In the immortal words of GameSpot's Danny O'Dwyer, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle is "anime as hell." And he's not wrong. Few fighting games can match the sheer amount of crazy on display in All-Star Battle, from characters who fight on horseback to those who fight with sweet guitar solos. It's a lineup every bit as bizarre as the name suggests. I've poured a lot of time into this game so far; however, All-Star Battle's online multiplayer and campaign modes won't be available until a day-one patch is released next week. I'll set to work on the full review once that happens, but until then, I wanted to share some of my initial impressions of the game.

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　　If you haven't already pieced it together, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle is a fighting game that draws upon the ongoing JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise. The development team behind this game is none other than CyberConnect2, a Japanese development team best known for its highly successful stream of Naruto Shippuden fighting games. And much like those games, All-Star Battle focuses heavily on pomp and circumstance over being a highly technical fighter.

　　Nothing says class like a checkered top hat.Choosing style over substance is an apt choice when working with the JoJo's name. Since its inception back in 1987, the JoJo's series has always held fast to its own definition of what is vogue. Its characters dress in eccentric outfits and strike eccentric poses, and many fight with eccentric, ghostlike beings called "stands." Just look at Zeppeli here to the left to see what I'm talking about. What's his deal? While JoJo's found success in its native land, Western audiences will likely only recognize a fraction of its cast, and not from their anime or manga appearances, but from the excellent 1998 fighting game of the same name. It's also available now on XBLA and PSN, and I recommend it.

　　JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle is a very different game from its Capcom predecessor. Aside from making the jump from 2D to 3D, All-Star Battle goes out of its way to translate the fighting styles of its characters into a video game. These extra touches help bring the outrageous styles of the characters to life, but they're also a double-edged sword. Compared with many other 3D fighters, such as the Tekken and SoulCalibur games, All-Star Battle feels very stiff. From the way characters move to their hyper-exaggerated attacks, everything you do in this game looks really nice, but also takes a lot longer to perform so you can fully appreciate all the personality baked into these actions.

　　Joseph is just trying to stop himself from laughing.This isn't to say I'm not having fun with the game; however, I wonder if it will find an audience outside of the JoJo's crowd. Its slower pace lacks the mash-friendly, pick-up-and-play appeal of Tekken and SoulCalibur, but it also seems to lack the high-level mechanical complexity that would endear it to the competitive fighting game crowd. At any rate, there is still plenty more to discuss about this eccentric fighter--including its online performance--which will all be included in the full review. Check back next week to see how JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle stacks up after its release.