There comes a period in any IP’s lifetime that it hits peak popularity. The conversation around it hits a fever pitch and suddenly multitudes more people know about it. For some IPs that happens early on, while for others it comes later. Over the last few years, we’ve witnessed a decades old manga and anime series, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, hit that point and keep surging past it. While the series was somewhat niche outside of Japan, a proliferation of Jojo memes has lead to the IP becoming immensely popular. Now, with that popularity in mind, Bandai Namco have reached into their vault to release Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R, a remaster of a 2013 fighting game developed by CyberConnect2.

For those unfamiliar with Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, it’s a long running manga and anime series that personifies the word bizarre. Bathed in martial arts, combat, larger-than-life characters and massive amounts of music references, Jojo is unique and like nothing else. Whether you’re watching Joseph Joestar pull a tommy gun from thin air or Noriaki Kakyoin bounce a cherry on his tongue, it’s rare that you come out of a chapter or episode wondering what the hell just happened. Jojo is solidly up there as one of my favourite animes and so I’m inherently invested in any game based on it.

While CyberConnect2 might now be best known for their anime arena fighters like the Ultimate Ninja Storm series, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R is instead a more traditional 3D fighter. You’ll take control of a massive number of characters across the entirety of Jojo (albeit with parts 3-5 having the biggest proportion of characters) in plenty of different modes, allowing you to find which character and mode suits you best.

My personal focus in a fighting game always goes to the story modes, and luckily All-Star Battle R has plenty of story content. All-Star Battle Mode is split into the different Parts (seasons) of Jojo, with each featuring a number of pre-configured battles for you to compete in. Some are focused on recreating events from the manga/anime, like Giorno’s first meeting (and fight) with Bucciarati, while others are what-if scenarios, like pitting two characters from different Parts against each other. By completing these battles you’ll unlock boss battles and a variety of other rewards, like special costumes and extra music that can be played in the Sound Test mode. Along with pandering to the series fans, it also gives you plenty of motivation to continue through the scenarios.

For those that aren’t as focused on story content, there’s a more standard Arcade Mode, where you can fight in eight consecutive battles in Challenge Battle or until your health runs out in Endless Battle. Don’t want to commit to that many battles? Jump into Versus Mode instead and try Single Battle, Team Battle (3v3) or Tournament Battle instead. Of course, you also have Online Mode for those that like to play online, and I never had too many finding opponents and had no real connection issues. Alongside the normal modes, there’s also a Practice Mode for those that want to practice pulling off moves and a Customize Mode that lets you modify some aspects of your characters.

Jojo’s most distinctive traits are probably its visual style and catchphrases. Even those unfamiliar with it have probably seen some of the anime’s famous poses or muda-muda-muda referenced in the past. This is where All-Star Battle R both succeeds and falls slightly short. On the audio front, the anime’s voice actors have brought in to re-record dialogue and lines, so the lines hit with exactly the emphasis I’d hoped for. Visually, while the game does a great job of representing the manga/anime style, its original life as a PS3 game is still evident in the presentation.

Overall, if you’re a fan of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, then All-Star Battle R is a game you’ll want to get your hands on. The gameplay is solid, but it’s the fantastic representation of the series that really makes it a must-buy. With that said, if you’re not an existing fan of Jojo, this is probably a release you can skip.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R was reviewed on Nintendo Switch with a review copy provided by Bandai Namco. It is also available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. For more information, check out the official website.