Game #1260: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - All-Star Battle R

 Ari ari ari ari ari arrrrrivedercciiiiiiiiiiii!

 Ready for round 2? JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is sort of sequel to the original All-Star Battle, because it's more than just a port, as it has new characters, new mechanics and new modes. Trust me, it's not the same, and in practically every way, it's a much superior game.

 I don't think I need to spend time talking about how the game plays or how much of a love letter it is to JoJo as a whole, as the brunt of the main game remains exactly the same: It's a fighting game, 3 attack buttons, a dodge, and a button to use special abilities, activating a character's Stand most of the time. There have been a few tweaks to hitstun to make it feel better and make combos easier, but it doesn't stop there, now you can select another character to call upon for a quick assist attack. Honestly, I would've loved tag-team mechanics, but this I'm not complaining! And even better, now Easy-Beat(Auto-combos) can be turned off. Thank you!

 Worth mentioning, the game runs amazing on the Switch, the 30Fps never dropped as far as I could tell, and the loading times are quite brief. This game is amazing on the system, even if, unlike the other versions, doesn't reach 60fps. The graphics look amazingly crisp on handheld mode too, almost as if it was always meant to be on the system.

 Modes have changed, mostly for the better. About the only thing that returns is VS and the Arcade Ladder, now offering a Survival mode too. The Story Mode has been removed completely.... I mean, it was kinda lame, as it only had some bits of texts between battles, but it was something and it was completely harmless. I suspect that they removed it for 'spoiler' reasons, since Part VI is currently airing on Netflix, and if they removed it because of that... screw you, as this was not the only omission, but more on that later. In its place is All-Star Battle, a series of over 100 matches divided by Parts. It's even lamer, because it's made up of actual fights from the story, or what ifs, but they have absolutely no context whatsoever, no special or unique animations, absolutely nothing. Might as well just be a boring list of "X vs X" and be done with it. That said... The putrid Campaign mode from the original was axed, and now you unlock bonus colors and costumes by fulfilling secret missions in this mode. If the hints are not enough, you can spend a bit of gold to reveal the requirements, but I preferred saving up gold for costumes and colors in the gallery, and just fiddle around until I got it right. I mean, every rematch meant more money for goodies, so no loss.

 So... this game has about 5 or so new characters, including Trish Una, whom I adore and should've been there from the start. That's pretty nice, but... they removed Pucci. Well, the original Pucci. As not to spoil the series, he was changed so as to only use the initial form of his stand, and the original Pucci was promised as free DLC. Handicapping your game because of an animated series, BASED ON A DECADE OLD MANGA is pretty darn stupid. They even removed Part VI's stage because of 'spoilers'. Absolutely ridiculous. It doesn't matter if they'll return as free DLC, the point remains that the discs and cartridges are missing content from the original game due to absolutely stupid reasons. Heck, while the game has a fair amount of costumes to unlock... it's missing a few from the original game, including the Irene costume for Jolyne, because of... spoilers. It's not a huge disappointment, I mean, there's plenty of new content, but I can't help but feel irked about it. Oh! And since more parts were animated, I think the original game released during Part II's animated run, a few characters from have new default colors and simplified designs, including my beloved Giorno who now has his unappealing hot-pink costume by default(Albeit with yellow hair which doesn't look as good as green-on-pink) and Gold Experience lost some complexity on his textures, but not to worry, the original colors are unlockable if you miss them.

 So... even though I'm fresh off a rant, the game is as fantastic as it was before, and... it's even better. The new additions are all welcome, the only issue are the removals! Regardless, considering the huge roster of characters from all series... I honestly love this game, it's better than the original release, it really is, and it's more than worth the double dip if you still own the original. It's not the most competitive fighting game out there, but it really doesn't need to, the game is just fun to play due to how simple it is, and it looks very stylish thanks to the cool as hell cell-shading they used. The game is fun even if you don't like JoJo, since you don't need to know who this characters are to enjoy all their insanity.

9.0