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Bizarre Love Triangle

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure looms over the game industry. While Hirohiko Araki's voluminous manga inspired only a handful of games to date, you'll see its influence everywhere from Persona to Street Fighter, with many in the game industry pledging their fondness for the series. There's no more obvious a pledge than CyberConnect2's new JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle. It's fashioned with the same attention that the developer pays their Naruto fighters, but the results are considerably different.

For one thing, the Jojo's characters are detailed in ways Naruto combatants rarely are. Araki's designs are spectacular creations of outlandish fashion and hairstyles, and CyberConnect2 recreates it all in masterful, heavily shaded graphics. It's made all the more impressive by the game's extensive cast. Over thirty characters are available from the manga's various story arcs, though the more popular ones are favored. From Part One, there's Jonathan Joestar, Will A. Zeppeli, and Dio Brando. From Part Two, there's Joseph Joestar, Caesar Zeppeli, Esidisi, Wamuu, and Kars. From Part Three, Jotaro Kujo, Muhammad Avdol, Noriaki Kakyoin, Hol Horse, Jean Pierre Polnareff, and a nastier version of Dio. From Part Four, Josuke Higashikata, Okuyasu Nijimura, Rohan Kishibe, Kosaku Kawajiri, Koichi Hirose, and Akira Otoishi. From Part Five, Giorno Giovanna, Diavolo, Narancia Ghirga, Bruno Buccellati, and Guido Mista. From Part Six, Jolyne Kujo, Hermes Costello, and Enrico Pucci. From Part Seven (a.k.a. Steel Ball Run), Johnny Joestar, Gyro Zeppeli, and Funny Valentine. Lastly, Part Eight contributes only Josuke Higashikata. But don't despair if your favorite isn't in the initial lineup! CyberConnect2 is perfectly willing to expand it with downloadable characters for you to buy. Iggy, Pannacotta Fugo, Shigechi, and Kira Yoshikage are already planned. Even Baoh, star of one of Araki's early manga, is waiting in the wings.

Far from the chaotic arena fighting that composes much of CyberConnect2's Naruto games, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle strikes closer to Street Fighter IV. Characters face each other on 2-D planes, but they're able to sidestep attacks or, in keeping with Jojo's tradition, pull off a Stylish Move that effectively parries an oncoming blow. On top of the usual attacks, each character uses “style” button that varies with his or her choice of martial arts; Ripple fighters reveal powered-up versions of their regular moves, Stand fighters summon their alter-ego to change their attacks, and horseriders jump on their mounts to gain speed and size advantages. Special moves are pulled off with the rolling motions familiar to anyone who's played Street Fighter, and each character has two straight-from-the-manga super moves, naturally called Heart Heat Attacks and Great Heart Attacks. There's no denying that All Star Battle is a complex fighter. Is it a well-balanced one? That may take a little longer to decide.

Import Barrier: Very little stands in the way of Jojo's fans importing the game. There's no regional lockout, and as fighters go it's not hard to learn.

Chances of a Domestic Release: Not so bad. Namco Bandai's clearly willing to release niche fighters as digital-only titles, like their upcoming Saint Seiya: Brave Warriors, so perhaps they'll do the same for All Star Battle.

Strangest Design: In Jojo's Bizarre Adventure it's very hard to choose, but I think Giorno Giovanna's hair stands out as one of the oddest coiffures in the series.

Many remember Technos Japan's Kunio-Kun games from the NES era, though not as a specific series. They were known by different titles in different genres, and most kids quickly noticed how the same blocky characters appeared in Super Dodge Ball, Nintendo World Cup, Crash 'N The Boys: Street Challenge, and the esteemed River City Ransom. The last of these remains one of the biggest cult classics of the NES, and that may be why Million, owner of old Technos properties, put together a new Kunio-Kun game in the same spirit: Hot-Blooded Tough Guy Kunio: Fighting Concerto. This 3DS outing recalls River City Ransom instantly with opening scenes of street toughs sparking a turf war, and the resulting brawl, scripted by Kunio-Kun creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto, sends Kunio through various Tokyo districts full of equally square-headed thugs.

Kunio-Kun SP's central mode plays much like River City Ransom and all of those other Kunio-Kun brawlers that Technos never brought to North America. It's easy to dash, jump-kick, and pick up and toss any weaponlike objects that fall to the ground. Enemies also utter dialogue upon defeat, though their lines seem more elaborate than River City Ransom's classic “Barf!” exclamation. Stores offer upgrades (and, we assume, free smiles) and restorative meals while Kunio and his companions bash their way around, and the heroes can take on part-time jobs when defeated goons don't leave enough cash behind them. In tribute to other Kunio-Kun games, the multiplayer modes include a dodgeball battle with over thirty characters, and there's also a general-purpose four-player slugfest for those who prefer less sportsmanlike diversions. It's all a rather reassuring tribute to Kunio-Kun games as we knew them twenty years ago.

Import Barrier: The 3DS remains region-locked, and the game needs a little knowledge of Japanese to decode the menus and modes. As for the story, you could always pretend it's River City Ransom and that everyone has names like “Alex” and “Slick.”

Chances of a Domestic Release: The last Kunio-kun game to reach North America was River City Soccer Hooligans in 2010. This makes Aksys the most likely localizer, and they have no plans for the game right now.

Strangest Design: Possibly the guy at the upper-right of the cover, who carries a gun and looks a little like the protagonist of Retro City Rampage.

Certain people will blanch and groan and vow terrible revenge at the idea of Romeo and Juliet turned into a dating simulator about vampires. But you know what? Screw 'em. Romeo and Juliet already became just about everything in years past: a futuristic war comic by Stan Lee, an episode of DuckTales, and, yes, an anime series set on a floating island. Complaining about an overtly liberal adaptation is stodgy and pointless.

Of course, it's also true that Romeo vs. Juliet crams just about everything from Shakespeare's classic into the standards of a visual novel with a female audience in mind. The fair Verona of this game is caught up in a war between vampires and humankind, and the Capulet family are experts in fending off the bloodsuckers. Pink-haired Juliet is working toward her vampire-hunting degree (which apparently involves dressing like a nun) when she runs into Romeo, handsome scion of the Montague vampire clan. Yet this is not the limit of the game's romantic options; Juliet also gets close with Mercutio, Benvolio, Prince Escalus, and perhaps even that Paris clod she's arranged to marry. With Juliet's new relationships come the game's various storyline paths and endings, presumably including one where the two young lovebirds and the majority of their friends don't end up dead.

For this simultaneously drastic and conventional adaptation, the entire cast is envisioned with the anime flourishes of visual novels (albeit with some horribly drawn firearms), and some of the interpretations go further than others. The game's version of Benvolio gets an eyepatch and military regalia, while Romeo's servant Balthazar is now a purple-haired maid girl. Oh, and Shakespeare himself shows up…as a blond-tressed doctor and source of comic relief. That's a bit more flattering than what we saw in the Romeo X Juliet anime series.

Import Barrier: Running Japanese games never bothered the PSP, but there's an awful lot of talking in games like this.

Chances of a Domestic Release: Not all that bad, considering what Aksys is up to with Otomate's Hakuoki and Sweet Fuse, though QuinRose doesn't have the same relationship with U.S. publishers.

Strangest Design: The apparently original character Lawrence Globus, who walks around with a bandolier of machine-gun rounds on his formal vestments.

Will Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix catch you up entirely on the franchise's ever-growing sugary birthday cake of Disney staples and Square Enix stylings? Well, not quite. But it'll come close. Remix includes Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, the heretofore Japan-only expanded version of the original Kingdom Hearts. Final Mix added a few extra scenes and at least one new boss, mostly to set things up for Kingdom Hearts II. Also included is Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, the PlayStation 2 remake of a Game Boy Advance Kingdom Hearts that's equally heavy on the preamble for Kingdom Hearts II. Lastly, there's a two-hour compilation of the storyline from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, a DS game that…yes, it also takes place before Kingdom Hearts II. So this 1.5 Remix collection isn't so much a summary of the whole series as it is a primer for Kingdom Hearts II, which we'd bet on seeing in an HD re-release before Kingdom Hearts III rolls around next year.

This Remix adds other minor improvements on top of sharpening up the collected games. The controls are now much closer in line with Kingdom Hearts II. The viewpoint is easily managed with the controller's right thumbstick, and both combat and exploration are easier with context-sensing commands. Those are small changes, but they're welcome updates to the original design choices of the first Kingdom Hearts, now over ten years old. Of course, such enhancements won't win over those uninterested in the Kingdom Hearts saga. It's still the upbeat tale of teenagers wielding keyblades in battles with negative emotional personification and Disney villains, all with the tone of a kid-hero manga series. For those curious, though, this is an opportune place to start. Then you'll understand when people inevitably joke about the next Kingdom Hearts having a Song of the South stage.