JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle

Does little to open the door for anyone other than JoJo vets. [July 2014, p.80]

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle is as baffling a fighting game as you will ever play. With a large cast of eccentric characters and some of the most stylish moves you'll ever see, Namco Bandai have finally released a good anime game. It's not without a few problems, but JoJo has enough charm to warrant taking the risk.

All-star Battle is strictly for fans, unless you want Japanese culture to slap you in the face. [July 2014, p80]

Brilliant presentation, flawed execution. Add [10 or 20 points] if you like Jojo's. [Issue#249, p.68]

It's a mile-long love letter to the fans. [Issue#148, p.120]

The latest take at JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a fair and accessible fighting game that offers something different from the crowd.

A unique fighting game with an avant-grade character design due to it staying true to the manga source material. It is a fun game for fans of the manga, and also for fighting game enthusiasts looking for something new. Non-fighting fans won't get much out of it other than learning about the world of Jojo and his bizarre adventures.

It looks stylish and gives the slick Street Fighter 4 from Capcom a run for its money. Unfortunately the art design is the only area where JoJo is a competition. Cause behind the façade hides a rather generic beat-em-up.

An oddball mixture of zany visuals and anomalous personas that pays respect to both hardcore fans and Hirohiko Araki's singular vision.

As I said before, I came into this game with no knowledge of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series and it had no effect on me other than wanting more from the series. I would urge fans of the Dragon Ball Z or Naruto fighting games to check this out, if they want something similar or if they have been burnt out on the other two.

CyberConnect2 created the ultimate game for fans of the show, with JoJo's Bizarre Adventures: All-Star Battle. With the forty characters and five different fighting styles the game is as extravagant as you might expect. Unfortunately it's also very unbalanced and the story mode disappoints when it comes to appearance. The micro transactions in the campaign are also quite repulsive.

Underdeveloped game modes and poor balance won't stop you from enjoying JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All Star Battle. Whether you're a hardcore fan or just looking for something new in the genre, make sure to pick this one up. The magic will fade, but the journey up to that point will be unforgettable.

While JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star absolutely looks the part, it falls short of its potential with its poor implementation of the story mode and online multiplayer.

Nice to see Bandai-Namco is bringing back some classics; maybe we can see more intense action and story next time.

Is it perfect? Far from it, but the sheer level of chaos that comes from playing it made it fun overall. With great artwork, bonkers fighting styles and a lot of replay value (even if I didn’t understand one of the modes), it is a game that should at least be tried, just to have seen and played it.

In the end, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure All Star Battle flashes a lot of style but lacks the substance that prevents it from being a great fighter.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle is an enjoyable fighting title if you are looking for a casual experience. However, from a competitive standpoint, it lacks a solid combat system and almost all the bizarre fighters are unbalanced. It's a shame because this is a good looking adaptation of Hirohiko Araki's manga.

JoJo’s exhibits a flagrant disregard for rules - both visual and mechanical - and for that, I truly love it.

If you’re really into JoJo, or really into fighting games, or both, you’ll be able to see through the messy design, pick out the good stuff and have some fun with it. Otherwise you’re likely to be beaten and bewildered.

Overall, I find JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure very hard to recommend for most people. If you’re buying it because you loved the Capcom classic and don’t really like the license, then avoid this game.

Once again, this is a game for the fans, and only the fans, but I think that there has been a genuine job here to do right by the fans. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle is not a classic game by any means, but it's leagues ahead of most other anime or manga fighting games.

Once the glitz and glamour fade and you dive a little deeper into this game, the cracks begin to show. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle is packed with style, but simply lacks the substance to back it up.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle has some shortcomings with its story mode, overall content and that awful microtransactions malarkey, but there’s no doubting that there is a solid fighting game at its core that anyone can have fun with.

All-Star Battle's incredible presentation far outclasses its slower one-on-one gameplay and adequate modes. Diehard JoJo fans will be in heaven, but the uninitiated will lose interest once the invigorating shock of the fabulous visuals wears off.

The game stumbles when you add in the micro-transactions found in the online-only Campaign Mode and the $2 price tag for each of the 14 DLC characters. Hardcore JoJo fans also need to watch out for the dodgy name localizations of the music-themed cast.

Suitably outrageous and undeniably fun, but even fans of the source material will be disappointed at a fighting game that values spectacle over substance.

If you approach All-Star Battle as a fighting game first and foremost, you'll discover a satisfyingly complex combat system with a few lacklustre modes. Not a 10, then, but this Jo is far from average.

Playing this with a friend, you might get a solid evening's enjoyment out of JoJo's ludicrous special moves. But that's about it. As a fighting game, this doesn't present any contest to any of the established competitors.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventures: All Star Battle is a fun and visually stunning fighting game from CyberConnect2. The free-to-play elements are simply wrong for a full price game and its basic gameplay is not enough for fighting games veterans, but if you like the original manga this is a must buy. Hands down.

The lack of a tutorial, a stunted story mode, and the inclusion of a poorly judged free-to-play component drains some of the colour from the experience, but as soon as you land that special heart attack, you'll quickly forget all about its shortcomings.