Jump Force

Jump Force is a 3D fighting game developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco, released on February 15, 2019, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC. Players assemble a team of three characters drawn from a wide selection of Weekly Shonen Jump series and compete in one-versus-one matches where each participant controls one character at a time while the others remain available as switchable teammates. The combat system descends conceptually from J-Stars Victory Vs, with players maneuvering through a three-dimensional space and executing combos and special moves to deplete the opponent's health bar.

A notable feature of Jump Force is the avatar creation system, which allows players to design a unique original character with customizable appearance, clothing, and accessories earned through gameplay. This avatar participates in the story mode as the player's primary protagonist, distinct from the established manga characters who appear as allies and opponents. The battle system emphasizes combination attacks and team switching, rewarding players who master transitions between their three chosen fighters. Each character retains the visual style and move set associated with their source manga or anime.

DLC expanded the initial roster substantially after launch, adding characters from Bleach, Hunter x Hunter, My Hero Academia, Naruto, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu Yu Hakusho, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Three original characters named Galena, Kane, and Prometheus were also added as DLC fighters, occupying a new narrative role within the game's original story setting. Battle stages span real-world Earth locations alongside iconic settings from participating Jump series, including Namek, the Hidden Leaf Village, Marineford, and Whole Cake Island.

Jump Force unfolds in a scenario where the worlds of Weekly Shonen Jump and the real world have been forcibly merged, drawing manga characters into physical existence alongside ordinary humans. The player's custom avatar is caught up in the chaos of this collision and joins a task force of Jump heroes who work to restore the boundary between the two worlds. Light Yagami and the shinigami Ryuk from Death Note serve as non-playable figures who inhabit this merged reality as background characters rather than combatants.

The Dragon Ball contingent within the story includes Goku, Vegeta, Future Trunks, Piccolo, Frieza, and Cell, each of whom operates as both a potential ally and opponent depending on the story's progression. The narrative draws from the premise of the worlds overlapping to justify the presence of otherwise incompatible characters from different fictional universes in shared encounters. A Navigator character serves as an original guide figure within the merged world, helping orient the player's avatar through the game's events.

Jump Force received a mixed critical reception upon release, with reviewers frequently praising the breadth of its roster and the novelty of its real-world setting concept while criticizing the visual direction, which placed anime characters in a photorealistic environment that many found tonally inconsistent. The combat system was regarded as accessible but shallow compared to dedicated fighting game franchises. Despite the critical ambivalence, the game sold well enough to support a post-launch DLC program that continued for over a year.

The game's roster of Dragon Ball characters represented a strong showing for the franchise within the crossover format, with iconic figures across multiple eras of the series present at launch and expanded through post-release content. Jump Force serves as a spiritual successor to J-Stars Victory Vs in concept while targeting a broader global audience, a goal reflected in its simultaneous worldwide release rather than a Japan-first approach. The game was delisted from digital storefronts in 2022 when its licensing agreements expired.