Jump Force
Jump Force is a 3-on-3 crossover fighting video game developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.[1] Featuring over 50 playable characters from prominent Weekly Shōnen Jump manga series such as Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, and My Hero Academia, the game places players in team-based battles within a narrative where the fictional Jump worlds collide with the real world, requiring heroes to unite against invading villains.[2][3] Released on February 15, 2019, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows, it was later ported to Nintendo Switch as the Jump Force Deluxe Edition on August 28, 2020, incorporating additional downloadable content.[4][5] Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Weekly Shōnen Jump, the game introduces a unique story mode where players create customizable avatars to join the titular Jump Force alliance, engaging in both single-player campaigns and online multiplayer modes, including ranked battles and free-for-all arenas.[3] The title emphasizes fast-paced, combo-heavy combat with signature abilities from each series, such as Goku's Kamehameha or Luffy's Gum-Gum attacks, rendered in Unreal Engine 4 for dynamic, high-fidelity visuals blending manga aesthetics with photorealistic environments.[6] Despite its ambitious roster and fan-service appeal, Jump Force received mixed reviews for its gameplay mechanics and online infrastructure, with critics praising the character variety but critiquing the simplistic fighting system and technical issues.[7] In 2022, Bandai Namco announced the delisting of Jump Force from digital storefronts effective February 7, marking the end of new purchases for the base game, DLC, and in-game currency across all platforms.[8] Online services were subsequently shut down on August 24 and 25, 2022, limiting the game to offline play for existing owners, though physical copies remain available through secondary markets.[8] leaving Jump Force as a notable but short-lived entry in the anime crossover genre.[9]Gameplay
Combat Mechanics
Jump Force features a 3D arena-style combat system that allows players to freely move in three-dimensional space, enabling both ground-based and aerial attacks during battles. This setup draws from anime-inspired action, where fighters can dash, jump, and position themselves dynamically across expansive stages representing blended real-world and manga universes.[10] The core mechanics revolve around a simplified two-button attack system consisting of light attacks, known as Rush attacks, and heavy attacks. Rush attacks, performed by mashing the light attack button (Square on PlayStation 4 or X on Xbox One), chain into combos of up to six hits, allowing for rapid, fluid sequences that can transition into aerial pursuits. Heavy attacks, triggered by the heavy button (Triangle on PlayStation 4 or Y on Xbox One), deliver slower but more powerful blows, often used to break guards or extend combos when timed properly. Players can also incorporate grabs and counters, creating a rock-paper-scissors dynamic where blocking counters light attacks, dodging evades heavies, and countering punishes aggressive openings.[11][12] Special moves are powered by the Ability gauge, which fills over time or faster by holding the Focus button (right trigger) at the cost of immobility, leaving the player vulnerable. These moves, unique to each character's series origin, such as Goku's Kamehameha from Dragon Ball, add variety and strategic depth. A separate Awakening gauge builds primarily by taking damage and enables more powerful options when charged: at 50% or above, players can unleash Ultimate attacks by holding the right trigger and pressing an attack button, delivering devastating, cinematic blows; a full gauge allows full Awakening, transforming the character into a powered-up state with enhanced stats and new moves for a limited duration.[13][14] Battles are structured as 3v3 team fights, with players selecting three characters—one active fighter and two in support roles. Switching to another team member is done by tapping the left trigger, instantly replacing the active character while preserving combo momentum if timed during a launch. Holding the left trigger calls an assist from a support character, providing temporary aid like projectile barrages or buffs without fully swapping, which is crucial for maintaining pressure. Team Ultimates can be activated during Awakening by summoning supports for a coordinated super attack, emphasizing synergy in team composition.[11][13] Character customization extends to created avatars (CACs), where players select one of four base fighting styles (Type A for power-focused like Goku, Type B for agile like Luffy, and so on) and equip a mix of abilities and Ultimates from unlocked characters across different series, allowing hybrid movesets such as combining Naruto's Rasengan with Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho. Standard playable characters retain fixed movesets true to their origins, but CACs offer this cross-series flexibility to personalize playstyles.[15] Combat pacing is fast and aggressive, mirroring shonen anime battles, with quick combos and gauge management encouraging constant pressure while defensive options like guards and warps prevent dominance. Hit confirmation relies on visual and audio cues during combos, where successful strings launch opponents for extensions or pursuits, but mistimed inputs lead to punishable recoveries. Environmental interactions include lightly destructible arenas, where powerful attacks can shatter structures or trigger stage transitions—shifting the fight to altered areas like a ruined New York skyline—using Ultimate energy for added spectacle and tactical repositioning.[12][16]Multiplayer and Modes
Jump Force offers a variety of single-player modes centered on narrative-driven progression and practice opportunities. The core single-player experience is the story mode, where players create a custom avatar to join the Jump Force alliance and participate in structured chapters featuring 3 vs. 3 battles against threats in real-world settings like New York and Tokyo.[17] Beyond the main storyline, the world map enables exploration through free missions, which involve combat challenges to gather resources such as Umbras Cubes for upgrades and avatar enhancements.[18] Training mode provides a dedicated space for honing combat skills without opponents, while arena battles allow versus matches against AI-controlled teams for solo practice and testing team compositions.[19] Online multiplayer features, including ranked matches, custom lobbies for up to eight participants, world tournaments, cooperative boss raids, and event modes like Online Link Mission, were available at launch but discontinued following the server shutdown on August 25, 2022.[8] Local versus mode remains functional, enabling offline 3 vs. 3 battles between players on the same console.[17] Progression systems integrate deeply with the hub world, a central base area resembling a high-tech command center where players manage their avatar and roster. Avatar creation allows extensive customization of appearance, with ongoing unlocks for clothing and accessories earned through mission completions and leveling. Characters level up via experience gained in battles, granting increased health, attack power, and access to new J-Skills, support skills, and ability upgrades that enhance team synergy. Cosmetics, including outfits and emotes, are obtained in the hub's shops using in-game currency from missions, providing personalization without affecting core stats. Post-launch updates introduced free-to-play-inspired elements, including seasonal events and the Character Pass system, which functioned like a battle pass by offering tiered rewards such as new characters, stages, and cosmetics for a one-time purchase, alongside free content drops like additional missions and tournament expansions; however, these online-dependent features ceased with the 2022 shutdown.[20]Setting and Story
Premise
Jump Force is a crossover fighting game that unites characters from various manga series serialized in Shueisha's [Weekly Shōnen Jump](/page/Weekly_Shōnen Jump) anthology, blending their fictional universes with the real world in a celebration of the magazine's 50th anniversary.[21] The core premise revolves around a cataclysmic event where these manga worlds collide with Earth, forming a hybrid dimension known as Jump World, where iconic heroes and villains materialize in real-world locations.[22] This merger allows for unprecedented interactions between anime-style characters and everyday human environments, emphasizing themes of alliance and interdimensional invasion.[23] At the heart of the conflict is the emergence of the Venoms, an antagonistic force consisting of villains corrupted by a malevolent dark energy originating from mysterious Umbra cubes, which twist their hosts with evil intent.[23] In response, heroes from across the Jump universes band together to form the Jump Force, a coalition dedicated to protecting humanity from this threat and restoring balance to the fractured realities.[24] The Venoms, led by original antagonists designed by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, represent a pervasive corruption that endangers both the manga worlds and Earth.[24] The game's original story framework integrates these elements through the perspective of a customizable protagonist referred to as a "Jumper," an ordinary human empowered by the dimensional merge to fight alongside the heroes.[25] This character serves as the player's avatar, bridging the gap between the real world and the Jump universes while forging alliances. The central hub world is a reimagined New York City, infused with anime aesthetics such as exaggerated architecture and vibrant energy signatures, functioning as a strategic base for the Jump Force to coordinate missions and interact with allies.[22]Plot Summary
The story of Jump Force begins in modern-day New York, where dimensional barriers between the real world and the universes of Weekly Shōnen Jump manga series suddenly collapse, allowing characters like Goku and Frieza to spill into reality and engage in a destructive battle. An ordinary human protagonist witnesses the chaos and is mortally wounded by Frieza's attack, but is rescued by agents of the Jump Force, a multinational organization formed to combat the invasion. Revived at the hidden Umbras Base—a neutral ground between realities—through the use of a mysterious cube that grants superhuman abilities, the protagonist joins the Jump Force under the leadership of Director Glover and the AI companion Navigator.[12][11][23] As the merger of worlds escalates, creating hybrid environments blending real cities with iconic Jump locales like the Hidden Leaf Village or Marineford, the Jump Force assembles a coalition of heroes from across series, including Naruto Uzumaki, Monkey D. Luffy, and Ichigo Kurosaki, alongside the protagonist's customizable avatar. The team undertakes missions to recruit additional allies, such as searching for missing fighters like Sanji, while clashing with the Venoms—a shadowy group deploying cubes to mind-control villains like Cell, Dio Brando, and Madara Uchiha into an army of aggressive "Venoms." Initial acts focus on defensive battles against invasions in real-world landmarks and alliance-building through crossover team-ups, highlighting fan-service interactions where heroes from disparate series collaborate, such as Goku teaming with Jotaro Kujo. Suspicions arise of a traitor within the organization, adding internal tension as the heroes uncover the Venoms' leaders, Kane and the scientist Galena, who are orchestrating the chaos to reshape existence.[23][26][11] The narrative progresses into deeper confrontations, revealing the merger's true cause as the machinations of Prometheus, an ancient, god-like entity seeking to fuse all realities into a singular, controlled domain, with the cubes serving as conduits for its influence. Major twists involve reality-warping distortions that force character redemptions and betrayals, including some controlled heroes breaking free through bonds of friendship and willpower, emphasizing themes of unity across the Jump multiverse. The Jump Force launches a final assault on Prometheus's domain, where the protagonist's unique status as a "real-world" entity proves pivotal in countering the entity's power, leading to a climactic battle that defeats Prometheus with aid from the heroes' combined energy in a Spirit Bomb attack. Although the greater threat is vanquished, the worlds remain fused, with the heroes continuing their alliance in the merged reality. The resolution appoints the protagonist as the new director of the Jump Force, while Light Yagami takes possession of an Umbras Cube in the ending sequence, implying potential future threats.[23][12][15]Characters
Playable Roster
The playable roster of Jump Force comprises 40 characters from 16 Shōnen Jump franchises in the base game, released on February 15, 2019, with additional fighters added through the Character Pass 1 (9 characters, 2019), Character Pass 2 (5 characters, 2020–2021), and free updates, bringing the total to 57 playable characters.[27][28][1] Each character features movesets drawn from their original series, voiced by their Japanese voice actors for authenticity, such as Masako Nozawa reprising Goku and Junko Takeuchi as Naruto.[3] The game emphasizes crossover appeal by allowing players to create custom avatars that can equip up to three support cards from the roster, enabling hybrid movesets like combining Luffy's Gum-Gum Pistol with Sasuke's Chidori in battles.[3] Post-launch updates included free additions like Nomu from My Hero Academia in August 2019, enhancing roster depth without purchase.[29] Characters are grouped below by their originating franchise, highlighting key moveset traits where distinctive.Dragon Ball Z
This franchise contributes the most base characters, focusing on high-energy ki blasts and transformations.| Character | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Goku | Base | Signature moves include the Kamehameha energy wave and Super Saiyan transformations. Voiced by Masako Nozawa.[28] |
| Vegeta | Base | Features Final Flash beam attack and Galick Gun. Voiced by Ryō Horikawa.[28] |
| Piccolo | Base | Utilizes Special Beam Cannon and regenerative abilities. Voiced by Toshio Furukawa.[28] |
| Frieza | Base | Employs Death Beam and full-power form shifts. Voiced by Ryūsei Nakao.[28] |
| Cell | Base | Includes Solar Kamehameha and absorption mechanics in combos. Voiced by Norio Wakamoto.[28] |
| Trunks | Base | Wields sword strikes and Burning Attack. Voiced by Takeshi Kusao.[30] |
| Majin Buu | DLC (Character Pass 1, August 27, 2019) | Known for Chocolate Beam and rapid regeneration. Voiced by Kōzō Shioya.[31][32] |
| Goku Black | DLC (Character Pass 1, July 30, 2019) | Uses Black Kamehameha and divine ki infusions. Voiced by Masako Nozawa.[31][33] |
Naruto / Naruto Shippuden / Boruto
Ninja-themed combatants emphasize jutsu combinations and chakra-based summons.| Character | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Naruto Uzumaki | Base | Iconic Rasengan and Nine-Tails chakra mode. Voiced by Junko Takeuchi.[28] |
| Sasuke Uchiha | Base | Features Chidori and Sharingan genjutsu. Voiced by Noriaki Sugiyama.[28] |
| Boruto Uzumaki | Base | Incorporates Rasengan variants and scientific ninja tools. Voiced by Yūko Sanpei.[28] |
| Sakura Haruno | Base | Strength-enhanced punches and medical ninjutsu heals. Voiced by Chie Nakamura.[30] |
| Kakashi Hatake | Base | Uses Lightning Blade and Sharingan copy abilities. Voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue.[28] |
| Gaara | Base | Sand manipulation for defense and Sand Burial attacks. Voiced by Akira Ishida.[28] |
| Kaguya Ōtsutsuki | Base | Utilizes All-Killing Ash Bones and dimension-shifting abilities. Voiced by Saori Hayami.[34] |
| Madara Uchiha | DLC (Character Pass 1, October 29, 2019) | Deploys Perfect Susanoo and meteor summons. Voiced by Naoya Uchida.[31][35] |
One Piece
Pirate crew members highlight stretchy Devil Fruit powers and swordplay.| Character | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monkey D. Luffy | Base | Gear forms and Gum-Gum Pistol stretches. Voiced by Mayumi Tanaka.[28] |
| Roronoa Zoro | Base | Three-sword style and Oni Giri slashes. Voiced by Kazuya Nakai.[28] |
| Nami | Base | Weather staff manipulations like Thunderbolt Tempo. Voiced by Akemi Okamura.[36] |
| Sanji | Base | Diable Jambe kicks and fiery combos. Voiced by Hiroaki Hirata.[28] |
| Blackbeard | Base | Yami Yami no Mi darkness absorption. Voiced by Akio Ōtsuka.[28] |
| Buggy | Base | Chop-Chop Fruit disassembly tricks. Voiced by Shigeru Chiba.[30] |
| Trafalgar Law | DLC (Character Pass 1, December 17, 2019) | Ope Ope no Mi spatial manipulation like Room and Shambles. Voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya.[37] |
Bleach
Soul Reaper fighters incorporate Zanpakuto releases and spiritual pressure.| Character | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ichigo Kurosaki | Base | Getsuga Tensho energy slashes and Bankai form. Voiced by Masakazu Morita.[28] |
| Rukia Kuchiki | Base | Sode no Shirayuki ice-based techniques. Voiced by Fumiko Orikasa.[28] |
| Renji Abarai | Base | Zabimaru whip-sword extensions. Voiced by Kentarō Itō.[30] |
| Uryū Ishida | Base | Quincy arrow volleys and Seele Schneider. Voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto.[28] |
| Byakuya Kuchiki | Base | Senbonzakura petal blades. Voiced by Ryōtarō Okiayu.[28] |
| Sōsuke Aizen | Base | Kyōka Suigetsu illusions. Voiced by Show Hayami.[30] |
| Tōshirō Hitsugaya | DLC (Character Pass 1, October 31, 2019) | Hyōrinmaru ice dragon summons and Bankai maturity. Voiced by Daisuke Sakaguchi.[38] |
| Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez | DLC (Character Pass 1, November 26, 2019) | Pantera claw strikes and Desgarron energy claws. Voiced by Junichi Suwabe.[39] |
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Duelists summon monsters and activate spell effects in combat.| Character | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Yugi Muto | Base | Dark Magician summons and Millennium Puzzle powers. Voiced by Shunsuke Kazama.[28] |
| Jaden Yuki | Base | Elemental HERO fusions like Neos. Voiced by Kazuya Miyuki.[28] |
| Yusei Fudo | Base | Stardust Dragon synchro calls. Voiced by Yuya Miyashita.[28] |
| Seto Kaiba | DLC (Character Pass 1, April 25, 2019) | Blue-Eyes White Dragon blasts. Voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda.[40] |
Hunter × Hunter
Nen users showcase aura-enhanced physical and strategic attacks.| Character | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hisoka Morow | Base | Bungee Gum elasticity and texture surprise. Voiced by Hiroki Takahashi (in-game).[28] |
| Biscuit Krueger | DLC (Character Pass 1, April 25, 2019) | Cookie-chanter enhancements and magical beast cookie. Voiced by Kana Ueda.[40] |
| Meruem | DLC (Character Pass 2, September 2020) | Aura synthesis blasts. Voiced by Mamoru Miyano.[1] |
My Hero Academia
Heroes and villains utilize Quirks for superpowered clashes (all DLC except free Nomu).| Character | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| All Might | DLC (Character Pass 1, April 25, 2019) | Detroit Smash punches and United States of Smash. Voiced by Kenta Miyake.[40] |
| Katsuki Bakugo | DLC (Character Pass 1, August 27, 2019) | Explosion Quirk blasts. Voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto.[41][32] |
| Shoto Todoroki | DLC (Character Pass 2, May 26, 2020) | Half-Cold Half-Hot temperature control. Voiced by Yuki Kaji.[42][43] |
| Nomu | Free Update (August 2019) | Multiple Quirks including super regeneration. Voiced by an uncredited ensemble.[29] |
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Stand users manifest psychic entities for precise, dramatic strikes.| Character | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Jotaro Kujo | Base | Star Platinum's Ora Ora rush and time stop. Voiced by Jōji Yanami.[44] |
| Dio Brando | Base | The World's time stop and Road Roller crush. Voiced by Takehito Koyasu.[44] |
| Giorno Giovanna | DLC (Character Pass 2, April 13, 2021) | Gold Experience Requiem reality overwrites. Voiced by Kenshō Ono.[45] |
Other Franchises
These include standalone icons from additional series, each with signature weapons or powers.- Fist of the North Star: Kenshiro (Base) - Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken pressure point strikes. Voiced by Takehito Koyasu.[28]
- City Hunter: Ryo Saeba (Base) - Precision marksmanship and "Hallo, baby" flirt combos. Voiced by Akira Kamiya.[28]
- Saint Seiya: Pegasus Seiya (Base) - Pegasus Meteor Fist cosmos blasts. Voiced by Tōru Furuya.[30]
- Rurouni Kenshin: Himura Kenshin (Base) - Reverse Blade Sword battōjutsu. Voiced by Mayo Suzukaze.[30]
- Shaman King: Asakura Yoh (Base) - Spirit of Sword guardian slashes. Voiced by Yūki Kaji.[30]
- Dragon Quest: The Hero (Base) - Sword of Kings and pep powers. Voiced by an original cast.[30]
- Yu Yu Hakusho (DLC, Character Pass 2, 2020): Hiei - Dragon of the Darkness Flame. Voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama.[1]
- Bleach (DLC, Character Pass 2, 2020): Yoruichi Shihōin - Flash Step speed dashes. Voiced by Satsuki Yukino.[1]