J-Stars Victory VS: Super Smash Bros. for the Manga Gang

While it smarts to admit it, I am not the most proficient video game player. Not the worst, mind you, just nothing worth bragging about. There was, however, one game from my younger days that always got me excited to slam those buttons: Super Smash Bros. In what is one of the most plotless set ups ever, the classic allows players to pit favorite Nintendo characters against one another in various themed arenas. The fun comes from the fact that you can generally play whoever the heck you want and you get to see characters who should never have met in the first place beat the crap out of each other. Sometimes simple is better.

Bandai and Shonen JUMP manga have teamed up to release the next generation of character crossover, Battle Royale-style video games.  It’s called J-Star Victory VS, and it looks pretty fantastic. One of the main reasons behind my lack of combo hit-achieving finger skills is that I’ve watched a lot of anime—much of it shonen (aimed at young men). Shonen anime, and the manga on which they are often based, usually features enthusiastic young heroes (or lazy older heroes), helpful sidekicks, and spunky girl companions. It tends to be quest-based and involves a lot of fighting/dueling, wanting to be stronger, and generally trying to become the best at something. Many shonen series by JUMP also tend to do well in America. Some examples include the multiple Dragon Ball series, Yu Yu Hakusho, Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, Gintama, Hunter X Hunter, and the more recent Kuroko no Basuke.

J-Star Victory VS. snags the best characters from 45 years worth of the JUMP line of protagonists, villains, and sidekicks and gives players the ability to match them against each other. This means you can replay your favorite fights, or create ones between characters who probably would have fought had they ever met. So far they have announced 52 characters from a whopping 32 series. For me, the best part of this game comes from the opportunity to mix characters from different series. It’s like asking the question, “In a real fight between Batman and Wolverine, who would win?” and finally being able to find out. Except in this case, your options will be set ups like Goku vs. Ichigo, Sasuke vs. Zoro, and Gintoki vs. Kenshin.

According to the game trailers released so far, you should be able to play with a friend locally on your PS3 or with up to three other players online. Battles can be two vs. two and there are additional unlockable sidekicks who will assist you in your take-over of whatever arena you decide needs conquering. Your chosen hero can also use special combo attacks in tandem with an assisting hero for more destruction. And certain characters that have power evolutions in their manga series may also have access to those skills in the game (ex. Bleach’s Ichigo). There is an adventure mode in which you accomplish certain trials on a multi-character, multi-location journey, or you can simply choose a couple heroes and brawl. Bandai demonstrates that it well understands the appeal of crossover brawling opportunities, and comes up with quite a few great battle ideas in this trailer in particular.

The Japanese release date for the game is March 19, 2014 and it will be playable on the region-free PS3 and PS Vita. Unfortunately, a release date for a US version of the game has not yet been announced. There is already a petition online to get Bandai to export the game to the US and Europe, and it’s fair to say this game has a pretty built-in audience in every country where JUMP manga is read. Hopefully, Bandai and JUMP will recognize the fans’ interest and let this game become a smash around the world.

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