Anime Fighting For All: The J-Stars Victory VS Preview
By Brandon Fern, Live Wire Staff Writer
Photo Courtesy by Blaze Kick
When you think of fighting games, you most likely think of “Smash Bros.,” “Soul Calibur” or “Mortal Kombat.” However, there are also large groups of fighting games that are based on popular franchises. Some fall flat and some are ridiculous, such as “Sonic the Fighters,” and others end up being big hits and become cultural icons, such as the “Marvel vs Capcom” franchise. If you’ve ever wondered who would win in a fight then “J-Stars Victory VS” is the game for you.
Originally released in Japan on March 19th, 2014, the game has a roster filled with characters from the well-known Jump series, which are manga franchises serialized from various Jump magazines.
When the western release was announced, a rumor circulated that not all characters from the Japanese release would be featured due to low popularity in the west. However, it was later announced that all characters would be in the western version, ranging from older IPR (intellectual Property Rights) such as Dragon Ball and Rurouni Kenshin to newer ones like “One Piece” and “Naruto.”
Screenshot from the game, featuring one of the characters, Naruto. Photo Credit by Gematsu
The gameplay consists of up to four players fighting each other in a destructible 3-D environment, and each with the ability to use a support team. Each character has their own special moves, such as Yusuke from “Yu Yu Hakusho” being able to use his Super Spirit Gun. Not to mention unique character transformations, such as Son Goku’s super saiyan transformation. The game features various modes including:
J-adventure: the story mode, divided into four parts, in which you traverse the map of an amalgamated world of the various jump series, fighting opponents, improving your characters and finding collectibles.
Victory Road: a single player mode in which you must complete specific objectives during battle.
Free-battle: the multiplayer mode
and Arcade mode: the extra single player mode being added for the western release.
While the game is coming out on an unspecified date this summer for the PlayStation 3 and 4 as well as the PlayStation Vita, the Japanese version of the game can be purchased online, however, it’s recommended that you first learn to read Japanese kanji.
