![]() 10 hours of play were spent in singleplayer with a combination of story mode and offline fights played. This copy of the game was provided by the publisher and reviewed on Switch. The Deluxe Edition is available for Switch, while the standard is available on PS4, Xbox One and PC. Rating: 5 out of 10ĭisclosures: This game is published by Bandai Namco and developed by Spike Chunsoft. Ultimate and Injustice 2 out there, it’s hard not to think that these iconic characters deserved better. With other great crossover fighters like Super Smash Bros. Overall, Jump Force feels less like a celebration of beloved anime franchises and more like a half-assed attempt to cash in with the widest fanbase possible. ![]() Also, the cutscenes don’t even look appealing thanks to the strange art style Jump Force went with - characters look like they do in their respective manga/anime, but also a little hyper-realistic in bizarre ways. It’s a basic “good vs evil” storyline that fits the mold of many shonen anime, but never gives the cast a chance to showcase anything special. ![]() This culminates in a story mode in which players control a custom character as they help famous characters fight evil forces that invade both the “real world” and various anime worlds. Of course, the main selling point of Jump Force is the crossover aspect. Also, cutscenes run at a low framerate, making it look like an awful slideshow. Even worse are the performance issues on Switch, with characters looking blurry on the selection screen and significant framerate drops cropping up during matches. Unfortunately, the camera can be a mess as it struggles to properly focus on the action. The short bursts of joy I had from seeing Kakashi from Naruto beating up Luffy from One Piece faded from how boring the fights were.īesides the mash-happy fighting, play happens in large arenas and players have the freedom to traverse a large, open area as they fight. Matches against AI can be won by simply spamming a few attacks, and there’s little strategy to be seen (or needed.) During combos, characters start zooming around the screen and it feels like the match starts running on autopilot. Matches rely on button-mashing, more like a 3D brawler than it is a proper fighting game. Unfortunately, the fighting is pretty shallow, and in a fighting game, this is a fatal flaw. Each character has a light and heavy attack, and a variety of super moves that burn a meter.Ĭombat looks good in motion, even with the lowered resolution of the Switch in handheld mode, and it’s cool selecting a team that mixes and matches different characters from different places - my main rotation featured Kenshiro, Piccolo and Yusuke Urameshi. Players select a team of three from this diverse roster, and can switch between them while fighting. Of course, I have to call special attention to Fist of the North Star’s Kenshiro - another highlight for me. Hell, even Yu-Gi-Oh! is represented here, and it filled my cold heart with nostalgic joy. Faces from series like the aforementioned Dragon Ball, Naruto and My Hero are present, as well as characters from Yu Yu Hakusho, Bleach, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and plenty of others. Seeing all the amazing fighters gathered from fifty years of manga history is impressive. Starting with the positive, I love the roster diversity. I say all this because anime and manga fans who are more steeped in the content than I am may get more mileage out of Jump Force than I did, but this 3D arena fighter that brings together characters from the long-running Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine just didn’t translate into a good game. I also grew up with unrestricted internet access and a cousin who was obsessed with Naruto and Dragon Ball Z, so I feel like I know a fair amount on the subject. I’m no expert on anime, but I have enjoyed many TV shows and films ranging from esteemed classics like Cowboy Bebop to new shonen masterpieces such as My Hero Academia. ![]() WTF Linkin Park/ Naruto mashups from 2007 are more interesting. LOW Bland fighting, bland visuals, bland storytelling. ![]()
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