Most property-based video games that come from Japan are based on the anime. That’s been the tradition for decades. That’s what makes JUMP FORCE so unusual, it’s based on manga. That's why if you only watch the anime of a series, you may not recognize manga-only things like the Black Whale ship from the Hunter x Hunter manga in the New Zealand stage. This game is a celebration of 50 years of Weekly Shonen Jump, and it’s a love letter to the king of Japanese manga magazines.

If you’re wondering what “New Zealand” has to do with Shonen Jump, not much! Until this game, that is! The setup is rather fun and unique—our world has crashed into the world of Jump. Which is how they managed to get all these characters from different series together to fight. It’s also fun because you get to see them battle in recognizable locales like Time's Square in New York or the beaches of San Francisco. In fact, I’ve literally been to where the San Francisco stage is. If you visit San Francisco's Fort Point, keep a sharp eye out for Jump characters.

The story is the classic story for giant crossover games--there’s an evil force that’s threatening to destroy everything and you’ve got to stop it. Crossover games aren’t about story, it’s all about seeing all your beloved characters all in one place interacting with each other. And on that account, this game is a success. The banter between characters from different series is entertaining and will tickle fans. There’s just something magical about seeing your two favorite heroes or villains joking or taking shots at each other. And the writers clearly know the source material as the jokes are character and series correct.

But the combat in the game is the real draw, it's high energy, dynamic, explosive, over-the-top and perfectly captures the essence of the fights in Weekly Shonen Jump manga. And it’s relatively simple, with only two attack buttons, so fans who just wanna mash buttons can do so and still look very impressive. More experienced players will also have fun with some of the game’s subtler nuances. It’s definitely one of those games that will suit either style of play. And even if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, it still looks amazing because the game is big on spectacle.

Matches are 3-on-3 with the ability to do multi-character attacks and swap out characters at any time. All three characters share one health bar so there’s not much strategy involved in swapping beyond who is a better fit for the fight. This allows for some fun themed team building like “all sword guys” or “big hair only” or “rival teams” or whatever. Oh, and one piece of advice (no pun intended), Sanji loves women so he can’t actually do damage to them, he can only blow kisses. Be careful placing him on your team!

The game also features a solid character builder that lets you mix and match various aspects of Weekly Shonen Jump characters to create your own. It’s a lot of fun and even running around the lobby just checking out other player’s characters and costumes is entertaining. Especially with all the different outfits that can be bought and hilarious vehicles from various series. That being said, there’s not a whole heckuva lot to do in the lobby, but the game is new, I have no doubt there are plans for the future.

You can also level your character up by giving them new skills and abilities. The attacks come from the main characters, so you can mix and match them as you please. Although I love all the WSJ characters in the game, I found myself using my own created character and getting attached to her. I usually spend an hour or so just creating characters, because I love playing around with that kind of stuff, but this game was extra fun because you could see which series the character parts come from, especially the hair. Guessing which character the different hair choices came from in the creator was like a mini-game itself.

To get money and unlock skills, you’ll have to take on missions which are broken up into various story or non-story categories. And the game’s really nice about difficulty modes, so you if you wanna wimp out or go hard, it’s up to you.

There’s been a lot of hype living up to this release and understandably so—there aren’t a lot of crossover games on this scale released here. A game with both Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star and Ryo Saeba from City Hunter still seems impossible to me, but it’s here. 

Does it live up to the hype? In terms of anime fighting games, it’s definitely one of the better ones. In terms of roster, one of the best. And if you’re a Weekly Shonen Jump fan, this is a dream come true.

by Urian Brown