Fighting Games Friday: Roundabout Roundup

It’s been a couple of weeks since “Fighting Games Friday” returned after a short respite, but it’s been even longer since the last time there was enough fighting game news in a week for a roundup. There are notable reasons for that. The games originally scheduled to launch early in the new console generation were delayed thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that will be with us forever. This is also the time of year when news is being stored up in a meter to be unleashed mid-combo during the biggest tournament of all: Evo 2022, live and in person this year in early August.

We’re getting slithers right now, though, which is appreciated. Well, I appreciate them, anyway.

Previous details about JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R gave the impression that it was a little more than a simple port of the original PlayStation 3 version, remastered for higher resolutions and bereft of the baffling microtransaction scheme that previously tanked it. That’s not quite accurate. It was already confirmed that balance upgrades would be added, alongside a “Support Attack” tag-team system and updated voice acting from the anime voice actors. But it will also add four new characters… as downloadable content available through the Season Pass. It won’t have the gacha game-like microtransaction scheme, but they also don’t want to provide too good of a deal.

All-Star Battle R will add Robert E. O. Speedwagon from Phantom Blood (pictured), Mariah and Pet Shop from Stardust Crusaders, and Diego Brando from Steel Ball Run. All four of them were conspicuously absent from the previous game, especially Speedwagon considering his cult popularity. But Mariah and Pet Shop are especially notable considering they previously appeared in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future from Capcom, the latter of whom being hilariously broken thanks to his small hurt box and ridiculous combos. Just take a look at this, and you’ll see why any player going against him won’t mind putting their controller/stick down and watching the fireworks. This game, however, should have improved balance.

All-Star Battle R will release on September 2nd in physical and digital forms for every current gaming platform outside streaming services. An Early Access demo featuring online player matches and practice modes will be available for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 sometime before the game arrives. Bandai Namco and CyberConnect2 are making sure that this will be the version that should have arrived on PS3 nearly a decade ago, though it won’t come cheap.

(While we’re on the topic: Alan White, drummer for English progressive rock band Yes, performer of “Roundabout” used for the Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency anime adaptation’s closing, just died at 72.)

There was a slim — slim! — possibility that Capcom could take good sales of the Capcom Fighting Collection as an encouraging sign that an audience still exists for their non-Street Fighter fighting game franchises. Capcom is no stranger to providing tests to determine if they should release ports or new installments in certain series. Shuhei Matsumoto, producer of the package, made sure to clarify that, no, this isn’t one of them in an interview with Game Informer:

“I genuinely want these titles to be played once again on current gen consoles. I also want people who may have seen them but never had the chance to play them to get this opportunity. That said, we do not think that this will necessarily increase the possibility of these series being revived.”

There you have it! Any hope of a new Darkstalkers game left with Yoshinori Ono when he departed Capcom. There will be no newfound Midnight Bliss; all we shall have is this. We live in hell.

There are still characters coming to Skullgirls, a game that’s remarkably been supported for over a decade. The Alpha version of Black Dahlia will be playable at Combo Breaker this weekend, and available for Steam owners sometime in June. The completed version will arrive sometime this fall. This won’t be the end of it, as one more character is coming as part of the most recent Season Pass, meaning there’s a good chance the game will be supported for over eleven years. It’s unheard of for a fighting game to be supported for this long, but it’s welcome. The game will also come to Xbox platforms this fall.

I also made sure to tell myself not to forget about Them’s Fightin’ Herds this week, a game that I will never be able to spell correctly without double checking first. The game will finally release on consoles this fall in digital and in a special physical form for $19.99 and $39.99, respectively. The latter package will include the Season Pass that will eventually come with four new characters, stages, and cosmetics, meaning it’s not exclusively a physical tax. It’s been a lengthy road for this game, which first released through Early Access over four years ago, but everyone will have the opportunity to play it soon.

That should wrap up the Roundabout Roundup this week, the last of its kind with this particular name. This may not be the only fighting game news roundup before Evo, but I sure wouldn’t expect any more until then.