It is by no means a comprehensive, or polished fighting game, but it is a uniquely enjoyable one exhibiting rare style and creativity in battle, even as it struggles to meet the standards set by other modern fighters. It can, at times, seem completely alien and imbalanced, but even then, it manages such consummate showmanship, it’s difficult to fault it too harshly. JoJo’s exhibits a flagrant disregard for rules - both visual and mechanical - and for that, I truly love it.
What We Said About JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle in 2014 Learning when and how to use each of these skills is rewarding and drastically extends the depth of strategy and gameplay in All Star Battle R. For those looking to get extra fancy, you can also spend a bar of meter to cancel the recovery of moves to either continue combos or make certain moves safe on block, much like a Roman Cancel in Guilty Gear. Even taunts serve an important function by draining the opponent’s resource gauge with appropriately timed trash talk. It’s not something I am too worried about as a balance issue, but it is worth noting that you might catch some punches and kicks that look a little off.Īssist characters selected from any roster member can also be called in to provide mixups, extend combos, or save you from a beating you may be taking. Despite their minor stature, their collision detection often matches those who are much larger, making incoming attacks that appear to go over or under the character hit like they were anyone else. The New FacesĪll Star Battle R’s Characters come in all shapes and sizes, some of which are not even human! Fighters like the ice-spewing hawk Pet Shop and Stand-wielding doggo Iggy are much smaller combatants than the typical JoJo.
The cherry on top is an update to the Japanese voice cast in All Star Battle R, with actors reprising their roles from the most recent anime adaptations to make these faithful recreations feel complete, and that’s made ample use of in the middle of fights and on each menu screen. Those combined with funny character quirks and interactions fill every match with pleasant surprises. Trying out each fighter is a joy and exploring the existing lovingly crafted fighting styles with the newly added assist move synergies brings more complexities to combat than possible in the original. Representatives range from Phantom Blood’s Jonathan Joestar and his diabolical adopted brother Dio Brando, to Jonathan’s descendant Jotaro Kujo from the Stardust Crusaders arc, culminating with Josuke from the most recent Jojolion storyline along with allies and foes from every part in between. So in some ways, it succeeds as a celebration of the 35-year history of one of the most exuberant and vibrant anime and manga series out there, but while it remains an entertaining fighting game, its online components still feel archaic in the modern era.Īll Star Battle R’s impressive roster spans the entire history of the series - including 10 more fantastical characters than the previous iteration’s already generous 41. All Star Battle R comes equipped with some bold new characters, smart updates to the combat system, and a disappointing replacement for the original’s story mode. Almost a decade later, a remastered and upgraded version called JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R looks to make a splash in a fighting game genre that’s become more exciting and crowded in recent years. In 2013, developer CyberConnect 2 and Bandai Namco released a fighting game based on the long-running manga series to little fanfare. Since its re-emergence in the anime scene in 2012, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has had an upsurge in popularity thanks to its exuberant characters, vibrant worldbuilding, and infinitely memeable moments.