Sunday vs Magazine: Shūketsu! Chōjō Daikessen

Sunday vs Magazine: Shūketsu! Chōjō Daikessen gets its hook from a wonderfully unruly manga collision: Inuyasha, Ippo, Natsu, Devilman, Tiger Mask, and deep-cut heroes from both magazines all sharing a fighting-game roster. The first few matches are approachable because the move sets stay compact, while super moves give each bout a needed burst of anime excess.

Its real surprise is Quest Mode. The scrolling, objective-driven stages turn earned orbs into new moves and make character growth matter, while wireless co-op lets up to four people tackle the chaos together. This is a better fit for manga fans who want to sample a broad crossover than for fighting-game specialists chasing a densely technical duel system.

Platform: PSP

Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The immediate pleasure here is picking a favorite from an almost absurdly broad manga lineup and seeing how they function in a straightforward one-on-one fight. Sunday vs Magazine does not bury you under a giant command list. Characters have a limited pool of moves, so you can get to the fun quickly, land hits to build the super bar, and cash that momentum in with a special move. That simplicity makes the early going inviting, especially if you are here because one of these series means something to you.

The trade-off is that the fighting has less room to grow than a deeper competitive fighter. Customizing each character and purchasing moves with orbs gives you a reason to keep experimenting, and unlockable assists add another tactical wrinkle, but the core remains deliberately accessible. Expect a game built around recognizable faces, quick matchups, and the satisfaction of improving a character you like rather than a demanding training-room obsession.

Quest Mode is where the package earns more of your time. Instead of simply moving from match to match, you tackle scrolling stages with timed jobs such as smashing targets or collecting keys. That change of pace is useful: it gives the orb economy a purpose and makes unlocking moves feel tied to play rather than a menu chore. Bringing friends through wireless co-op can make these objective runs the liveliest part of the game, although the time limits can turn a casual session into a scramble.

Arcade Mode is a clean, no-nonsense option for when you just want seven fights against randomly selected opponents. Free Battle handles the other obvious need: setting up a match against the computer or a nearby friend. Neither mode asks much of you beyond enjoying the roster, but that is also the point. This is an easy game to pull out for a few bouts, test an assist combination, and swap to someone from another series.

Sunday vs Magazine: Shūketsu! Chōjō Daikessen — screenshot 1

Graphics

The fighters are rendered in cel-shaded 3D, with a locked side-view camera that keeps the action framed like a traditional fighter. Its biggest visual strength is the chance to see characters from series as different as Inuyasha, Fairy Tail, Hajime no Ippo, and Cyborg 009 standing in the same match. The crossover image itself carries a lot of the charm.

Sunday vs Magazine: Shūketsu! Chōjō Daikessen — screenshot 2

Story

This is a crossover celebration first, not a drama built around one central cast. The draw is the argument it lets fans settle with their hands: how does a Shonen Sunday favorite look beside a Shonen Magazine icon, and which character do you want to take into battle?

Quest Mode supplies the closest thing to forward momentum through its sequence of scrolling missions and timed objectives. It gives your selected fighter something practical to do between upgrades, but the focus stays on action rather than a grand crossover tale.

The Database Mode is a smart inclusion for a roster this wide. Introductions for playable and assist characters help you place names from older classics alongside contemporary series, which matters when the game reaches well beyond the handful of manga properties most people will already know.

Overall Experience

Sunday vs Magazine works because it understands that the roster is the event. You can spend an evening bouncing from boxing heroes to fantasy fighters to older manga legends, and the accessible controls make that tour easy to enjoy without learning an intimidating system for every new pick.

There is enough progression to keep the game from feeling like a bare crossover novelty. Orbs, purchasable moves, assists, and Quest Mode encourage you to settle on favorites and build them up. Still, the limited move sets mean the thrill comes more from character recognition and variety than from endlessly refined match play.

Give it a chance if you have affection for either magazine’s catalog, especially if you can use local or wireless multiplayer. The game is most rewarding when you treat it as a lively all-star brawl with a beat-’em-up side activity, not as the final word in competitive fighting games. For the right manga fan, that is more than enough.