Jump Force

Jump Force
Box art featuring (from left to right) Naruto Uzumaki, Monkey D. Luffy, and Son Goku
Developer(s)Spike Chunsoft
Publisher(s)Bandai Namco Entertainment
Director(s)Toyokazu Sakamoto
Producer(s)
  • Hiroyuki Kaneko
  • Koji Nakajima
Programmer(s)
  • Akira Watanabe
  • Shigeru Saito
  • Yosuke Yoshida
Artist(s)Satoshi Tsurumi
Writer(s)
  • Ryuichi Hitori
  • Yuuya Amano
  • Hiro Ito
Composer(s)
SeriesShōnen Jump
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
ReleasePS4, Xbox One
  • JP: 14 February 2019
  • WW: 15 February 2019
until August 24, 2022
Windows
  • WW: 15 February 2019
Nintendo Switch
  • JP: 27 August 2020
  • WW: 28 August 2020
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Jump Force is a Japanese crossover fighting game developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment featuring characters from various manga series featured in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump anthology in celebration of the magazine's 50th anniversary.[1] The game was released on February 14, 2019 in Japan for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and the following day worldwide in addition to Windows. A Nintendo Switch port was released worldwide on August 28, 2020. The game received mixed reviews from critics, with criticism being directed towards its story, gameplay, and failure to deliver its promises upon launch. Due to the disappointing sales upon release, the game was delisted from all digital storefronts on February 8, 2022, with its online services shutting down later that year, making the game inaccessible for newer players.

Gameplay

[edit]

Jump Force is a 1-v-1 fighting game where the player controls a team of three characters from a selection of various manga series featured in the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine.[1] Players control one character at a time while the others are used as support, with players able to switch between them during battle. Combat functions similarly to the previous Jump fighting game, such as J-Stars Victory VS, Dragon Ball Xenoverse sub-series, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm sub-series and One Piece: Burning Blood, with players moving around a 3D space and utilizing various combos and special moves to attack their opponents. The match ends when one team depletes the other's health bar.

Premise

[edit]

When the real world collides with many of the Shōnen Jump universes, humanity is invaded by the "Venoms", an army of mind-controlled villains led by Kane and Galena. In order to fight back, many heroes are recruited to join the "Jump Force" under the leadership of Director Glover and his AI partner Navigator. Though, a suspicious figure is using both the Jump Force and the Venoms as an attempt to gain a mysterious artifact and merge all worlds into one.[2]

Plot

[edit]

Frieza attacks New York City with an army of Venoms, being confronted by Son Goku; however, a stray laser blast from Frieza fatally wounds a civilian in the war zone. Trunks revives the civilian with a cybernetic device called an umbras cube, giving them the potential to be a hero like them. Frieza withdraws, allowing Goku and Trunks to take the civilian back to their HQ, where they are greeted by Director Glover. Glover explains that the manga worlds from "Jump" have somehow begun merging with the real world and using their own umbras cubes to turn evil-hearted humans into Venoms, forcing him to create the Jump Force to quell the threat; the organization consists of heroes from the "Jump" worlds, along with other people saved through the cubes.

The group is divided into Alpha, Beta and Gamma teams; Son Goku leads Alpha (along with Piccolo, Zoro and Gaara) to fight off the invading Venoms, Luffy leads Beta (along with Boa Hancock, Sanji, Boruto and later Vegeta) to reclaim the territory from the Venoms, while Naruto leads Gamma (along with Kakashi, Sasuke, Trunks and Sabo) for stealthy reconnaissance. The new hero, who serves as the game's player character, is asked to join one of the divisions to help repel the invasion.[3] Light Yagami, whose Death Note lost its powers by the merging of worlds has also joined, secretly intent on restoring it.

The Jump Force discover other heroes being mind-controlled by umbras cubes charged with evil energy. They free the heroes and recruit them, taking the cubes for inspection. Duplicates of the Jump villains made of the dark umbras cubes also appear, along with the real ones, adding to the confusion.

After an amnesiac girl named Angela is rescued, several members of the Jump Force suddenly become possessed by evil auras during missions, leading them to suspect a traitor is among them. While Sanji is initially blamed, the culprit is revealed to be Angela, who is a disguise for the evil Galena. She steals the collected umbras cubes and gives them to her master Kane, a man seeking to wipe out humanity in revenge for the deaths of his family. The player pursues and defeats Kane, but Glover reveals himself as Prometheus, the true mastermind behind the merging of the worlds and Galena's true master, having used Kane to sow chaos across the worlds. Having outlived his usefulness, Galena seemingly kills Kane and proceeds to stall the heroes to allow Prometheus to continue his plans. The heroes defeat Galena, only for Prometheus to absorb her afterward.

The heroes confront Prometheus, who reveals himself to be a "keyman" charged with showing the real world the stories of "Jump", but grew tired of humanity's vices and attempts to merge the real and the Jump worlds together in order to guide humanity in the right direction. He steals the player's cube for its good energy, planning to use it to balance the evil energy he collected from the villains to become a god. The villains form a temporary truce with the heroes, while a still-alive Kane uses the last of his strength to give his cube to the player and Goku empowers them further with the energy from all of the Jump Force, allowing them to destroy Prometheus.

However, Prometheus's death does not separate the realities, leaving Earth still under threat from the Jump villains. At Trunks' suggestion, the player character becomes the new Jump Force director and continues to protect humanity. Meanwhile, Light finds an umbras cube left behind by Prometheus, planning to use its dark energy to re-power his Death Note.

Characters

[edit]

The game's launch roster features 40 playable characters from 16 series, with 14 additional characters available as downloadable content via Character Passes and three added as part of a free update for a total of 57 characters. In addition, players are allowed to create their own unique playable character, customizing them with abilities, outfits and accessories earned through gameplay.[4]

Playable characters

[edit]

Non-playable characters

[edit]
Original Jump Force characters
  • Navigator (ナビゲーター, Nabigētā)[34]

Development and release

[edit]

Jump Force was developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco.[38] The game is using Unreal Engine 4,[38] and was created in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Weekly Shōnen Jump.[38] Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama designed the original characters created for the game.[32][39][40] Jump Force was announced at E3 2018 during Microsoft's press conference.[1][38] It was released on February 14, 2019 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in Japan, and on February 15, 2019 in the west for the same platforms, as well as Windows.[41][42] A Nintendo Switch port was announced in April 2020. The Switch version, titled Jump Force Deluxe Edition, includes the downloadable content from the first Character Pass and was released worldwide on August 28, 2020.[26][43]

Discontinuation

[edit]

On November 10, 2021, Bandai Namco announced the discontinuation of the game. It was delisted from digital stores along with its downloadable content on February 8, 2022, and the shutdown of its online server ranked matches happened 6 months later on August 24, 2022.[44]

Reception

[edit]

The game received "mixed or average reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic.[46][45][47]

Sales

[edit]

In Japan, approximately 76,894 physical units for PS4 were sold during its launch week, becoming the top-selling game that week.[62] As of 17 March 2019, the PS4 version has sold 190,214 physical units in Japan.[63] The Nintendo Switch version sold 15,588 retail copies during its first week on sale in Japan, making it the seventh bestselling game of the week in the country.[64]

In North America, the game debuted at number two on NPD's monthly sales chart for February 2019, behind only Anthem. Jump Force is North America's fourth best-selling game of 2019 (behind only Kingdom Hearts III, Anthem, and Resident Evil 2), and had the third highest launch month sales for a Bandai Namco game in the territory.[65]

In Europe, Jump Force debuted at number four on the weekly UK charts, with the PS4 version accounting for 74% of launch sales.[66] It debuted at number one on the weekly Italian charts,[67] and at number three on the weekly Switzerland charts, behind the other two new releases of the week, Metro Exodus and Far Cry New Dawn.[68]

Steam Spy estimates that the PC version sold between 50,000 and 100,000 units worldwide on the Steam platform, as of 23 March 2019.[69] And between 200,000 and 500,000 units as of 22 December 2020.[70]

Awards

[edit]
Year Award Category Result Ref.
2018 Game Critics Awards Best Fighting Game Nominated [71]
2019 The Game Awards 2019 Nominated [72]
2020 23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Fighting Game of the Year Nominated [73]
NAVGTR Awards Game, Franchise Fighting Nominated [74]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Lee, Julia (10 June 2018). "Jump Force brings together Dragon Ball, One Piece, Death Note and more". Polygon. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  2. ^ "JUMP FORCE Game". PlayStation. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  3. ^ Madsen, Haynes. "Jump Force: How to Join a Team". Twinfinite.net. Twinfinite. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  4. ^ McWhertor, Michael (20 September 2018). "Jump Force will let you create your own custom character". Polygon. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  5. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (14 December 2018). "Black Clover's Asta Joins Jump Force Game's Lineup". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "Jump Force Game Video Highlights Bleach Characters". Anime News Network. 31 July 2018. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  7. ^ a b c "One Piece's Boa Hancock, Dragon Ball's Trunks, and Bleach's Renji Abarai Join Jump Force". Siliconera. 18 December 2018. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d e Sherman, Jennifer (18 April 2019). "Jump Force Game Reveals Full DLC Character Lineup". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  9. ^ a b Mateo, Alex (18 November 2020). "Jump Force Game Confirms Bleach's Yoruichi, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's Giorno as DLC Characters". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  10. ^ Sherman, Jennifer; Mateo, Alex (18 January 2019). "Jump Force Game Adds Boruto to Lineup". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  11. ^ a b Ressler, Karen (25 October 2018). "Jump Force Game Trailer Reveals City Hunter's Ryo, Fist of the North Star's Kenshiro". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  12. ^ a b c "Jump Force PS4/Xbox One/PC Game Unites Shonen Jump Characters". Anime News Network. 11 June 2018. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Jump Force Game's Video Previews Vegeta, Sabo, Sanji, Blackbeard, Gon, Hisoka". Anime News Network. 22 August 2018. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  14. ^ a b Hodgkins, Crystalyn. "Piccolo, Cell Join Jump Force Game as Playable Characters". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  15. ^ a b c "Jump Force Game's Gameplay Videos Confirm Zoro, Sasuke as Playable Characters (Updated)". Anime News Network. 11 June 2018. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  16. ^ Sherman, Jennifer (25 January 2019). "Dragon Quest Manga's Dai Joins Jump Force Game Lineup". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  17. ^ a b c d "Jump Force Adds Gon, Hisoka, Sanji, Blackbeard as Playable Characters". Anime News Network. 21 August 2018. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  18. ^ a b "'Jump Force' Adds Two More 'Hunter x Hunter' Characters to the Roster". ComicBook. 19 September 2018. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  19. ^ Rafael Antonio Pineda (24 May 2019). "Jump Force Game's Trailer Previews Biscuit Kreuger". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  20. ^ Mateo, Alex (7 August 2020). "Jump Force Game Adds Hunter x Hunter's Meruem". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  21. ^ Sherman, Jennifer (1 February 2019). "Jump Force Game Adds JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's Jotaro, DIO". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  22. ^ Romano, Sal (31 January 2019). "Jump Force adds Dio from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, first look at Jotaro Kujo". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  23. ^ Ruppert, Liana 'Lili' (19 December 2018). "'Jump Force' Adds 'My Hero Academia' Star Izuku Midoriya to the Roster". ComicBook. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  24. ^ Mateo, Alex (11 April 2019). "Jump Force Game Adds My Hero Academia's All Might". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  25. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (5 July 2019). "Jump Force Game Previews Katsuki Bakugo in Video". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  26. ^ a b "Jump Force Deluxe Edition for Switch launches August 27 in Japan and Asia". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  27. ^ a b c Hodgkins, Crystalyn (20 January 2019). "Jump Force Game Adds Naruto Characters Gaara, Kakashi, Kaguya". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  28. ^ a b Hodgkins, Crystalyn (18 November 2018). "Jump Force Game Adds Rurouni Kenshin's Kenshin Himura, Makoto Shishio as Playable Characters". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  29. ^ a b "Jump Force Game's Trailer Reveals Saint Seiya's Pegasus Seiya, Dragon Shiryū". Anime News Network. 11 October 2018. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  30. ^ "Jump Force Game Adds Yu-Gi-Oh's Yūgi Mutō". Anime News Network. 14 September 2018. Archived from the original on 14 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  31. ^ Romano, Sal (14 March 2019). "Jump Force DLC character Seto Kaiba and DLC roadmap announced". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  32. ^ a b c Hodgkins, Crystalyn (20 September 2018). "Jump Force Game Videos Reveal 2 Yu Yu Hakusho Characters, Original Characters by Akira Toriyama, February Debut". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  33. ^ Mateo, Alex (15 September 2020). "Jump Force Game Adds Yu Yu Hakusho's Hiei". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 16 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  34. ^ a b c d Valdez, Nick (22 September 2018). "'Dragon Ball' Creator Reveals Original 'Jump Force' Designs". ComicBook. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  35. ^ a b Moyse, Chris (17 July 2019). "New Jump Force update expected to add villains Kane and Galena as playable characters". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  36. ^ Luster, Joseph (18 August 2019). "JUMP FORCE Final Boss Prometheus is Coming as a Playable Character". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  37. ^ a b Arif, Shabana (19 June 2018). "Jump Force: Death Note's Ryuk "Too Strong" to be Playable Character". IGN. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  38. ^ a b c d Romano, Sal (10 June 2018). "Jump Force announced for PS4, Xbox One, and PC". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  39. ^ "New 'Jump Force' Screenshots Reveal Main Antagonist Kane". WWG. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  40. ^ Luster, Joseph (21 January 2019). "Kakashi, Gaara, and More Get in on JUMP FORCE Screenshot Action". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  41. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (28 October 2018). "Jump Force Game Launches in Japan on February 14". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  42. ^ "Jump Force launches February 15, 2019, adds Ryo Saeba from City Hunter and Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star". Gematsu. 25 October 2018. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  43. ^ Romano, Sal (15 June 2020). "Jump Force Deluxe Edition for Switch launches August 27 in Japan, August 28 in the west". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  44. ^ "Our sincere thanks goes out to all Jump Force players and fans for their support; but with all good things, they must come to an end. Jump Force's availability through digital purchase in the Americas will end on 2/7/2022 at 5 PM PST". Twitter. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  45. ^ a b "Jump Force for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on 15 November 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  46. ^ a b "Jump Force for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  47. ^ a b "Jump Force for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  48. ^ "Jump Force: Deluxe Edition for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on 6 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  49. ^ Carter, Chris (17 February 2019). "Review: Jump Force". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  50. ^ "Jump Force review". EGM. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  51. ^ Hilliard, Kyle (15 February 2019). "Jump Force Review – Super Smash Blunders - Game Informer". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  52. ^ Cherdchupan, Michael (14 February 2019). "Jump Force im Test - Zusammenstoß der Anime-Giganten". GamePro (in German). Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  53. ^ Ramée, Jordan (15 February 2019). "Jump Force Review - Shonen Through And Through". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  54. ^ Kamen, Matt (15 February 2019). "Jump Force review: "An ambitious brawler that suffers from something of an identity crisis"". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  55. ^ Quesada, Daniel (15 February 2019). "Análisis de Jump Force, el juego de lucha de Shonen Jump". Hobby Consolas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  56. ^ Saltzman, Mitchell (13 February 2019). "Jump Force Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  57. ^ "Análisis de Jump Force para PS4, Xbox One y PC". IGN España (in Spanish). IGN. 14 February 2019. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  58. ^ "Jump Force". Official Xbox Magazine. No. 225. p. 71.
  59. ^ "Jump Force review: Fan service fantasy". Shacknews. 13 February 2019. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  60. ^ "Jump Force Recensione PC PS4 Xbox One". The Games Machine (in Italian). 14 February 2019. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  61. ^ Nechita, Teodor (18 March 2019). "Jump Force Review (PC)". Softpedia. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  62. ^ Romano, Sal (20 February 2019). "Media Create Sales: 2/11/19 – 2/17/19". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  63. ^ "Software Sales Top 50 (March 11, 2019 - March 17, 2019)". Media Create. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  64. ^ Romano, Sal (3 September 2020). "Famitsu Sales: 8/23/20 – 8/30/20". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  65. ^ Grubb, Jeff (19 March 2019). "February 2019 NPD: Anthem and Jump Force top software sales". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  66. ^ Dring, Christopher (17 February 2019). "UK Charts: Far Cry New Dawn is No.1, but Metro Exodus is the real winner". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  67. ^ D'Angelo, William (26 February 2019). "Jump Force Leaps to the Top of the Italian Charts - Sales". VGChartz. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  68. ^ "PLATTFORMÜBERGREIFEND". GameChartz.ch. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  69. ^ "JUMP FORCE". Steam Spy. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  70. ^ "JUMP FORCE". Steam Spy. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  71. ^ Watts, Steve (5 July 2018). "Resident Evil 2 Wins Top Honor In E3 Game Critics Awards". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  72. ^ Winslow, Jeremy (19 November 2019). "The Game Awards 2019 Nominees Full List". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 23 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  73. ^ Chalk, Andy (13 January 2020). "Control and Death Stranding get 8 nominations each for the 2020 DICE Awards". PC Gamer. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  74. ^ "2019 Nominees". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. 13 January 2020. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
[edit]