10 Biggest Missed Opportunities In Fighting Game History

So, for anyone out there who doesn't love reading manga/watching anime (which you should, cause it's lots of fun), Weekly Shonen Jump is, in essence, the Marvel/DC of the industry.

While that may be a gross simplification, it does put into perspective how many iconic characters the magazine has created. Goku, Naruto, Luffy, Jotaro, Yusuke, yeah, you've got Shonen Jump to thank for all of them! This is what made the prospect of a fighting game combining all the biggest Jump names such a mouth-watering, life-fulfilling prospect.

Jump Force was the ultimate anime fighting game on paper. Sadly, in practice, it was nothing more than a bland, hollow and unsatisfying gaming experience that could entertain you for a couple of hours before growing stale.

The game had a lukewarm reception from critics and audiences, and ended up getting discontinued in 2021. It was delisted from digital stores in February 2022, and eventually had its servers closed ten months later. This put the final nail in the coffin of this massive missed opportunity.

If the game had done well, it could have been a mega-hit, spawning a decades-long franchise and seeing new fighters introduced from the likes of Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen and more. Instead, it remains a haunting memory for those who wanted something special.