Since its re-emergence on the anime scene in 2012, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has skyrocketed in popularity thanks to its vibrant characters, vibrant world-building, and endlessly memorable moments. In 2013, developer Cyber Connect 2 and Bandai Namco released a fighting game based on the long-running manga series to little fanfare. Nearly a decade later, a remastered and upgraded version called JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R looks set to take center stage in the fighting game genre, which has become increasingly exciting and crowded in recent years. features bold new characters, smart updates to the combat system, and a disappointing replacement for the original story mode. So in some ways it succeeds as a celebration of his 35-year history in one of the most frenzied and vibrant anime and manga series, but it remains an entertaining fighting game. But that online his component feels dated in the modern age. .
All-Star Battle R’s impressive roster spans the entire history of the series and includes 10 more fantastic characters than the previous iteration’s already generous 41. Representatives range from Jonathan in the Phantom of His Blood to Jonathan in his Joestar and his demonic adoptive brother Diobrand to Jotaro Kujo, a descendant of Jonathan in Stardust. The Crusaders arc culminates in the latest Jojolion with Josuke in his storyline and allies and foes everywhere in between. It was a pleasure to try each fighter and the newly added assists his moves existing fighting lovingly created using his synergies becomes complicated. Combined with interesting character quirks and interactions, every match is filled with pleasant surprises. The cherry on top is an update to the Japanese voice cast for All-Star Battle R. The actors reprise their roles from the latest anime adaptations to make these faithful recreations feel full, and it’s fully utilized, such as in the middle of a fight, on each menu screen.
Each era of JoJo has its own abilities and rules for combat, making combat varied and fun to control. Every fighter has a style that suits their placement in the timeline. First generation characters like Ripple User can recharge his HH gauge with the push of a button and use that gauge to perform more powerful special moves. Others have vampire powers, but those from the Steel Ball Run arc can fight on or off horse. It’s a game, and that’s what makes matchups exciting.
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Much of the showdown in the series gravitates around guardian spirits called stands, who act as a second body on the battlefield, so the majority of the cast utilizes this special ability. Maybe, but a character’s Stand can manifest in a variety of surprising forms, along with differentiated movesets, and all characters have cool gimmicks despite sharing a common fighting style. make you feel like you have
In many cases, learning one character carries over enough information to fill in the gaps when trying another, which I appreciate. is easy to execute and transitions smoothly from light attacks to medium and heavy moves. Easy to learn even for beginners.
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Speaking of beginners, Easy Beat is a great tool for new players to use to disrupt simple combos using only the light attack button. I had a great time swapping out my favorite characters from the anime, then switching to later JoJo heroes and enemies to see what wacky gameplay schemes they adhered to.
Once you’ve learned how to play All Star Battle R smoothly, you can learn advanced skills to maximize your effectiveness on the battlefield. For example, combat takes place primarily in his 2D plane, but the dodge button allows the character to dash into the foreground or background to avoid the oncoming onslaught. Learning to do this is essential to opening up opportunities for counter-attacks and punishing aggressive advances, as well as the more advanced Stylish Evade, which makes his last second block a time-consuming evasion. can be changed to Getting the hang of it requires precise timing and intuition as to what your opponent’s next attack will be.
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You can even summon a select assist character from any roster member to provide mixups, extend combos, or save you from any blows you may be taking. Even taunts serve the important function of depleting an opponent’s resources his gauge with a well-timed trash talk. For those who want to go even more flashy, you can also use the bar on the meter to cancel movement recoveries to continue combos, or to safely block certain moves like Guilty Gear’s Roman Cancel. Learning when and how to use each of these skills is rewarding and greatly expands the depth of strategy and gameplay in All Star Battle R.
Due to the timing of All-Star Battle R’s release, its visuals are largely based on the manga art style of JoJo creator Hirohiko Araki, with great comic aesthetics such as speech bubbles and dramatic comic panels. Even though some of the models and stages are out of date in 2022, each character’s colorful hand-painted textures and impossible poses on his model are great to look at.
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Most of All-Star Battle R’s offline modes are solid, if unremarkable, and in many cases kept me entertained for hours on end. Of course, arcade or his one-on-one match mode is expected in any fighter, and these activities are available here without the wow factor. However, exciting additions like his 3v3 team battles like King of Fighters and support for tournament brackets that can be played with up to 8 players provide a great way to get together with friends and go head-to-head. These modes should be staples of any modern fighting game, and I commend them for including them here.
The main single-player attraction is the All-Star Battle mode. It features canonical brawls and virtual dream matches to see which Jojos from different eras would win if hit. These are special conditions such as giving your computer-controlled opponent increased or penalized attributes such as special gauge recovery, defense, or attack power. It also starts, and many battles become exciting and difficult conflicts to overcome.
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All-Star Battle Mode includes many battles from the JoJo manga and anime, but there’s not much to learn about the plot of the series here. Unfortunately, those new to Jojo don’t quite understand what’s going on in the story, who the main characters are, and why these battles are important.The original story is in his mode here. is not in So, one of his biggest lost opportunities in the remaster is in storytelling, or lack thereof. There’s only a glossary of information about key items and characters hidden in the menu, but it serves more as a reminder to distant fans than as a guide to how great JoJo is.
That’s not to say Jojo’s signature flavor can’t be found anywhere else. alive and well on the battlefield. Explosive super moves called Heart Heat and Great Heat Attack unleash devastating combinations paired with ridiculously flashy animations and voice lines. Some of the best of these include Dio smashing the Steamroller (classic), Diego transforming into a Jurassic horror, and the Grand Anniche shredding guitars while Stand punches enemies.
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