- Release Date: April 30, 2000
- Genre: Fighting
- Style: 2D Fighting
- Similar Games: Marvel Super Heroes (Sega Saturn), Marvel Super Heroes (PlayStation), Marvel Super Heroes (Arcade), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (Arcade), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (PlayStation), Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Dreamcast), Street Fighter Alpha 3 (PlayStation), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (PlayStation), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (Sega Saturn), Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Dreamcast), Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Dreamcast), Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (PlayStation), Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Dreamcast), Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Arcade)
Game Description
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has its roots in the realm of the comic book. Players will be able to take control of Jotaro Kujo, his friends, and his enemies in this world hopping, globe spanning fighting fest. Now PlayStation gamers will be able to take a Stand and wallop their friends over the head with them in the comfort of their own home.This game offers much of the two dimensional fighting fare that Capcom is renowned for. It takes a side venture into new realms with the addition of your Stand partners however. When you whip out a special attack or some hits, a phantasmal apparition will appear to give you back up. Each one differs depending on the characters alignment along the Tarot spectrum, and players also have the ability to put their Stand into a more active role once they build up their Stand Gauge. Then your alter egos can weigh in and have the ability to set up painful chain combos and they enable special character abilities like double jumping and air attacks.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure also offers a variety of game modes for those that tire of your standard one on one battles. In addition to the arcade and vs. modes, there is a Super Story Mode that allows you to play though a variant of the game that follows the storyline from the comics. While there's plenty of fighting to be done here, the mode also incorporates shooting gallery mini games, a side scrolling shooter mini game and several Dragon's Lair style follow the flashing prompt sequences. Playing though this mode will reward you for recreating scenes from the comic and it will unlock the various mini games and other extra goodies for future standalone use.
The artists and animators kept the artwork close to the original source material much like they did in X-Men: Children of the Atom. While the
With 18 playable characters, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure may rank in on the mid to low end of the spectrum when it comes down to measuring roster sizes against other fighting games out there, but you'll be fighting the fight of your temporarially unnatural life regardless.
~ Joe Ottoson, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
Hirohiko Araki has created several popular Japanese comic books including Baoh Raihousha, Mashonen BT and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the basis of this Capcom fighter. Taking elements from the comic book, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure combines the mentally-created Stand characters with the tag team action found within Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes.~ Matthew House, All Game Guide
Review: Overall
The supernatural is a funny thing. It can be credited with amazing healing abilities, possessions, and even the potential end of the world depending on whom you ask. It also can give rise to a half dozen terrible shows dealing with the existence of ghosts, and three times as many B-movies dealing with zombies, but it also offers us entertaining games based loosely on Tarot cards like The House of the Dead, and of course, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.That said, the fighting isn't quite the out-of-body experience you've come to expect from Capcom. While the body borrowing is an interesting twist which reflects the theme of the source material, the StandS just don't add enough to each fighter's arsenal to save the game from one-dimensional gameplay. What's more, the fighting moves are limited and with that limited move and combo potential, the game balance suffers. That's a major blow to any fighter. It really shouldn't be harder to win the game with one character over another, and since Capcom has balanced most of their other fighters well enough, they really don't have any excuses here.
If you're a fan of the comic series that inspired the game, however, you should enjoy the Story Mode. It follows the comics, and it tosses in a collection of mini games that are entertaining. Nothing like a quick side-scrolling shooter to break up the fighting. It includes other entertaining games like a shooting gallery and some not as entertaining Dragon's Lair segments. It's a fun mode for those who want more out of their fighting games than straight fighting.
The artwork closely matches the comic with large and colorful characters rimmed with smooth animation and plenty of special attack effects. The stages in the game are all lavishly drawn and colored, although the background animation is on the scarce side of things. Not a bad tradeoff when you take the sharp details offered into account, however.
The music is standard fighting fare. It's basically a fusion between rock and techno that makes you wonder what the programmers had in mind half the time and grooving to a fighting beat the next. I can't say if it fits the mood of the game simply because both feel a tad too close to chaos for my own comfort.
With the Story Mode in tow, and the special Book Mode that lets you view endings and access mini games after you defeat the game, you'll probably end up playing for a while in spite of the balancing issues. It may not be a game that'll inspire good two-player competition, but it is a solid if undistinguished fighter in all.
So while greatness may not be in the cards of JoJo this time around, at least he puts up a solid battle against the towers and empresses of the world. The only problem is, he's bound to get lost in the shuffle.
~ Joe Ottoson, All Game Guide
Review: Enjoyment
The flaky game balance really drags down the enjoyment factor. You do get individual storylines for each of the characters as you play through the Arcade Mode, and the Story Mode is good for a romp or two.~ Joe Ottoson, All Game Guide
Review: Graphics
Nice animation, especially given the hardware gulf between the~ Joe Ottoson, All Game Guide
Review: Sound
The music isn't bad, but it's not good either. It's just there. The lengthy voice clips are a nice touch, but since they're rendered overwhelmingly in subsonic Japanese, they won't mean much to casual players.~ Joe Ottoson, All Game Guide
Review: Replay Value
JoJo is backed up by one of the shallower fighting engines out there. The AI is strongly pattern-based, so cranking up the difficulty won't give you much of a reason to keep playing.~ Joe Ottoson, All Game Guide
Review: Documentation
The manual covers all the aspects of the game in an adequate if spartan manner.~ Joe Ottoson, All Game Guide
Production Credits
Manual Design: Hanshaw Ink & Image; Marketing: Todd Thorson, Sean Mylett, Robert Johnson; Creative Services: Jennifer Deauville, Marion Clifford; Package Design: Michi Morita, Jamie Gibson; Translation: Masayuki Fukumoto; PR: Melinda Mongelluzzo, Matt Atwood, Carrie Megenity; Special Thanks: Tom Shiraiwa, Miki Takano, Bill Gardner, Robert Lindsey
~ Ron Ellerson, All Game Guide
