It only makes sense that Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure would receive a number of video game adaptations considering the sheer popularity of both the original manga series and anime. Although the Capcom-developed arcade fighting game released in 1998 probably still stands as the best of these adaptations, the more recent Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle still has its merits — at least from an aesthetic standpoint. As a fighting game, it feels far too clunky and unwieldy. But as a piece of fan service, it mostly succeeds. Fortunately for Jojo fans who missed out on this game when it came out, Bandai Namco just announced an updated rerelease of the title, dubbed Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R, during today’s PlayStation State of Play presentation.
According to Bandai Namco’s official website, All Star Battle R serves as “the biggest game ever in the franchise.” Whereas the original release capped out at 41 playable characters when including the DLC, All Star Battle R raises that number to 50. Additionally, this rerelease improves upon the authentic visual style of the original game to better match that of the anime, and it even incorporates new audio recordings courtesy of the anime’s voice actors.
Addressing a major flaw
Most importantly, All Star Battle R aims to improve upon the original game’s fighting mechanics. Not only does it tweak “the fighting tempo” of the initial release, but it also implements entirely new mechanics such as jump dashes and hit stops.
Jojo fans can expect to get their hands on the All Star Battle R rerelease once it comes out this fall. The original game was already packed full of references to the source material, so fans will likely get a kick out of seeing what other kinds of references it will include. The adjustments to the fighting engine sound particularly promising, although it remains uncertain whether or not they make a significant difference.
