Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R

Clunky controls and bad online play hold back this beloved franchise's new fighting game. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R is an amazing love letter to the series and its fans, but fumbles as a game. Players get access to a massive 50 character cast from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, which have many of their moves pulled directly from comic panels and shots of the anime. Each of these characters has access to a light, medium and heavy attack, along with a unique style button and a dodge. Repeatedly pressing the light attack will give players a basic auto-combo. The fighting takes place in a 3D environment like Tekken, but you can only move towards and away from the camera with the dodge button. Each of the stages in the game comes with an optional hazard, with unique activation conditions, that adds a new strategic element to consider while fighting.

With a cast of 50 characters, there are a ton of options to choose from. Unfortunately, a number of characters feel very limited, with stubby attacks, awkward combos, and unintuitive controls. Thankfully, having so many options means that you can probably still find someone you enjoy. This situation isn't helped by the limited tutorials, which don't fully explain how to use the unique mechanics of different characters. The online play is outdated, and finding a match with a playable connection is challenging at best. It's also worth noting that the game features a lot of swearing, including in basic confirmation menus. With all that said, the fighting itself can be kinetic and fun, and the auto-combo will give all players a basic effective option regardless of their experience with the genre. Affection for the source material shines through in every frame, and the game's stuffed with easter eggs and references that will definitely excite fans of the show. In the end, superfans of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure will find a lot to love here, but other players would be better served with any other modern fighting game.