Naruto: Clash of Ninja

"This game feels like a demo for a real Naruto game,"Believe it!""

For those who don't know, Naruto is an anime made in Japan in 2002 and has finally made it way to America. With the anime also came the games and this one is Naruto: Clash of Ninja, the first game in the Clash of Ninja series for the Nintendo game cube. Will this game make me believe in Naruto or will it fall on it face?

Graphics 7/10
There is one of the two great things about this game, the graphics are awesome. There have a cell shading look which does not make them feel outdated.

Every character in this game is how they look like in the anime which is also a great thing and the stages look alright. My only problem is that they don't show much of what naruto can offer in terms of stages and character them self compare to Naruto: Ultimate Ninja(Narutimate Hero) on the play station 2. Expect for that, the game has it up and downs with graphics but more ups.

Game play: 5/10
It terms of mode, there not much. You have your Story mode, Arcade mode, Vs mode, and a couple more. Story mode is just you playing as Naruto going though out some fights but it not much. Arcade mode is what you expect from almost all fighting games, fight other character in the game until you beat them all. Vs is your two player mode.

Where the game really lack is it character list, only 10 character (7 normal, 1 un lockable and 2 power for character already in the game.) because it only goes from the Land of Waves arc to the start of the Chunin Exam arc.

There not that much in terms of stage ether which means, you can beat this game very fast but each character has his/her own style of playing.

The controls are great but sometimes, they feel like a button masher. Each character has his/her own Special move which you have to build up chakra to even use.

Overall here, the game play is ok but without someone else to play with, your going to get bored of it very fast.

Music/Sound 5/10
The music sounds like the anime which is a good thing. All the stages have there music that sounds Japanese but then there not that many stages which means there not that much music in this game.

The huge problem is that they use the American voice cast to do the English version with no option to switch the voice acting to Japanese version.

Lasting value: 3/10
There not much to the game after you beat story mode and got all the characters. The game will make you want more and is not worth the value of 20 bucks in the end but if you are.

This game feel more like a demo then a real game in the end. If you think about getting this game, don't. If you can, import Naruto Clash of Ninja(Gekitou Ninja Taisen) 4 or wait for Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution on the wii or if you don't have a wii or can't import, get Naruto Clash of the ninja 2 which is updated version of this game.

In the end:
This game is not worth the money but can hold up it own if you get it for free or less than 20 bucks but the graphics are great from when the game was made in Japan and the music is from the Japanese version of the anime so that also a good thing.

Only for fans of Naruto and even then, there are better games in the Clash of Ninja series.
Overall: 5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/13/07