Jump Force

The game's story plays out like a predictable shonen manga.

If it wasn’t for Jump Force‘s highly entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable combat, the game would be a disaster. But Jump Force is a fighting game, and so everything about it that’s turgid and unnecessary can largely be avoided or overlooked. It’s got a large roster of fighters, plenty of content, and looks great in action. Those are the things to focus on. Could it have been a hell of a lot better? Of course. But that doesn’t mean you should write off Jump Force. Neither should you write it off for its unusual art style. Just engage in its unique brand of fighting, block out the rest, and enj...

Jump Force is a very flawed game that fails at some of the most basic fundamentals, but nonetheless manages to be great fun, and provide enough value and fanservice that fans of the various properties from Shonen Jump represented within it will find enough reason to get it.

If you’ve got like-minded anime fans who are down to smash some buttons and watch the sparks fly, Jump Force’s fighting system allows for at least a few hours of shallow fun before it gets stale and repetitive. The bland story feels half-baked and never does anything interesting with its impressive roster of beloved characters who’ve rarely or never had the chance to meet before, making this celebration of 50 years of Weekly Shonen Jump a disappointment overall.

While it can be enjoyable, Jump Force's power level is nowhere near 9000. This is unfortunate, as the concept for Jump Force is a good idea at its basic level and it's clear the developers are passionate about the source material but the title ultimately does not live up to the idea's potential. The story fails to really explain what's going on and who all these characters are, but also is able to do so in a way where you don't really care that you're missing out on what should be pertinent information. The gameplay itself is enjoyable though not groundbreaking, and while there's a fair amount...

Anime sure has come a long way over the last few decades, something that Jump Force shows by bringing together heroes and villains from across Shonen Jump’s long history. Unfortunately, Jump Force also shows that anime games haven’t come nearly as far. Despite a strong combat system, most of Jump Force falls short of reaching the ideal its announcement had set.

The characters of Shonen Jump clash in this dull fighting game.

Shonen Jump has been delivering iconic characters and stories that have shaped the landscape of manga, anime, and Japanese culture in general for the past 50 years, and Jump Force intends to celebrate that legacy by bringing a ton of classic characters together to duke it out for the fate of their own worlds, as well as ours. It features brand new original characters by Dragonball Z creator Akira Toriyama, and allows players to create their own fighters to defend Earth and the Jump Worlds alongside their favorite Shonen heroes. It’s a pretty exciting prospect for manga and anime fans everywher...

We've played some ugly anime games in our time, but there's a special place in art style hell for Jump Force. What should be a grand celebration of all things Jump, this crossover fighter is loathsome in its portrayal of the awesome manga and anime heroes that make up its character roster.

Jump Force has all the ingredients of an epic manga crossover, but fails to execute them in a memorable way

Crossover fighting games are a time-honored tradition, especially when it comes to various series out of Japan. Bandai Namco Entertainment has a long history pitting the various heroes and villains of the Shonen Jump manga level against each other, and there’s a stable of developers it often rotates through. Jump Force is the latest effort in that line, this time from Spike Chunsoft. While that studio is more closely associated with RPGs and visual novels, there is precedent here, with the likes of J-Stars and One Piece: Burning Blood both being fighting titles from the developer. While those ...

Jump Force brings together some of Mangas biggest and best characters and instead of making you feel powerful leaves you fighting bad gameplay, an aggravating plot, and your own patience. Even big Shonen Jump fans may want to avoid this one...