. He has been voiced by Jim Cummings since Superstar Heroes.

Marsh - a Quarian born to the royal family in Quarium Kingdom. As he was an egg, he was washed ashore towards Rasp Jungle and adopted by Chief Palmate, growing up to believe he is a lizard. Billy first met Marsh when he was being robbed of his belonging by Gado and since retrieving it back from the thief, he was Billy's first partner. He learned later from Chief Palmate that he was never a lizard to begin with, making Marsh begin his journey to find his family in the sea. He was also involved in saving the World of the Stars from Zagato by collecting the 10 star shards.

Maya - the "heroine of the stars" and one of the playable characters in Superstar Quest. She has been sent by a "divine entity" to restore peace to the Land of the Sky, taking the form of a doll in the process. She joins Billy, Buster, Marsh, Kelly, and Draco on their quest to stop Zagato from shattering the World of the Stars with his alchemy. After collecting the 10 star shards, Maya leaves her doll body and sacrifices herself to defeat Zagato, bringing peace back to both the World of the Stars and the Land of the Sky.

Snail Sloth - a lazy sloth monster who is one of the most recurring characters. Usually sleepy, he tries to find a peaceful area to sleep. When he does sleep, any type of loud noise would barely wake him up unless he feels like it. As a homage to his name, he has a love for snails, even keeps one of them as a temporary pet. He is one of the 7 playable characters of Superstar Adventures. Although Snail is sometimes viewed as an annoyance to the other characters, there are times that he is the antagonist. In addition, he is the star of his own spinoff, where he is searching for ingredients for "the greatest pie in the universe." Snail has been voiced by Jon St. John since Superstar Adventures.

Knak Driver - a robot with a self-conscious who makes his first appearance in Superstar Adventures. He was built by Alex Dawn so that he may assist her in helping Meteo destroy the Land of the Sky. But after realizing how wrong that ideal was and feeling traumatized that his brothers were banished for not following their creator's directions, he became sentient and chose to defy his master. After a heated battle against his older brother Krew, who was jealous of his successor and rebuilt by Alex, he was nearly destroyed before Jessica rebuilt him. He has been voiced by Dee Bradley Baker since Superstar Adventures.

Meteo - a golem monster known as the God of Destruction 500 years in the past, as well as the antagonist of Superstar Adventures. According to historical sources, Meteo was the cause of how the Land of the Sky became what it is today. But the tribespeople, overcome with greed upon conquering the land, caused Meteo to become furious and, as a result, destroyed parts of the Land of the Sky. Luckily, he was sealed into the Terra Jasper by the chieftain's daughter Katou, who also sealed herself in the relic. 500 years later, Alex summons Meteo by destroying the Terra Jasper into pieces, having him assist her in her latest experiment: to create a new utopia on the Land of Darkness, but she was betrayed by him after absorbing the shards of the Terra Jasper to unleash his true power. He was calmed by Billy and Katou, ending the destruction of the Land of the Sky.

Katou - the daughter of the Land of the Sky's chieftain. She foresees a positive future of the land her people have claimed in the past. She even sees Meteo, the God of Destruction, as her closest friend. But when her tribe became greedy upon ruling over the Land of the Sky, she witnessed Meteo attacking them and went with the most life-costing approach; sacrificing herself to seal Meteo in the Terra Jasper. When Meteo was freed, Katou's spirit was freed and she sought the help of Billy, Buster, Kelly, Drew, Mac, Snail, and Knak to help her. She was voiced by Lara Jill Williams in Superstar Adventures.

Shen Jing - a fighter genetically-altered by Professor Cedrick Rial who wishes to avenge the death of his ex-girlfriend Yue. He was rediscovered by Alex after being locked away into an underwater base heavily guarded by the defense agency CUBE, and gains her assistance in order to activate the legendary weapon, the Surge Tower, which required the use of the Rainbow Stars. He frames Billy for stealing one of the Rainbow Stars from Stellar City, which made the two of them rivals. It is revealed that Shen was originally a bouncer who arbitrarily volunteered to enhance his body to cure all diseases, but instead was forcefully weaponized by CUBE. After some struggles against Billy and an attempt to reveal the true nature of CUBE, he sided with the heroes at that point. Even after learning that Professor C. Rial enhanced him with the DNA of the alien race of Sporetans, he still had the courage to defeat their leader, Queen Spore. He was voiced by Corey Burton from Superstar Adventures 2 to Superstar Heroes, but is now voiced by James Patrick Stuart.

Jessica Scarlett - a gambler who makes her first appearance in Superstar Adventures 2. She was hired by Alex and Shen to reactivate the ancient Surge Tower, but in the condition they have to give her money. After some time, CUBE hired her to act as a double agent, in an attempt to get Shen and the Surge Tower back fully reactivated. But during the destruction of the Surge Tower, her redemption was revealed after being saved by Drew from Prince Draco's attack, making her rethink her role in this event. Jessica still tends to her gambling business, but she does tend to woo Drew on her free time. She was voiced by Susan Eisenberg from Superstar Adventures 2 until Superstar Universe, where she was voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard.

Professor Cedrick Rial - a scientist who is the founder of Rial Industries. He was the one who genetically modified Shen Jing, among other ingenious experiments, which led to his works being under the supervision of CUBE. After a disagreement which led to a gun fight that killed Yue, Rial went into hiding, privately making gadgets instead of medicine or weapons. Some of his gadgets were discovered by Billy (the C-Horse; Superstar Vacation) and Mac (the Starduster; Mac's Underground Battle). He even had a role in making a time machine in Superstar Duality, where he finally came out of hiding. His name is a pun on "cereal," which also explains his phrases being references to certain breakfast cereals. Rial has been voiced by Frank Welker since Superstar Adventures 2.

Gorjeanne - an evil witch from Cirrus City and the main antagonist of Superstar Unity. She disguises herself as The Cirrus Ambassador to steal Kelly's beauty and uses it to steal the Cloud Orb. Cirrusian lore states that only one with a beautiful appearance can activate the Cloud Orb's mysterious powers to grant any wishes; Gorjeanne hopes to use this power to conquer Cirrus City and soon after, the Land of the Sky. Billy, Buster, and Drew went on a quest to stop Gorjeanne and save Kelly's beauty. After she was defeated and her plans have failed, she went and possessed Draco to restart her plan, but she was still defeated by the trio. She is voiced by Susanne Blakeslee.

Buggley - an eccentric Cirrusian and a major antagonist in the Superstar Unity series. He is the secondary antagonist of Superstar Unity and the main antagonist of Superstar Trinity. He also appears as the shopkeeper of Buggley's Rain 'n' Gems in Superstar Duality. Buggley is a mechanical genius, but his common sense suffers due to his uncontrollable anger, which often causes him to act in an insane manner. In Superstar Trinity, he claims the Blackhole Star, which can give him the power to destroy the world. But after receiving its powers, he was stopped by Prince Draco, Billy, Drew, and Buster, defeating the Cirrusian for good. He was voiced by Frank Welker since Superstar Unity.

Christine Ravenscroft - a kind girl who is the daughter of a famed and retired archaeologist. On a trip with her mother, they got kidnapped by a band of space pirates after her mother claimed what appears to be a map to find the 8 Eggs of Wonder. But Christine found a special type of egg which hatched into a rare creature known as a Pippy, and it transported her back to Spadetown, where she and her mother were kidnapped. There, she met Billy and asked to join him in order to find her mother, which he agreed. Christine has a sense of independence behind her polite exterior, which is why she stoop up against her mother when she was nominated as the Judgement Queen. Since Superstar Heroes, she was voiced by Lani Minella.

Laura Swift - a rollerskating girl who makes her appearance in Superstar Duality. She came from another timeline where the Sporetan alien race have destroyed most of the Land of the Sky. She and Kin hurried to the past to prevent the invasion of the Sporetans, which is how they met Billy, Max, and Buster. They even let Shen join because they believe he is connected to the aliens somehow. Laura is skilled with her rollerskates, which make up most of her normal abilities. She is voiced by Michelle Ruff since Superstar Duality.

Yonbi no Kin - a male fox monster who makes his appearance in Superstar Duality. Like Laura, he lived in future dominated by the Sporetans. Together with Laura, he escaped to the past to defeat the Sporetans before their future becomes a reality. He even allowed Shen to join their group due to his theories about Shen's connection to the aliens. Kin is known for his "Fox Magic," which includes creating mirages and unlocking secret pathways. Starting with Superstar Duality, he is voiced by Vincent Martella.

Queen Spore - the leader of the Sporetans and the main antagonist of Superstar Duality. She is second in command of the Sporetans (her older sister is the leader), although initially it appears that she is their leader, since Elder Queen Spore was absent, trapped in the Purity Tree by the Sky Spirits. She and her sister set off a full invasion on the Land of the Sky to make it their own. The Queen is shown to have a vindictive, sadistic personality and takes joy in the pain of others, as shown when she laughs when Spore's Chronic Hideout is shot down and how she mercilessly feeds Kelly to Citrus Dynobite. In addition, she is the surrogate mother of Shen Jing, whose DNA was taken from her by Professor C. Rial. She is voiced by Karen Strassman.

Kylee Drews - a human teenage girl who makes her first appearance in Superstar Universe. Her family was the founders of the Drews Astronomy Corporation. They relocated to Stellar City where they can spread their ideals to its residence. That was where she met Billy and Kelly, and she began to become friendly towards the kind citizens. However, she was kidnapped by the Avox Emperor and his cronies, forcing Billy and Kelly to save her. Kylee has the same interests as Kim, which even includes sports such as tennis. She is voiced by Erin Fitzgerald.

Avox Emperor - the main antagonist of Superstar Universe. He is the emperor of an extraterrestrial race which existed million years ago. The Avox were exterminated by mechanical giants known as Biocarts, and their civilization has been left abandoned ever since, until now. Kylee's parents found the Emperor's remains and have preserved them in a cryogenic chamber, but the remains reformed back into the Emperor himself and he began his takeover across the galaxy, starting with kidnapping Kylee. His plan for domination by using the Biocarts, dubbed the "Odyssey," was thwarted by Billy and his friends. He was voiced by Leonard Nimoy.

Special Stage Spencer - an unknown creature from an interstellar dimension. None is known about this being other than the fact that he comes from "special stages," hence the name. It was said that he was responsible for automobile wreckages and thieving of onion rings and bananas for his amusement. He even almost destroyed Stellar City by calling forth aliens. Despite these accidents, he has helped Billy in some situations, including saving his friends from Prince Draco. He was voiced by Mark Hamill starting with Superstar Story.

Games Edit
(Note: The titles marked in bold make their appearance in the Superstar Collection)
 * Superstar: The Adventures of Billy & Buster (1992; NES)
 * Superstar Ventures (1993; Game Boy)
 * Superstar Sports Evolution (1993; Sega Genesis)
 * Superstar 2: Attack of Alex Dawn (1994; SNES)
 * Superstar Ventures 2: Stellar City Scramble (1995; Game Boy)
 * Superstar Mania! (1995; SNES)
 * Superstar Sidestories: Drew's Starbright Battle (1996; SNES)
 * Superstar Ventures 3 (1996; Game Boy)
 * Superstar World (1996; Sega Saturn)
 * Superstar Quest (1997; PlayStation)
 * Superstar Racing (1997; Arcade, Nintendo 64)
 * Superstar Adventures (1998; PlayStation, Nintendo 64)
 * Superstar Funfest (1999; PlayStation)
 * Superstar Sidestories: Snail's Pie Adventure (2000; Nintendo 64)
 * Superstar Adventures 2 (2000; PlayStation 2)
 * Superstar Story (2001; Nintendo GameCube)
 * Superstar Racing: Nitro Speed (2001; Arcade)
 * Superstar Vacation (2002; PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube)
 * Superstar Sidestories: Mac's Underground Battle (2002; Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2)
 * Superstar Variable Venus (2003; Game Boy Advance)
 * Superstar Advance (2003; Game Boy Advance)
 * Superstar Unity (2003; PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance)
 * Superstar Heroes (2004; PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, PC)
 * Superstar Monstrous Chaos (2004; Arcade, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC)
 * Superstar Moon Riders (2005; Nintendo DS)
 * Superstar Duality (2005; PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS)
 * Superstar Sidestories: Kelly's Magical Miracle! (2006; Nintendo DS)
 * Superstar Variable Venus 2 (2006; Nintendo DS)
 * Superstar Racing: Nitro Speed 2 (2007; Arcade)
 * Superstar Universe (2007; Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2)
 * Superstar Trinity (2007; PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable)
 * Superstar Collection (2009; Nintendo Wii)
 * Superstar Legends (2017; Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4)
 * Superstar Racing: Nitro Speed Solar (2018; Arcade)
 * Superstar X Tetris (2019; PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)

Trivia

 * The pinball games following Burning Streets, with the possible exception of Super Shot +, are connected to the Superstar universe. This was evident in some games, mainly the spinoffs.
 * There is a cheat code used to unlock S.S. Spencer in Superstar Racing: Nitro Speed. To activate the code, the player would have to type in "SSZ0NE" (note that the number zero is used instead of the capital "O") as their ID name and once they are in the character selection screen, they would turn the steering wheel 3 times to the right and 4 times to the left; Spencer will be found next to Billy if the code is activated properly.
 * There is a similar method in the sequel, but this time the player would have to turn the steering wheel 5 times to the right and 2 to the left; Spencer will be found in Buster's place.