JoJo’s Bizarre Adventurelends itself to combat-heavy adaptations well, with a cast full of colorful fighters. Despite that, it’s difficult to find consoleJoJogames nowadays. The firstJoJogame was a 1993 RPG for the Super Famicom, but fans are more likely to remember 1999’sJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future, a fighting game byCapcom. This title made it to America and was highly acclaimed, still seeing play through a PS3/Xbox 360 re-release and emulation. Capcom followed that up with a Japan-only beat ’em up adapting the popularPart 5: Golden Windin 2002, and Anchor Inc. made a game based onPart 1: Phantom Bloodin 2006.
Things went silent until 2012, which brought the HD re-release ofHeritage for the Futureand the still-runningJoJo’s Bizarre Adventureanime. One year later, CyberConnect2 released its ownJoJofighter titledJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle. While its nextJoJogame,Eyes of Heaven, would become an arena fighter like the company’s well-knownNarutogames,All Star Battlewas not. This PS3-exclusive was a fusion ofTekkenandStreet Fighter’s approach to fighting, and while its gameplay was not well-regarded, its art and animations were. Now, an upgraded version calledJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle Ris coming to all systems, and its improvements might net more acclaim.
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New JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Characters
One of the first things fans learned aboutJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle Ris that it’s advertised as having 50 characters, up from the PS3 version’s 41. Fans initially assumed that this meantnew characters added toEyes of Heavenwere being redesigned and backported toAll Star Battle, but a leak from the Japanese website indicates this is not the case.
Trish Una, one ofthe protagonists ofPart 5, was seen in the corner of a screenshot, and is returning from her introduction inEyes of Heaven. A picture of what seems to be the arcade mode’s results screen also reveals Prosciutto, a minor villain from the first half ofPart 5, among the listed names. While he played a small role, Prosciutto is quite popular in Japan, so it appears that anyJoJocharacter is eligible forAll Star Battle R. This is an exciting proposition, especially given how heavily weightedEyes of Heaven’s roster was towardPart 3.
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Content Being Added To All Star Battle R
Trish is not the only element being brought back fromEyes of Heaven, as a number of stages from that game are also being repurposed. If they follow the pattern of the original game’s stages, these should also contain special animations, stage hazards, and dramatic finishes that are faithful to the original manga.The fighting game’s arcade mode returnsfor players seeking to test their skill, and among various difficulty options it offers an endless mode. Players regain health based on how much time they had left in the previous match, so optimizing combos and setups will carry people far.
A couple of other major additions are being made. CyberConnect2 is adding a tag system, giving players a number of charges to perform assists with a partner, as well as call them in for combo breakers. This is on-par withCyberConnect2’sNarutoandDemon Slayerarena fighters, and will likely pushAll Star Battle’s combos past their flexible limits. A full-game rebalance has been implemented to compliment this, as well as a new air dash mechanic.JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle Rmight matchHeritage for the Futurein the amount of chaos that can occur during matches, which should draw a lot of interest.
All Star Battle R’s Many Improvements
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle Rwill also come with a variety of other improvements, which should be warmly welcomed by old players. The game has more hitstop, as well as an improved input buffer for reading combos and common input shortcuts for performing special moves faster. Combined with what looks like locked 60 FPS performance, and it’s clear that an effort has been made to create a better-feeling experience. New voice lines are coming from the anime’s actors, and both the resolution and some old models have been touched-up to look modern and stay in-line with the anime. BeforeDragon Ball FighterZ,All Star Battlewas in the running for one of thebest-looking licensed anime games, and it’s still able to compete.
One of the best changes toAll Star Battlecomes from something removed inR: the Campaign mode. This was originally the method for obtaining new taunts, win poses, and costumes, but it was designed like a free-to-play game with energy costs and microtransactions. Aside from a few DLC characters, the rest of the game was not like this, and it stuck out. InR, the old Story and Campaign modes have been fused into an All Star Battle mode, which offers bothJoJo’s story and all the unlockables. That’s a great change, butBaoh: The Visitor’s Ikuro Hashizawa may be missing out. This guest character from Araki’s old manga was a celebrated DLC addition to the original game, and he seems to be absent fromR’s roster. Hopefully he can return to the cast, as it seemsAll Star Battle Ris a strong fighting gamein most other respects.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle Rwill release in early fall 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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