All-Star Battle R

"All JOJOs Unite! Fight for Your Destiny!"

- Tagline

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 オールスターバトルR) is a fighting game based on the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise, developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game released on, , , , , and. All-Star Battle R is a remastered version of the 2013 fighting game All-Star Battle, featuring new game mechanics and playable characters.

The international Steam version and Japanese console versions of the game released on September 1, 2022, with the international console versions and Japanese Steam version releasing the following day. As of January 31, 2023, it was made available on the, being playable for free on for a limited time or purchasable separately.

Summary
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R was first announced by Sony as part of the PlayStation State of Play event on March 9, 2022, with a release date of early fall of that same year. It was also later announced by Bandai Namco that the game would be available on the Nintendo Switch, Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and the Xbox One. The color palettes and designs of Part 1 to Part 6 characters in All-Star Battle R are noticeably different from those of the original All-Star Battle, having been modified to closely follow the looks in the various anime adaptations of the series. In addition, the available Japanese voice actors working on the anime reprise their roles in All-Star Battle R.

All-Star Battle R released with a Standard Edition, Digital Deluxe Edition, and Collector's Bundle. The Standard Edition only includes the game, while the Digital Deluxe Edition includes the full game, the season pass, and a color set for Jonathan, Joseph, Jotaro, Josuke, and Giorno, based on their white outfits in the JOESTAR The Inherited Soul event. The Collector's Bundle includes the full game, the special event color set from the Digital Deluxe Edition, and a Special Color version of the Grandista series Jolyne Cujoh 10 inch statue. The European version also includes a Jolyne Cujoh prison plate, the season pass, and a collector's box. The Japanese version also includes the digital soundtrack and has the option to get the bundle with or without the season pass.

An early-access demo for the game, exclusive to the and, was released for the public on June 16, 2022 and was available to play until June 22, 2022. The only playable characters in the demo were Jonathan, Jotaro, DIO, and Jolyne. Online Mode and Practice Mode were the only two playable modes. A new demo featuring Jotaro, Jolyne, Ermes Costello, and Foo Fighters was available exclusively at Anime Expo 2022, from July 1 to July 4, 2022. A new stage was featured, called the Everglades, which portrays the farm of the Green Dolphin Street Prison. The demo was only playable against CPU, with no multiplayer available.

Another demo was available at EVO 2022, which featured the Versus and Practice modes. The playable characters included Jonathan, Joseph, Jotaro, Josuke (4), Giorno, Jolyne, Johnny,, Wamuu, Iggy, Shigechi, Diavolo, Foo Fighters, Gyro, and Ikuro Hashizawa. Two tournaments were held at the event featuring the demo, both with first place receiving a and the exclusive Jolyne figurine that is included in the collector's edition of the game. Second and third place also got the figurine.

Currently, a demo is available for the full game, featuring, like the EVO 2022 demo, only the Versus and Practice modes (on top of Options). Unlike the EVO 2022 demo, there are only 5 playable characters, being Joseph, Jotaro, Jolyne, DIO, and Yoshikage Kira. Further restrictions include a lack of the Customize mode, Stage Select, costumes and gold. Furthermore, save data from the demo version are not transferrable to the game's full version.

Gameplay
The gameplay of All-Star Battle R is based on the one-vs-one 2.5D fighting game style of All-Star Battle. Mechanics such as Easy Beat, Stylish Evade, Heat Heart Attack and Rush Mode return in this game with slight differences.

Gameplay Changes
An additional gameplay mechanic named Support Attack (アシストシステム) allows players to summon a second character during a match, allowing them to chain together longer combos, set traps, or use long-range attacks as an Assault Assist. Assist characters can also be used to break an opponent's combo with a Reversal Assist, though this produces a longer cooldown (shown by the assist character's icon being tinted red). The lights below an assist character's icon act as an indicator of how many more times they can be used within the round, with the maximum number of lights differing by character. Each character has a unique assist attack that falls into one of several types, creating a new layer of strategy when selecting characters.

In addition to Support Attack, another gameplay mechanic by the name of Stylish Guard (スタイリッシュガード) has been added, allowing players to buffer a Stylish Evade until it is triggered by an attack (similarly to many characters' counter moves). This allows players to create an opening to counterattack, but the move's reliance on predicting the opponent's attack and immobilization of the character performing it serve as drawbacks.


 * Improved frame-rate: The frame-rate of the game has been doubled to run at 60FPS on both consoles and PC, with the exception of the Switch version which is still locked at 30FPS.
 * Improved game speed: Shortened the time it takes to launch an attack, resulting in speedier battles compared to the previous work.
 * Added Hitstops: Hitstop is a fighting game term: when you strike the opponent, both parties momentarily freeze, emphasizing the power of impact. The player’s hits and guards implement this, making the game feel smoother and more tactical.
 * Added Input Buffers: Relaxed the number of input frames available before the next action. Thus, players can control characters as desired.
 * Added Dash Jumps: The player can jump while dashing, allowing them to jump at a lower height than normal jumps.
 * Special move commands can be input even with simple commands: Command input can now be omitted (if trying to use ↓↘→ then ↓→ is okay), making it easier to activate special moves.
 * Attack adjustments: Changed the behaviors and powers of some techniques. The power of Great Heat Attacks (GHA) changes depending on the amount of gauges accumulated and how many gauges are consumed (two gauges are 100% power, 2.5 gauges are 120% power, and 3 gauges are 150% power).

After receiving feedback from the Early Access Demo survey, more features were adjusted:


 * Taunting an opponent while they're downed can now only be done once per match; Any subsequent attempts will activate a normal, cosmetic taunt. However, the amount of Heart Heat depleted has been increased from 1/10th of a bar of Heart Heat to a full bar.
 * Assault Assists and Reversal Assists are now separate, in that they no longer consume the same resource. They have individual uses with a certain number of uses per round. Assault Assists are represented by circular pink nodes, while Reversal Assists are represented by diamond-shaped blue nodes.
 * Practice Mode now features a wealth of new options. Players can now quickly reset by inputting pause and taunt simultaneously, change round-start positions, and even record actions for the Player 2-side training dummy.

Cross-Platform Play
The game does not support cross-play between different platforms. However, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 players will be able to play against one another. Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One will also be able to play against each other.

The Nintendo Switch version can also play multiplayer offline through local communication by wirelessly connecting with another Nintendo Switch. It is not possible to play by using the sideways, so each player needs their own set of Joy-Cons.

Downloadable Content
There are currently four paid DLC characters planned for All-Star Battle R. The first paid DLC character, Risotto Nero, released on October 27, 2022. The second DLC character, Rudol von Stroheim, followed suit on February 2, 2023. The third DLC character, Keicho Nijimura, released on March 24, 2023, and the final DLC character is slated to release around May 2023.

Weather Report and Enrico Pucci (Final), a separate version of Enrico Pucci that includes use of the Stands C-MOON and Made in Heaven, were announced on November 25, 2022 alongside the Kennedy Space Center stage from the original. All three were released as part of a free update on December 1, 2022. A version of Pucci more closely reflecting the original game had previously been announced in August 2022, prior to the game's launch.

The season pass grants early access to each of the four DLC characters two days before release, as well as two exclusive alternate outfits ("Rohan Kishibe First Appearance Costume" and "Muhammad Avdol's Father? Costume"). The Digital Deluxe Edition includes an additional set of "The Animation Special Event" costumes for Jonathan, Joseph, Jotaro, Josuke, and Giorno based on the white outfit designs featured during 2021's JOESTAR The Inherited Soul. Pre-orders for any version of the game also received a bonus Green Dolphin Street State Prison Jacket costume for Jolyne, which was later made available for purchase.

Game Modes
All-Star Battle R contains the following game modes:

Stages
As a fighting game, All-Star Battle R features several stages representing the different locations featured in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series.

All stages from the original All-Star Battle are available. Additional stages have also been added to the game, including several from Eyes of Heaven. The Stage Hazard and Situation Finish mechanics have returned as well, and new Stage Hazards and Situation Finishes have been added to the game's new stages.

★ Denotes stages that are new to All-Star Battle R and did not appear in the original All-Star Battle.

Playable
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R has a base roster of 51 playable characters, with at least 4 DLC characters planned. All characters from All-Star Battle return in the remaster. However, C-MOON and Made in Heaven have been removed from Enrico Pucci's moveset, which has been radically altered to compensate for the missing Stands. Both Stands were later re-added to the game as part of a separate version of the character.


 * New Characters


 * Robert E. O. Speedwagon, Mariah, Pet Shop, and Diego Brando were confirmed as new additions in a trailer released on May 26, 2022.
 * Jotaro from Part 4, Yukako Yamagishi, and F.F. were revealed at Anime Expo on July 1, 2022.
 * Trish Una and Prosciutto were initially unofficially revealed, having been unintentionally included in game menus shown in promotional materials when the game was first announced. Alongside Ghiaccio, they were the final characters to be officially revealed at Gamescom on August 24, 2022. Pesci was also revealed to be included with Prosciutto as a duo character.
 * Risotto Nero was announced as the first downloadable character for the game during a streamed event for the Stone Ocean anime adaptation. The character was formally released on October 27, 2022.
 * Weather Report and Enrico Pucci (Final) were revealed on November 25, 2022, along with the Kennedy Space Center stage. All three were made available for free as part of an update on December 1, 2022. A version of Pucci from the original had been promised before launch.
 * Rudol von Stroheim was revealed as the second downloadable character in the season pass on January 19, 2023. He was formally released on February 2, 2023.
 * Keicho Nijimura was revealed as the third downloadable character in the season pass on March 3, 2023. He was formally released on March 24, 2023.

Online Events
There are currently 12 weekly online events planned, with the first coinciding with the game's launch on September 1, 2022. After the 12th event concludes, the events will loop from the start. Any cosmetic reward not obtained during the event's first run can be purchased later in the Gallery Shop.