Review: Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2
Who said summer was a slow period for good games? If you’re a fan of the Naruto anime or manga or like cool fighting games in general, you have something in stores now that’ll keep you busy for quite a while. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 builds upon the foundation laid in the first game with over 20 more playable characters, more moves per fighter, a revamped Ultimate Road campaign and tons of unlockables. Namco Bandai and developer Cyber Connect 2 have put together a faster-paced sequel, a total blast that looks great and plays even better. From the gorgeous, kinetic energy of the graphics to the spot-on sound work and surprisingly deep gameplay, there’s a lot to love here.
The single player Ultimate Road mode takes events from the show and mixes in bits of the manga with a dash of original content, so Naruto newbies might get lost with all the different names and characters. Those folks would do well to hit the Training mode for a bit to get accustomed to the simple yet complex controls. Gameplay is similar to games like Guardian Heroes and Super Smash Bros. with characters hopping between multiple planes in a 3D space as they battle it out. However, this is no mere button-masher, that’s for sure. Although there only one attack button, success at the game requires you to master close and ranged attacks, throws, guards or counters as well as each character’s special moves. A nice assortment of item pickups can also be found in breakable objects and skillful use of these during matches can help or hinder your progress.
Speaking of progress, the story mode in the original was sparse, but this time out, you’ll see a number of well-done cut scenes that spell out the plot between battles. In addition, now Naruto can roam freely through a decently sized Hidden Leaf Village uncovering side quests and partaking in a number of cool mini-games to earn Ryo. All of these are fun diversions from the battles, but my personal favorite is the Tree Climbing race, which manages to be funny and profitable simultaneously. Earning enough cash to hit the Tanzaku Market before combat is a must, particularly when you can buy temporary invisibility, poison your opponent and set him or her aflame before they even get a single hit in. Battles are generally fast and surprisingly tactical. If you merely try to wail away on that attack button and trap your foe in a corner, you’ll be seeing eating dirt every time.
You’ll be able to gain the assistance of support characters as the game progresses and the real fun comes when you activate your jutsu moves or bust out some awesome special attacks. Here, you’ll be pressing a combo sequence quickly, either twirling an analog stick or jamming frantically on a single button to dish out huge amounts of damage. These moves eat up stored chakra, but you can regain this by beating it out of your foe or from bashing objects in the environments. Stick around in one plane for two long, however and one of four Pest Creatures will show up to harass you and your opponent. Trying to beat these beasts up only angers them, so it’s best to stay moving and should one of these guys show up, try to have it attack the other guy or gal. Of course, if both of you get KO’ed, it’s a draw, meaning you’ll get to tackle the fight all over again with a better strategy.
If you’re still not a fan of the orange jump-suited maniac, you’ll be pleased to know that you’re not stuck playing Naruto all the way through. Additionally, to keep thing interesting, some battles require more than simply knocking out your opponent. As you interact with certain characters, they become available for play as Custom characters either in Versus Duel or in the main game as part of the story. Sometimes you’ll be tasked with playing as a few different fighters one after another in some tough battles, but this actually works excellently in the game’s favor. After a match, you’re graded on a number of factors from how much life you have left to whether or not you used both planes to fight in. This nets you a bit more cash and points or, if you’ve not met the match conditions, a failing grade, which also means a do-over for you and your Dual Shock 2. You’ll also be able to build up unlocked fighters as you play, earning development points that can be assigned to six different parameters (Attack, Defense, Chakra, Speed, Resist, Tools).
Interestingly enough, you can have custom characters use each other’s techniques, something that makes for a nice bit of fan service for those players who want to mix and match styles. This makes for some frantic 2-player action and allows no two players to have exactly the same setup in VS battles. No matter which mode you play in, the game looks terrific. The 3D characters are rendered manga style, complete with speed lines and hash marks, while backgrounds look like painted anime goodness. The great panel-to-panel storytelling is back in full force, complete with Japanese sound effects during battles and some amazing special move shots that deliberately pace down the fights so you can get an eyeful of Cyber Connect 2’s skillful programming. Once you get used to hopping back and forth between two planes, the game looks like some crazy mash up of manga, anime and game, making for an impressively hyper time for anyone who happens to in the room watching you play. The sound design is perfect, featuring all the US voice talent from the show doing their thing, some catchy tunes and nicely snappy sound effects. I do wish the free-roaming sections were a bit larger, but this isn’t a true RPG, so perhaps we’ll see CC2 expand on this for a future Naruto game.
As for negatives, well… there really aren’t any to speak of, unless you despise anime-based games entirely. However, this is one of those exceptional entries worth a rental for skeptics and an immediate purchase for fans of the series, so you can’t go wrong either way. The really cool thing is Namco Bandai has a couple of other Naruto games hitting the PS2 and PSP later this year (Uzumaki Chronicles 2 and Ultimate Ninja Heroes, respectively) and if they’re as much fun as this one is, buying them no questions asked is a total no-brainer.
Score: A
