Naruto: Ultimate Ninja (PS2) Review
Posted by Damian Sarcuni on 07.16.2006
Established marketing franchise-nojutsu!!
When I received word of my writing position here at 411, I made a silent promise to myself that I would never use those old reviewer clichés you see every time you read a review about a game based on a movie, comic, or cartoon. It’s that same old tired line “If you’re a fan of the series you will enjoy it, otherwise avoid the game entirely”. Look, screw that. A picture is worth a thousand words. If there are a ton of characters drawn on the front cover and I don’t recognize a single one of them, I don’t need some hack writer telling me I am going to have trouble following the game’s story.
Fortunately, I am somewhat of a Naruto fan (read: I’ve seen about six hundred episodes of the anime which means I’m literally about a fifth of the way done watching the whole series) so I was able to follow along pretty easily. But for those of you who haven’t got the hint, yes, if you don’t know what Naruto is, don’t bother with the game.
Are all my little otaku still present and accounted for? Good! Now let’s get to the meat of the game. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja is a game using a license from a popular anime/manga, which means BanDai released it, which means it’s a clone of another game. In this case, that game is Super Smash Bros. Melee, which isn’t too bad of a genre to clone considering it’s exclusivity to Nintendo systems. Here is how well Naruto: Ultimate Ninja measured up:
Graphics
From an anime/manga perspective, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja is spot on. Most characters and locations are easily identifiable and included in the game. The problem is that the animation itself is very clunky and involves a lot of the following sequence: fluid action, dramatic stop, fluid action, dramatic stop, fluid action, dramatic stop, long pause, INSANE FLASHY ANIMATION SEQUENCE!!! There is so much going on at once in the game which is fine, but its all cell shaded so it takes its toll on the eyes. Still, so many of the sequences and designs are pulled straight from the cartoon, it’s hard not to like it.
Gameplay
This is easily my biggest issue with Naruto: Ultimate Ninja. The game has a pretty fast pace but the controls are clunky and it’s often very frustrating to try and pull off even some of the easiest special moves. Difficulty ranges from laughably easy to completely impossible but without any sense of progression. It’s sad because with a slightly more fluid engine, like the ones used in the classic PS games Power Stone or Ehrgeiz, this game would have been less frustrating and more fun overall.
What Naruto: Ultimate Ninja lacks in a decent fighting system, it makes up for in strategy. Whether sticking close to your support character (who tosses special items and power ups to you during the fight) or maneuvering your opponent into any of the traps laid out from stage to stage, or even just running around collecting chakra (energy) to perform special moves, there are dozens of ways to approach a fight. At times, you can not only switch from layer to layer of each stage, but switch between stages in the middle of a fight to hopefully gain some more strategic ground. Characters maneuver through these stages just as they would in the show, so there are plenty of fun things to try against each other.
Probably the most amusing part of the game is using super moves or jutsu, which requires you to quickly charge up a super bar and successfully hit a single special move. If your move connects, both players are taken into an animation sequence where the attacker must enter a series of button pushes to achieve critical damage while the defender must enter another sequence to reduce damage. I especially like that failure to complete these sequences doesn’t result in the move being cancelled, it just reduces the effect a bit.
Sound
I found myself scratching my head at the sound in Naruto. For starters, I am more familiar with the Japanese subtitled series than I am with the American Cartoon Network version. The voice acting was pretty much spot on for the menu sequences, but man, does Naruto really say the words “believe it” at the end of each line in the dubbed version? Ugh! My heart aches for the poor kids watching that show.
Obviously the dubbed dialogue in the game makes no sense at times but that’s more or less to be expected. However, the voice quality decreases ten fold during actual fight sequences. What once was a nice clean cut sounding vocal track becomes a thick, bushy mumble during a fight. The character of Naruto talks at insanely high volumes while the more relaxed ninja talk in a whisper you can barely hear. While most of the vocal tracks aren’t that bad, you will be hitting the volume buttons on your TV more than once during play.
The music is another mixed bag as well. It’s mostly direct from the show and has a much remixed Samurai Showdown feel. Considering some of the things BanDai COULD have done with the music in the game, I will take this as a blessing. Still, the music during the credits and certain other sequences are bad jazz tracks that really don’t belong anywhere in the Naruto world. I shrug my shoulders at it, you probably will too.
Lasting Appeal
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja has the most absolutely INSANE system of unlockables I have ever seen in my entire life. Literally, it makes the Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance Krypt look like a kiddy pool.
Here’s how it works. First, you fight through the game in story mode and mission mode, racking up Ryo (money). Mission mode adds a little interest to the system itself because although you have to complete special conditions in order to complete a mission, you can earn big time Ryo in this mode, so far so good.
Here’s where it gets crazy. When you go to the “shop” menu to unlock something, you don’t actually unlock anything just by paying a set amount of money. Instead, the game forces you to put money into a gumball machine and randomly try to draw out prizes. The more money you put in, the better your odds. There are literally thousands of unlockables to earn, too, so it is technically feasible that a player could spend their entire life trying to unlock the items in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja.
Many character and story modes are unlocked simply by completing the game and VS mode is just as exciting as a typical two player Super Smash Bros. Melee match (having the option to use a multitap would have been nice). There are also hidden items to collect throughout each stage while you fight as well. If you don’t mind playing the same redundant game countless times for mediocre secret content, Naruto has you covered.
Fun Factor
As Naruto: Ultimate Ninja drags on, it starts to feel more like a chore than a game. I give the developers an A for effort on this one. It’s not that the content isn’t there; it’s just that it tries to be everything to everyone at once. The game has all the obvious adult themes of the original Naruto series, but it gets toned down for younger fans just enough so it loses its shine. Conversely, younger players will get frustrated by the hectic cerebral strategy fighting system that requires some seriously thought out moves long before they are made.
Still, for an established franchise, Naruto certainly covers all its bases. Everything from quirky super moves like Naruto’s “Haremjitsu” to smaller references like Rock Lee doing push ups during the loading screen is all jam packed into the game. Even during the game’s slowest and most repetitive moments, you are bound to find a quick chuckle here and there.
The 411
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja tries too hard to do everything at once. It’s a franchise game, a half way decent rip off of Super Smash Bros. Melee, and a damn good way to kill…make that slaughter time. The fighting engine powering it is so imperfect and the game is loaded with flaws, but at its heart it just isn’t bad enough to avoid altogether. This isn’t just Dragon Ball Z: Budokai with a different name tagged onto it, and it’s certainly an improvement from the old bland Gundam releases. Dig around a bit and there is some flavor to be found here.
Graphics
6.0
Close to the anime, but clunky and way too flashy.
Gameplay
5.0
Strategic play keeps you thinking about your next move, but it's clunky and frustrating.
Sound
6.0
A mixed bag of crisp accuracy and crap.
Lasting Appeal
7.0
Oh my god, we’re going to be here forever!
Fun Factor
5.0
Has all the nifty Naruto series quirks you could want. Tries to be great for players young and old, but fails at both.
