It may come as no surprise that I enjoy manga and anime (even though my collection is practically non-existent). I’ve watched the more popular animes, such as Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Beyblade and Yu-Gi-Oh (I watched one episode of Bleach but I just couldn’t get into it and I have even summoned the courage to even start One Piece yet), among others. And of course, I’ve played a lot of the video game adaptions from these too. So what happens when a bunch of animes are thrown together into a video game? Easy – I get super hyped. J-Stars Victory VS+ is exactly what it sounds like – a host of characters from the Jump series duke it out in a battle of glory. Even though this game was released in Japan last year (March 19th), it was announced to be released in Europe and America. The game’s “storyline” (in the game it’s known as the “J-Adventure” Mode) takes place in “Jump World” (supposedly a blend of the characters’ universes) where everyone is preparing for the Jump Festival (a competition that takes place every 45 years to determine who is the strongest). Within the game, this is split into 4 chapters which focus on different characters: the Motion Chapter focuses on Luffy, Ace and Seiya; the Hope Chapter focuses on Naruto, Yusuke and Gon; the Research Chapter focuses on Goku, Toriko and Zebra; and the Pursuit Chapter focuses on Ichigo, Oga and Hiei. But don’t worry if the storyline doesn’t appeal to you as the game has other modes, such as “Victory Road”, where the player has to complete challenges with just one character (if you’ve ever played Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, then it seems very similar to the World Tour mode); a free-battle mode, which allows two players to play offline and up to four players to play online; and Arcade Mode. While I admit doubt in the storyline, the graphics and art style certainly make for it. J-Stars Victory VS+ uses a style similar to Dragon Ball: Zenkai Battle Royale, however if you’re not familiar with the game then the only way I would describe it is blocky colours with great shading and every fluid movements in the animation. Plus, the ‘battle fields’ as it were are not only environments from the amine series, but are also 3D and easy to manoeuvre in (meaning I’m totally exploring Konohagakure). By the sounds of it, players can have teams of characters (e.g.. have Ichigo as the main fighter and Rukia as a support character) and if a character is defeated, they can come back over time. The way to win the battle is to fill out all three sections of the WIN gauge by defeating their opponent (each time one is defeated, a section is filled, so essentially you can just have to defeat them three times). Combos can be used, along with each character’s “signature move”, such as Naruto’s Rasengan and Goku’s Kamehameha. In-game cards can also be collected throughout the modes to power-up each character and their attacks. Playable characters in this game include:

• Koro-sensei (Assassination Classroom)
• Tatsumi Oga (Beelzebub)
•  Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)
• Sosuke Aizen (Bleach)
• Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo with Don Patch (Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo)
• Taro Yamada (Chinyuki-Taro to Yukai na Nakama-tachi)
• Arale Norimaki with Gatchan (Dr. Slump)
• Son Goku (Dragon Ball)
• Vegeta (Dragon Ball)
• Frieza (Dragon Ball)
• Kenshiro (Fist of the North Star)
• Raoh (Fist of the North Star)
• Gintoki Sakata (Gin Tama)
• Meisuke Nueno (Hell Teacher Nube)
• Gon Freecss (Hunter x Hunter)
• Killua Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)
• Jonathan Joestar (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)
• Joseph Joestar (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)
• Kankichi Ryotsu (Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen-mae Hashutsujo)
• Medaka Kurokami (Medaka Box)
• Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto)
• Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)
• Madara Uchiha (Naruto)
• Luffy (One Piece)
• Ace (One Piece)
• Bao Hancock (One Piece)
• Akainu (One Piece)
• Tsuna Sawada with Reborn (Reborn!)
• Himura Kenshin (Rurouni Kenshin)
• Kusuo Saiki (Saiki Kusuo no Psi-Nan)
• Pegasus Seiya (Saint Seiya)
• Momotaro Tsurugi (Sakigake!! Otokojuku)
• Luckyman (Tottemo! Luckyman)
• Toriko (Toriko)
• Zebra (Toriko)
• Yusuke Urameshi (YuYu Hakusho)
• Hiei (YuYu Hakusho)
• Younger Toguro (YuYu Hakusho)

Supporting characters are:

• Rukia Kuchiki (Bleach)
• Allen Walker (Dr.Gray-Man)
• Kagura and Sadaharu (Gintama)
• Shoyo Hinata (Haikyu!!)
• Hisoka (Hunter x Hunter)
• Tetsuya Kuroko (Kuroko’s Basketball)
• Misogi Kumagawa (Medaka Box)
• Neuro Nogami (Neuro: Supernatural Detective)
• Chitoge Kirisaki (Nisekoi)
• Jaguar Junichi (Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar)
• Heihachi Edajima (Sakigake!! Otokojuku)
• Bossun, Himeko and Switch (Sket Dance)
• Lala Satalin Deviluke (To Love-Ru)

J-Stars Victory VS+ was released 26th June 2015 (EU) and 30th June 2015 (NA) for PS3, PS4 and PS Vita.

• Watch the launch trailer here.
• Watch the gameplay trailer here.
• Watch the Dragon Ball Z trailer here (be warned that if you haven’t watched the subbed version of Dragon Ball Z, Goku’s voice will shock you)
• Watch the One Piece trailer here.
• Watch the Bleach trailer here.
• Watch the Naruto trailer here.
• Watch the Support Characters trailer here.

While I haven’t played it (yet) it looks like a good game to play with friends who enjoy manga and anime as much as you do (luckily my friends do). Shame that Attack on Titan couldn’t be included (Attack on Titan is published by Kodansha, not Weekly Shonen Jump) but I guess we’ll to wait until Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains is released.

---

Thanks for reading! Please leave a like if you enjoyed and a comment if you’d like to discuss anything! Wondering what mangas I’ve read and anime I’ve watched? Here’s a link to my MyAnimeList page.