Several years ago, Capcom made a fighting game for the popular manga, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Shortly after, the title became a hit among fans as it was a unique fighter and had many interesting design choices. The most notable being Dio’s bulldozer special, which went on to become its own meme. Naturally, when Cyberconnect 2 announced its plans to make a new JoJo fighter, it was time to revamp the old one. However, after so much time, can JoJo still put up a fight, or is it better left as a fond memory?
Lets see what’s HOT and what’s NOT in our review of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
HOT
22 Playable Characters
Easily one of the greatest things about JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, is the expansive 22 playable character selection. No matter what type of character you’re looking for, you will find it here. For instance, you can play as a Boston Terrier named Iggy, who might not be much of a fighter, but will certainly shame your friends when you win. Transversely, you can also select a more proficient fighter and simply beat your friend with your skills.
If you’re not into fighting others and prefer to play the arcade, then you will be pleased to know that every character (including variants) have their own stories. Each story is short, but it explains the character’s role in the series. Most of the stories will ultimately link up, so once you finish, you have a good understanding of what happened.
Plays like Persona 4 Arena
If you’re a fan of Persona 4 Arena, then you will most likely enjoy JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. This is because they not only share similar inputs, but also use Stand / Personas the same way. By this, I mean you can summon another fighter to assist you, but if they take too much damage they break. This leaves you with fewer options, so you must use it wisely. For those willing to risk their Stand, you can easily dominate the fight – if you know what you’re doing.
Online Multiplayer
One of the game’s few improvements is the ability to fight people online. Sadly, it’s not the most advanced system out there, but you have the choice of player or ranked matches. Player give you all the standard options, whereas ranked just asks how many rounds you want to fight. Once you get in a lobby, you can select a personal message, although the selection is pretty minimal. As far as the actual gameplay is concerned, I’ve never had issues with lag or disconnections.
NOT
Why is this $20 dollars?
So far, Capcom has released a number of fighting game ports, but they’ve all been in the $15 dollar range. Naturally, when it was revealed that JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure HD Version would cost a whopping $20 dollars, expectations were higher than normal. However, JoJo is quite lacking when compared to similar games.
For starters, JoJo is closer to a simple port than any sort of remake. This is largely due to the “HD” being a simple filter to clean the sprites up. Additionally, JoJo suffers from a clear lack of modes. While Street Fighter III added challenges and a trial mode, JoJo has nothing additional besides the online features. Not only is this disappointing to fans, but it also makes the additional cost seem somewhat confusing.
Hard for newcomers
When it comes to fighting games, you’re expected to exploit weaknesses. Simple things like an enemy missing you with an attack or even jumping is more than enough to turn the tides in your favor. With this being said, JoJo does absolutely nothing to make it easier on beginners.
This in a large part is due to the aforementioned trial mode not being included, so you’re expected to figure out these characters on your own. Thankfully, there is a training mode to practice attacks, although without an idea of how to use your characters properly, this mode can also feel pointless too. Finally, the AI can be difficult to defeat, even on the lowest difficulty.
If you’re looking for a moving target that puts up a little fight, then you’re out of luck as the AI can be quite difficult at times. This is generally because the AI will use their stand to properly deal with you and make it very difficult to even get near them. Naturally, this will discourage those without skill, so you’ll want to avoid being up a creek without a paddle.
VERDICT
JoJo is an interesting game, but there could be a lot more. With only three or four modes to play, it’s easy to get bored of it over time. Despite the flaws, this the game is still quite fun, plus the stories are pretty interesting. While the full price might be a little steep, it’s a nice buy at ten or fifteen.
[Editor’s Note: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure HD Version was reviewed on the PS3. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]