Jump Force Review

Jump Force is the type of game that many people won’t know what to make of. After all, it is based on the Shonen Jump manga, featuring a whole host of characters from across anime series. This includes fighters from Dragon Ball, Naruto, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Released in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the franchise, it’s a fighting game that has niche appeal. But can it prove to be a good enough game to attract a larger audience of players?

Gameplay

As a fighting game, the combat is the most important aspect of Jump Force. Actually getting down into battles can be quite fun. The basic controls are intuitive and very easy to get to grips with. Yet, there is also some complexity to the mechanics that allow you to pull off satisfying moves if you get them right. A great inclusion is the ability to switch between three characters during fights, although they all share one health bar. Swapping out fighters gives you some scope to try to be strategic in battles.

While Jump Force has included a story mode to play through, it adds nothing to the game. The developers could have used this opportunity to include different types of missions. Instead, everything follows the same basic formula with no room for variation. You spend your time moving around the world hub, going from fight to fight, all of which feel identical to each other.

Many features that are commonplace in games are missing from Jump Force as well. It is like the developers got distracted by the characters and overlooked basic mechanics that are necessities in modern titles. For example, there is no map to help you navigate around the world. Instead, you have to wander around and hope that you find your objective. Things like this are what you typically expect to see in every game and rarely even think about. Yet, without them, Jump Force becomes incredibly frustrating to play.