So, with that in mind, it's kind of surprising that Stardust Crusaders isn't really one of the better parts that JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has to offer. It's arguably the quintessential JoJos arc, codifying what would follow in most of the parts to come - but that doesn't compensate for its flaws.
While stands were introduced in this arc, Araki wasn't entirely sure how they worked at first, resulting in a small handful of plotholes and/or irrational elements that would go on to be ignored later. Similarly, while Stands would later prove to be a brilliant idea, it didn't seem to hit Araki straight away how much of a masterstroke they were, so a lot of the earlier Stand abilities are either generic, or simply uninteresting. Sure, the series gave us some fantastic battles - especially in the Egyptian God half - but for every Cream, there's a Tower of Grey. For every Bast, there's a Wheel of Fortune. For every Hanged Man, there's an Empress. You get the picture.
Similarly, the plot isn't very interesting. Or rather, what plot there is is interesting, but there just isn't that much of it. The idea is simple - Dio is in Egypt, we need to get to Egypt, there are stand users in the way. The Monster of the Week formula is unimpressive and can drag after a while, especially if you're coming off the heels of Battle Tendency, one of the most dynamic arc in the JoJo canon.
Now, odds are, you've checked my score already and are wondering how I gave this a 7/10.
You see, JJBA relies on trickery and strategy rather than a slugfest of punches, drawn-out powerups, and plot twists from nowhere, as many bog-standard battle shonens are likely to - and the addition of Stands, flawed as they were at this stage, allowed a lot variety in battles than Hamon did. It even allows more variety in its enemies... I mean, where else can you see the protagonists fight an Orangutan, a bird, and A GODDAMNED BABY?
But the most immediate improvement on the previous arcs that the new formula allows is that, in the previous parts, too much of the story hinged on the titular character. OF COURSE he was going to win! Who else could?
Well, not any more. With Stardust Crusaders revolving around a team of 6 protagonists rather than just one, Stardust Crusaders had more flexibility and was able to shake up the formula simply by using a different character each time. However, it wasn't an entirely fair balance - Jotaro and Polnareff did take about 50% of the screentime between them, leaving the remaining 4 protagonists comparatively little, with Kakyoin and Abdul going largely underdeveloped.
This new formula also worked well with Jotaro Kujo, our new JoJo, who had a more stoic, laid back, bancho style than Joseph. having the screentime more split between the main cast allowed Jotaro to take a backseat and maintain a cool demeanour of indifference peppered with badass one-liners. Meanwhile, Polnareff picked up any slack that Jotaro's stoicness left, with his balance of wit and idiocy (coupled with some actual character development!).
And, as I said before, a lot of the latter half's fights (and some of the former half's) remain amongst the best JJBA has to offer - the epic 16-chapter "Dio's World" remains a personal favourite.
...Judgement was still absolute bullshit, though. Just pure crap. Worst JJBA moment ever, no exaggeration.
Final Words: Flawed, but entertaining.
Story/Plot: 5/10.
Characters: 7/10.
Art: 8/10.
Overall: 7/10.
For fans of: Fist of the North Star, Shaman King.
