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This likely inspired Bandai-Namco and CyberConnect2 to take Jonathan, Joseph, Jotaro, and the others back into the genre in 2013. The original Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle certainly looked the part, though it was rather slow, stodgy, and exclusive to the PS3. Now they’ve gone back to the drawing board for All-Star Battle R, where they’ve rectified a few issues.

5 The Roster Is Bigger

The original roster wasn’t to be sniffed at, as it included most of the series’ favorites. Including DLC, it included all the Stardust Crusaders from Part 3, Josuke and all his friends from Part 4, and all but one of the Gang Stars from Part 5. Still, it also lacked a few key characters. Why was Speedwagon from Part 1 withdrawn coolly? Wasn’t there room for more women than Lisa Lisa, Jolyne, and Ermes? Why are Parts 7 and 8 so scanty?

All-Star Battle R rectifies most of these issues. Speedwagon was brought in from Eyes of Heaven, as were Part 3’s Mariah and Pet Shop, Part 4’s Yukako and alternate Jotaro, Part 5’s Trish Una, and Part 7’s Diego Brando. Others were completely new, like Ghiaccio, Prosciutto & Pesci, and Foo Fighters. Still, there is room for improvement, like Part 8 only having one character. Here’s hoping for more DLC to come.

4 It’s More Faithful to the Anime

When All-Star Battle originally came out, the anime only had one season covering Parts 1 and 2. As such, everyone past those parts resembled their manga counterparts. Like blue jacket Jotaro, dark blue suited Giorno, etc. Complete with a different voice cast, some of whom made it into the anime, some didn’t, and some did but as different characters.

Now All-Star Battle R has been updated to reflect the anime’s designs. For most of the cast, it’s pretty subtle. But for others, it stands out. No one is mistaking Giorno’s hot pink or Jotaro’s all-black outfits for anyone else. Players can also preview the characters’ alternative colors before selecting if they want a different look. For extra flavor, choose animated victory poses instead of the original’s static ones. Aesthetic as it is, it gives the game that bit more personality than before.

3 Faster Frames, Faster Moves

Looks are all fine and dandy, but they don’t matter if the game still plays the same as before. The original game felt somewhat slow as it ran at 30 frames per second, and the animations were a little sluggish on top of that. Sure, it wasn’t early 1990s 3D fighter slow. Though it wasn’t a step-up on the frenetically fun Capcom fighter.

All-Star Battle R fixes that by doubling the frame rate up to 60FPS across all consoles (except the Switch edition; sorry, Nintendo fans). It also boosts the in-game speed and eases the moves’ input buffers, making the characters’ moves connect to each other much more smoothly. So, if anyone felt the combat was too clunky before, they may find this new Remastered edition much more to their liking.

2 New Moves and Altered Commands

The game may play faster, though that won’t help if players can’t pull off the moves. Many fighting games nowadays are trying to appeal to casual fans by simplifying the controls to one degree or another. All-Star Battle R doesn’t go as far as the upcoming Street Fighter 6’s Simple Mode, but it eases up a few things.

For example, moves like Kars’ ‘Victory Is Everything!’ went from needing a half-circle motion to just pressing down twice and Attack. While everyone now has access to new moves like the Stylish Guard, where the player can dodge while blocking an attack to open the opponent up. Plus, they can select a partner to leap in and attack if they need to break their foe’s defense or save them from their offense.

1 Story and Campaign Modes Replaced

These modes from the original All-Star Battle left a bit to be desired. The Story Mode consisted of a few voice clips set to text in between battles based on events from the series. It was rather underwhelming, as some parts had fewer characters than others, particularly Parts 5 and 6. While the Campaign mode suffered from pay-to-win gacha mechanics that soured on fans as much as the spotty online mode. Sadly, the online mode hasn’t improved by that much in All-Star Battle R.

But the old Story and Campaign Modes have been junked in favor of the new All-Star Battle Mode. In it, the player has to complete missions to earn unlockable treats or gold. Some missions are straight-up fights with conditions like a depleting HP or meter, and others are Dream Matches where characters from different parts face off. Completing enough of them will unlock a Boss Match that replicates famous fights too. No real money is required, nor hanging about. It just takes skill, practice, and smarts to get ahead.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle Ris out now for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

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