https://games.cartoonnetworkla.com/jumpjoustjam/es/index.html?cnfeed=en
Back in the day I used to play a Flash game called Teen Titans Battle Blitz. It was an extremely janky fighting game, but god DAMN did it hit the spot during computer lab when I was supposed to be doing schoolwork. Flash has long since died out and Battle Blitz along with it, but it turns out the current generation has their own equally addictive browser-based Teen Titans timewaster: the Jump Jousts series. In 2019 the first Jump Jousts was released, which was a Teen Titans GO! tie-in where you control what seem to be the Titans' pets as they duke it out against each other in simple 1v1 fights. Two years later Jump Jousts 2 was released, which as far as I can tell is a very iterative sequel with more of the same.
Honestly, I don't know too much about these games because I'm not in middle school, but yesterday I randomly stumbled across one of the Jump Jousts devs on Twitter talking about how they had just wrapped up the final update for the latest and greatest installment: Jump Jousts Jam. No longer are you playing as little pets based on the Titans; rather, you play as the Titans themselves along with a host of other Cartoon Network characters in one big crossover that somehow manages to be a shockingly competent fighter. Sorry sweetie, but we have Multiversus at home!
Similar to Divekick, your character can't walk and jump around freely like a typical fighting game - pressing left or right will instead make them do a hop with airtime based on how long you press the button. Attacks are similarly streamlined, with a grounded attack, two aerial attacks based on whether you're jumping forwards or backwards, a special move that costs a little meter, and a super attack that costs a lot. Matches are tag team 2v2 and even let you pick an assist like Grim or Yosemite Sam who can be called in for some extra pressure.
The Teen Titans obviously make up a good chunk of the roster but there's a decent selection of old and new CN characters that actually feel unique. Raven has long floaty jumps, short-ranged attacks, and a projectile special that lingers for a bit before it disappears. Bugs Bunny's grounded attack has him swap into a bullfighter outfit and dare his opponent to attack him so he can land a counterattack. Shaggy plays extremely true to his nature and runs away from the fight while attacking, with a teleport special that makes him dash off the screen and reappear from a door on the other side to catch opponents trying to keep their distance. Perhaps my favorite is Gumball, who references other fighting games for each of his attacks and even pays homage to the game's inspiration by dressing up as Kick while performing his signature divekick.
View: https://x.com/FGAnniversaries/status/1752864755155447941?s=20
There's a basic single player mode where you fight through five rounds to unlock new alt colors for each character (most of which seem to be references to other characters like Ace Bunny and Blackfire), local multiplayer, an unlockable endless mode where you see how far you can go with limited healing, and a training mode complete with visible hitboxes. Sadly there's no native online play, but that apparently hasn't stopped a loyal community from forming around the game by playing it through Parsec. Hey, if Shrek Superslam can get a tournament scene, why not Jump Jousts Jam?
View: https://x.com/jj2_fans/status/1711933157644062753?s=20
So yeah, just wanted to make this thread to share a neat little game that most of Era probably would have never heard of otherwise. I would love to see these devs get the go-ahead to do some kind of console release with online, this feels like it would be a blast to play against randoms.
