JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is a fighting game developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Bandai Namco, based around the legendary manga and anime franchise that shares its name. The game is a remaster of 2013’s All-Star Battle, with a considerably expanded roster. All-Star Battle R features 50 characters from the illustrious history of JJBA and its creator Hirohiko Araki.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R revolves around the simple premise of letting players engage in battles as their favorite characters from the franchise. In lieu of a story campaign, JJBA offers All-Star Battle Mode, which presents players with a wide array of standalone, preset fights inspired by various moments from all eight arcs of JJBA history, along with a few “what-if” bouts, which let characters transcend their own timelines to battle each other. It’s a fun concept, but the gimmicks added to some fights (like buffs to attack power, or regenerating health) can leave them feeling awfully one-sided. While players can spend in-game money to apply their own effects to even the odds, it never feels as well-balanced as a straight 1v1 match.
Given the size of the fighting game’s roster, players might not be too keen on limiting themselves to the predetermined matches of All-Star Battle Mode. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R did not stop at the major characters like Jotaro Kujo and Dio Brando; it’s included much deeper cuts, including more bizarre inclusions like the Stand-wielding bird Pet Shop. Also present are multiple versions of characters; Part 2 protagonist Joseph Joestar is included, as is his older incarnation from Part 3. The roster size is very impressive, and each character feels distinct, even from their alternate selves where applicable. Each character’s identity in the story informs their style in the game; Stand users are able to summon and dismiss their Stand at will, changing their movesets, while wielders of Hamon charge this ancient power and use it to fuel their most powerful moves.
This variety can lead to vast disparities in the complexity and difficulty of characters’ movesets. Dio’s sinister servant Mariah, for instance, has a relatively simple list of skills based around her magnetic powers, and since her Stand manifests as a trap that electrocutes enemies, she has no alternate movesets. On the other end of the spectrum, Diego Brando from Steel Ball Run has no less than three different movesets; one when he’s on foot, another when he’s on his horse, and a third when he uses his Stand Scary Monsters to transform into a dinosaur. While complex movesets aren’t necessarily an indication of power, this level of intricacy could make it harder for fighting game newcomers who are fans of JJBA to give the title a try as their favorite characters.
The combat itself is intricate enough to satisfy fans of the fighting game genre, and CyberConnect2 has taken numerous opportunities to infuse All-Star Battle R with homages to the source material. The characters’ trademark attacks are fun to pull off, though it can be a bit tricky to pull off the complex directional inputs required by certain abilities. Numerous effects are demarcated by manga panels appearing on-screen, such as when a character uses a taunt to decrease their opponent’s special ability meter. These homages combine with a very skillful rendition of the anime’s iconic art style to make matches feel truly authentic to the show that inspired them.
Unfortunately, this verisimilitude is hampered a bit by the game’s connectivity. For every online match that runs smoothly, there’s another that’s interrupted by moments of buffering that can severely hamper the pacing of a match. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure does not feature rollback netcode, which is vital for fighting games in the modern age, and as entertaining as many online matches can be, the game does suffer for it.
For all its faults, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is an excellent way for fans to step into the shoes of their favorite heroes from the anime and manga’s rich history. CyberConnect2 has taken a franchise brimming with potential for flashy, high-stakes battles and channeled it into a fighting game that’s fun and dramatic, even if it doesn’t rise to the level of contenders like Guilty Gear Strive and Tekken 7. While dedicated fighting game aficianados can find better alternatives, fans of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure won’t want to miss it.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is available now for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. A digital PS5 code was provided to Screen Rant for the purpose of this review.
