| The Idolmaster Dearly Stars | |
|---|---|
 Cover art featuring (from left to right) Eri Mizutani, Ai Hidaka and Ryō Akizuki | |
| Developer(s) | Microvision |
| Publisher(s) | Namco Bandai Games |
| Director(s) | Toshihiko Kujioka Yoshimasa Koyama |
| Producer(s) | Yōzō Sakagami Bunkei Tanaka |
| Writer(s) | Shōgo Sakamoto |
| Series | The Idolmaster |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Life simulation, Rhythm |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
The Idolmaster Dearly Stars[a] is a Japanese life simulation video game developed by Microvision and published by Bandai Namco Games. It was released on September 17, 2009 for the Nintendo DS. The game is a spin-off of The Idolmaster series and its timeline coincides before the events in The Idolmaster 2.
The gameplay in Dearly Stars is similar to previous games in the series, but with new elements and differences to the minigames. The gameplay was adjusted to allow the player the option to quickly play through the game's story, but head director Toshihiko Kujioka also wanted to add in gameplay elements that would add another layer of challenge. The story is told from the perspective of Ai Hidaka, Eri Mizutani and Ryō Akizuki—three prospective pop idols introduced in Dearly Stars as they enter the talent agency 876 Production, and deals with their training on their way to stardom. The player has access to the three idols' different scenarios when playing, and each one involves a branching plot line.
Development for the game began in 2008 as the first game in the franchise's next stage called "2nd Vision". The development team wanted to introduce a new talent agency separate from 765 Production, the main agency in the series, to better suit the details of the story. When developing the game's three idols, two of them were decided to be girls, but Kujioka suggested that the third idol Ryō be male instead. The game features 10 songs the idols perform, later released on several music albums. Three manga adaptations were also published by Ichijinsha. Dearly Stars sold 30,786 copies in its first week of release in Japan, and ranked as the tenth best-selling video game in Japan that week. Reviewers have praised the game, and it has been described as suitable for beginners to The Idolmaster series.
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