Summary
Entering 2024, there’s no shortage of licensed Shonen Jump games for fans to enjoy.Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connectionsrecently launched, whileHunter × Hunter: Nen ImpactandDragon Ball: Sparking Zeroare both on the horizon. Even older titles likeDragon Ball Z: KakarotandNaruto to Boruto: Shinobi Strikerare still seeing regular DLC drops. In the middle of all of this action, there’s been a noticeable lack of crossover Jump titles since 2019’sJump Force. Released in Japan on June 26, 2025, and worldwide on February 15,Jump Forcepromised to be a grand crossover experience, but ended up as a high-profile flop.
That’s not to sayJump Forcesold poorly; in fact, it became the fourth highest-selling game of 2019 in North America, only beaten by multi-million sellersResident Evil 2,Kingdom Hearts 3, andAnthem.Jump Forcealso got two seasons of DLC, something unlikely if it was underperforming. However, that didn’t save it from beingdelisted from digital stores on June 15, 2025, with its multiplayer servers subsequently going down on June 14, 2025.Jump Forcewas presumably deemed not worth the cost of renewing its character licenses, and now only serves as a guide for how not to handle a Shonen Jump fighter.
Jump Force Was Misguided From The Start
Unfortunately, the issues plaguingJump Forcewere visible right away. As soon as the first trailer was released, many viewers came away wondering why the game was so ugly. In an effort to appeal to North American audiences,Jump Forcedoubled down on a realistic aesthetic, applying photorealistic surface textures and a washed-out color palette to itsiconic, stylized Shonen Jump cast. This wasn’t universally hated, but it didn’t take much time forJump Forceto be hit with unflattering comparisons toDragon Ball FighterZandNaruto Ultimate Ninja Stormthat it never managed to shake.
Its genre was another warning sign to many, as frequent Bandai Namco-published anime arena fighters had been drawing fan fatigue since the PS2 era. To make matters worse,Jump Forcedeveloper Spike Chunsoft’s arena fighters had been going down in quality for years afterpeaking withDragon Ball Z:Budokai Tenkaichi 3in 2007. 2014’sJ-Stars Victory VSand 2016’sOne Piece: Burning BloodwereJump Force’s immediate predecessors, andJump Forcewould inherit almost every issue both titles had on top of introducing its own. This included lacking an English dub, flying in the face of its stated goal to attract more English players.
No Part Of Jump Force Was Good Enough To Hook Players
A lot could be forgiven ifJump Force’s gameplay or single-player were fun, and it did come with a lengthy story mode starring a custom avatar. Unfortunately,Jump Forcecouldn’t even get this promising premise off the ground. 3-man tag teams felt like a vain attempt to hide the low playstyle variety among the large cast, and fights often felt like mindlessly mashing through bloated health pools. EvenJump Force’s cinematic Ultimate Attacks weren’t always enoughto keep the action exciting. The campaign was poorly written and very repetitive without much reward, and the whole game was riddled with glitches and stuff animations. Combined with excessive special effects tanking the framerate, minimalist HUD elements, and a completely forgettable soundtrack,Jump Forcewasn’t built to last.
What Future Shonen Jump Games Could Learn From Jump Force
If there’s one silver lining toJump Force, it’s that the game’s relative success means a future Jump fighter is still possible. There are plenty of lessons that a new Shonen Jump crossover could learn fromJump Force, and returning to a more vibrant and stylized look is just the start. Spike Chunsoft is already demonstrating this in the heavily cell-shaded, well-lit, anddynamic visuals present inDragon Ball: Sparking Zero, so even if it gets handed the keys to Shonen Jump again, Spike should be able to deliver something better. Not allowing the most globally popular franchises to dominate the roster and DLC would also help, as one of past Jump fighters’ main strengths is how many properties they represent.
Another strength to bring back from older Jump games is their genre variety. Games ranged from action-RPGs to trivia competitions, and three of the five that actually were fighting games were platform fighters instead of arena fighters. The mechanics they used to stand out fromSuper Smash Bros.didn’t always pan out competitively, but it did breed 2D environments where characters had small but diverse movesets.Jump Super StarsandJump Ultimate Starsare especially well-likeddespite never leaving Japan, so the next Jump game could earn some trust back by returning to their gameplay style.
The Next Jump Crossover Should Try To Be As Exciting As It Sounds
Even setting aside arena fighter exhaustion, comparingJump Forceto its predecessors shows better uses for team mechanics thanJump Force’s simple tag system just encouraging high-tier groupings. Reserving slots for multiple assist-only characters, which could work likeMortal Kombat 1’s Kameo Fighters in a new Jump title, would be preferred over three near-identical characters sharing one life bar in every bout. Speaking ofMK, many fans would be overjoyed to see the first traditional 2D Jump fighter, though ensuring the next game meets the online standards that have been raised sinceJump Force’s launch is more important than conforming to any particular genre.
With decent online treated as a given nowadays, attention should be turned towards building a better single-player. The bar for fighting game story modes is low, andJump Forcefalling short even with a great custom avatarin play was tragic. Since Jump crossover games, and licensed anime fighters in general, tend to live and die by their fanservice, ensuring that is felt in the gameplay, presentation, and writing should make most other mistakes a Jump game could make tolerable.Jump Forceis a fascinating case study in what not to do with a crossover fighter, and hopefully, future projects will learn how to avoid its pitfalls.
