JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is a remaster of CyberConnect2’s 2013 fighter for the Playstation 3.
It’s the second fighting game to come out of the manga series, following the Capcom classic JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future.
All-Star Battle featured similar mechanics and character designs seen in Heritage for the Future.
The game was loved by fans of the series, who praised the huge roster, gameplay, and the stylised manga aesthetic.
Its successor Eyes of Heaven wasn’t as well received, mainly due to the dramatic change in gameplay, however, it did introduce several new characters who have made an appearance in the All-Star Battle remaster.
CyberConnect2 are unmatched when it comes to adapting manga series into games and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is another visual spectacle.
Players will witness some of the most beautiful visuals in any anime game, each of the stylised characters is a precise replica of their manga counterparts.
CyberConnect2 have paid so much attention to the finer details of each of the characters, especially getting their flamboyant style accurate.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R entire aesthetic pays massive homage to the original material with the game featuring brazen colour schemes and manga panels at every turn.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is available on a few different consoles, and there are noticeable performance differences.
The Playstation 5 version targets 60FPS and looks like a thing of beauty with the slick flashy combat flowing smoothly on the screen.
The Nintendo Switch version targets 30FPS and also runs very smoothly in docked and undocked mode.
The Switch version does lack some detail on certain stages but other than that it worked a charm and is my preferred way to play the game.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R features a nice soundtrack made up of a variety of songs.
However, the game doesn't include so many of the series' famous songs from the anime which is a bit of a shame as it would have completed the fan service.
The game does include a Japanese voice-over and this version is updated with the latest voice actors.
The voice acting really elevates the whole experience from hearing the likes of Jotaro’s Star Platinum shouting Ora Ora Ora or the witty remarks from Guido Mista’s Sex Pistol stand.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is a 3D fighting game where players can take part in single or team battles.
There are fifty playable characters with each being well crafted to match the abilities seen within the series.
Characters like Johnny Joestar will ride a horse while Prosciutto and Pesci will fight in a pair.
This excellent attention to character detail grants the game such a diverse roster of characters with only a few duplicates.
Fans will be spoilt for choice as glaring omissions from the original game have been included with more on the way.
Players will also be able to choose an assist character that will have a special trait that will greatly help with the player's strategy.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R has a very accessible combat system that will allow fans of the series and newcomers to fighting games to jump in and play.
It may seem slightly simple from the beginning, with most players being able to win matches with an Easy Beat combo.
But underneath there is some complexity, that’s filled with a plethora of different attack and defensive options that can make the game very competitive for skilled players.
The stages are great recreations of their anime counterparts and each of them even features an interactive hazard or gimmick.
These hazards were probably designed with the thought of adding an extra level of challenge, however, most of them can be annoying distractions that are really not needed and quickly become an afterthought.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R includes four different modes for players to get stuck into.
The first mode is All-Star Battle, which will please fans of the series the most, as they can relive classic fights from the series.
This mode pushes the fan service further by adding the unique dream matches like Old Jonathan versus Kars.
Each stage includes a special rule like having the opponent’s health constantly refilled or having your character’s defense lowered.
These additional rules add an extra level of challenge to each battle stopping them from becoming overly repetitive.
Arcade mode is split into two separate sections including Challenge and Endless battle.
Challenge battle will play out like the traditional Arcade mode whilst Endless Battle features survival-style progression.
Versus mode is also broken down into three different sections, Single, Team, and Tournament.
They all come with various settings to offer a different experience and alongside the fifty characters, there is endless fun to be had.
My only gripe is that the team battle doesn’t allow players to swap characters on the fly.
Online includes the usual modes including Ranked and Casual, however I was unable to test them while writing this review.
The game also included Online missions, which change every week. This could be a fantastic opportunity for the developers to increase the game's longevity if the missions are diverse, and offer great challenges for rewards that are harder to get in during offline mode.
Winning battles will earn players rewards that can be used to customise their characters, however, it is very limited.
These collectables can be found in the All Star mode or players can buy them using the in-game currency.
It's great having extra unlockables granting the game replay value, but these rewards aren’t very exciting as they don’t grant the level of customisation fans might be expecting.
That being said, the game does feature additional collectables outside of the customisation which includes art, character models, and music, these will please hardcore fans of the series.
Verdict 4 / 5
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is another great anime based fighting game from CyberConnect2 and Bandai Namco.
Having over fifty characters, each with their original skill set from the show is amazing allowing fans to set up their dream matches.
That being said JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R does require prior knowledge of the series, so newcomers and non-fans might find it hard to get into.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is out now on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 , Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S
