JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R

It's a lot of fun to experience JoJo’s eccentric and ostentatious battles in solid yet boilerplate offline modes, but online struggles often knock the wind out of it.

It's such a shame that the game's online suite is so behind the times, because All Star Battle R is an otherwise brilliant ode to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. A technical fighter that's always deserved a second chance.

While you won't find an Evo-calibre fighting game here depth-wise, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R is miles ahead of your typical 3D-arena anime fighter affair. It would be a hard game to recommend to someone unfamiliar with the franchise, as without the fan service aspect you're left with a basic fighter with some barebones modes. However, for those who adore JoJo, it's an excellent example of how to do fan service right, and one where you can feel the love and adoration of the franchise's 35-year history flowing through every part of the package.

The online module of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is effectively broken and useless. Everything feels way too slow and unresponsive. Matches will also end randomly or never happen at all. However, the local play works exactly as intended and the story mode is as entertaining as the goofy and boisterous manga that it is based on. At the end of the day, Araki's style and the strong JoJo flavour is what elevates this Tekken-like fighting game from being completely average.

Fighting games' fans will have to focus more on local multiplayer instead of online due to the infrastructure, which is a big blow.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is a fast-paced fighting title that can be played solo or with others. Furthermore, it captures every essence of the franchise and capitalises on many of the much-loved characters. With interesting stage design and tough but enjoyable challenges to complete, this will be enjoyed by many gamers.

Fighting games are living in a resurgent time so it is awesome to see this game get a second lease on life. Having never played it, it was a pleasant surprise that is packed with a ton of solo content to keep me interested. This is all without having any attachment to the anime or characters themselves. It made me interested in the universe and I had a blast playing the game on all fronts. If you enjoy fighting games and maybe are not as deep into the FGC or tournament scene, this game packs plenty of options for casual and experienced players alike.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is a fun beat 'em up that’s perfect for whiling away a few afternoons and enjoying some chill time with your friends. While the keyboard controls are absolutely hellish and the difficulty spikes can be a bit baffling at times, the voice acting, music, and animations really elevate the game, and all in all, it’s a pretty solid title.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is an excellent fighter that does bode its niche base well, and could potentially extend beyond that inviting more fans into its never-ending lore.

The best video game adaptation of the wildest manga property gets a better-than-average port. For Jojo's fans only, though.