NARUTO: Clash of Ninja

It seems like the US is getting more and more into anime cartoons. First it was Dragon Ball Z and now it is a fairly new cartoon entitled Naruto. It seems like you see various commercials for this cartoon on TV as well as seeing merchandise on every corner for it. Since this is the case, it was only a matter of time before games based on the series were going to be released. Sow how does Naruto: Clash of Ninja stack up? Read on to find out!

If you are unfamiliar with the series, it is about a young boy who dreams of one day becoming the leader of the village that he lives in. He has had a very hard childhood and is known for acting out just to get attention from the village residents. From the information I was able to gather, it appears that this game takes place between the first 30 or so episodes of the anime series, due to the characters and moves that are available to use in the various battles.

There are a few different modes of play that players will be able to entertain themselves for sometime, they are story, training, time attack, survival, and verses. The Story mode will take players through the shoes of Naruto Uzumaki as he just gradates from the Ninja Academy and is presented with various trails from his new teacher Kakashi Hatake. Training mode allows players to get accustom to the game controls, and learn how to do various characters modes. Time attach is a one player mode where you must defeat eight various characters and how long it takes to do this. Survival is just like any game where you see how long many consecutive wins you can have against the computer. In two player mode, players will be able to fight against a friend to see who the best Ninja is.

The thing that really gets this game down is that the gameplay is really overly simple which is not bad if it had some sort of depth, which it lacks. The “A” button is the general attack button, while the “B” button is for more special attacks, “X” is for special attacks, “Y” is for throws, and “R and L” triggers are used for evade/dodge moves. While this setup isn’t bad it is the fact that you can’t really string a long combination of these elements together to create some really devastating moves. This is a disappointment because the lack of this makes the game feel really old and tedious after a while.

The characters that you can select from are straight out of the anime and look really good in their three dimension forms. What is nice about the characters is that they act just like their anime counterparts while fighting. Naruto makes big and extravagant moves, while Kakashi moves are really powerful and seemly lack any weak points. Another good thing about this game is that each character has their trademark moves from Naruto’s “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu” to Haku’s “Crystal Ice Mirrors”, so if you are a fan of the show you will be able to perform some of your favorite moves in this game.

The graphics for Naruto: Clash of Ninja are pretty well done. The game uses some cell-shading technology that brings it to life while looking the same as the TV show. As you play the game you will see that the developers managed to get a lot of details from the show included here, such as the whiskers on Naruto’s face, and various other things that the characters are known for. It is good to see all of the moves shown in 3D from the hand lighting to the Sexy Jutsu, it is an accurate representation of what the show looks like.

If you have ever seen the dubbed version of the TV series on Cartoon Network then you will be happy to know that the developers got the same voice actors to reprise their roles for this game. The characters will have their known trademark phrases when various actions are going on such as Naruto’s “Believe it!” phrase. What I really liked about the game is that before you fight each other, the characters will say something that is unique to each other. An example of this is Naruto talking to one of his teachers asking him to buy some Ramen after the fight is over. It makes the game feel a little more like the TV series. Just like the voice actors, the music is taken directly from the show as well, which is a great thing because this makes it feel even more like the show.

Naruto: Clash of Ninja is rated Teen for cartoon violence. It will take up to 2 blocks on your memory card for game saves.

Gameplay: 6.5
This is where the game falls short. The overly simplistic nature is fine, if you can give some depth to the controls, which it did not provide. You can learn everything there is to know about this game in a couple of hours. After that there is nothing new to do after you beat the game and unlock everything.

Graphics: 8.1
The visuals for Naruto: Clash of Ninja are really good. The developers did a good job of mimicking the TV show really well.

Sound: 7.2
The dialog is taken straight from the dubbed show, which is a good thing because people will be able to recognize it immediately. The quality of the voices on the other hand is not that good.

Difficulty: Easy
The game is really easy, you can beat it in no time flat.

Concept: 7.1
The best thing that the developers put in this game is the dodge/counter system as it makes the fights go by a lot quicker, since you can turn the pace of a battle by one little button press.

Multiplayer: 6.5
The multiplayer for this game is average, it just doesn’t add anything new that players haven’t seen in a fighting game already.

Overall: 6.9
Naruto: Clash of Ninja is a pretty fun game that would have been a lot better with more depth in the fighting controls. The game is obviously marketed towards younger gamers because it is just too easy and it lacks depth that a game like this deservers. Fans of the series will want to eat this game up, but if you are not a fan of this series then this game will offer you very little that many other games currently out can offer you.