Naruto: Clash of Ninja

"A Fun Game that Lacks Any Serious Depth"

I'm a pretty big fan of the Naruto anime series. I've seen the first fifty episodes of the series, right past the awesome fight with Rock Lee and Gaara. Despite this, I had never played a Naruto video game of any kind up to this point. My first venture into the Naruto world of video games came in the form of Naruto: Clash of Ninja for the Gamecube.

Naruto: Clash of Ninja is a one on one fighting game that takes place in a 3D gameplay environment, but the game is mainly a 2D fighter. It stars characters from the early episodes of the Naruto series, such as Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Zabuza, Rock Lee and a few others.

On the surface, it's a well made game, and the developers try to entice you with some pretty graphics and some flashy moves, but the effort seems futile before too long and none of this can save Naruto: Clash of Ninja from being a short, button mashing fest.

There are a few modes to play, but for the most part they all play the same way and just require that you beat the crap out of your opponents, one after the other. The story mode differs a bit, but the story mode only allows you to play as Naruto and requires you to sit through a painfully erected story that is laughable in comparison to the anime series.

The main problem with the game is that it's just not very deep. You can get through everything the single player modes have to offer and unlock all of the characters in two or three sittings, and after that, the two player mode is the only thing that will interest you.

Am I a big fan of Naruto? Yes. Was I disappointed with this game? Yes, for the most part, but it's a fun game while it lasts and I had no trouble sinking my teeth into it for the short amount of time that is required.

Graphics 8/10

Naruto: Clash of Ninja is a good looking game. The cell shading does a good job of mirroring the anime art style from the anime series. The graphics look clean, and there is a good amount of detail on each character model. Some of the more flashy moves like Rock Lee's “Primary Lotus” and Zabuza's “Hidden Mist Jutsu” are brought to life in a wonderful fashion and they are executed quickly enough that you will never really tire of seeing them.

The backgrounds look okay, but are not as pertinent as you would think they should be for a game like this. There are plenty of locations from the anime series that could have been re-created and used as backgrounds, but instead, you will be fighting in front of a Ramen shop, and on the bridge where Naruto and his friends fought Zabuza and Haku. There are other locations too, but they are fairly forgettable.

Character animations are good and everything looks fluid, with no slow down to speak of.

Graphically, Naruto: Clash of Ninja is pretty impressive, but I'd say it's a little above average for what the Gamecube is capable of.

Sounds and Music 6/10

The sounds and music in the game are really nothing special. You won't be hearing any of the tunes from the anime series, just some original tracks that keep the pace going. The tracks aren't bad, but I just felt that they could have been better, and I was disappointed that the main Naruto theme was no where to be found in the game.

The sound effects sound about right. Scraping shuriken sounds and all other attacks sound good. I really had no problem with the sound effects.

The character voices all sound pretty authentic, and I think the original voice actors did the voices. Some of the lines that the characters spew out are pretty dumb, but that's okay.

Controls 6/10

The controls are not that bad, in fact they are quite simple to learn. There are no complex fighting game moves like there are in Tekken and Virtua Fighter. Due to this, you really don't need an arcade stick to get the full feel of the game, the Gamecube control pad works fine. Since the controls are so simple, it will only take you a modicum of play time to become an expert with them and start pulling off your fancy Jutsus.

The “A” button will be your Ninjutsu attack button and the “B” button will be your Taijutsu button. Ninjutsu attacks are special attacks such as throwing Kunai, doing teleports, and doing strong slashes, if your character has a weapon. The Ninjutsu attacks are equivalent to special attacks in standard fighting games. These attacks can be varied by pressing a different direction on the analog stick with the “A” button.

The “B” button is for your Taijutsu attacks, and these are just like normals. Punches, kicks, and combos all resonate from the “B” button. You will be able to string combos together with different combinations of these two buttons.

You also have the ability to side steps with the “L” and “R” buttons, throw your opponent with the “Y” button, and use your special Jutsu with “X”, when your meter is full.

The controls are okay, but they are really simplified and most of the characters play very much alike. Even counters are all performed by each character doing the same “A” and “back” combination.

Gameplay 6/10

Naruto: Clash of Ninja is a rather fast paced fighting game. There really are no slow, tank-like characters, and the rounds will often last thirty seconds to a minute. Couple this with the simple and limited controls, and the game offers a relatively short experience.

As I said before, the characters all mainly play alike, so you will be able to master the game in one sitting, and you will be able to stomp the crap out of the computer on any difficulty level. The computer doesn't offer much of a challenge.

If you have someone else to play the game with, then give the gameplay another point, since you won't have to play against the computer.

The actual game flows pretty smoothly, and the combo system will become second nature before too long. There are indeed some cool looking combos which will launch your enemies into the air and allow you to pursue them for even more hits.

Since the characters all play alike, the game is balanced fairly well, and there are only one or two characters that stand out as been overly powerful.

One thing that really hurts the game is the lack of characters. You will have only seven characters to play as from the beginning and you will be able to unlock Rock Lee shortly after. There are two other character variations to unlock as well, but this is just a pathetic amount of characters for a fighting game, especially for a Naruto game, since the series has tons of interesting characters which they could have included. I would have liked to have seen Ino, Gaara, and Shikamaru incorporated into the game, just to name a few. With only a few characters to play as in the single player modes, the game will get old fast, and you will be wishing that the game was not so shallow.

So the game plays well, and you may enjoy the time that you spend with it, but any long term play is dependant on whether or not you can find someone that wants to play you in two player mode.

Longevity and Re-Playability 5/10

As I've mentioned before, the game does not have very much content. There are a few things to keep you busy, but they will dry up fast and leave you wanting more. After playing this, I'm looking forward to Clash of Ninja 2, which has a larger roster.

Conclusion

Naruto: Clash of Ninja is not a bad game, it's just over too fast, and paying anything over $20 for the game will make you feel ripped off. I feel I got my $20 out of the game, and I don't regret my purchase at all, but then again I'm a fan of Naruto, so my opinions may be slightly skewed.

Fans of the series will have fun with the game while it lasts, but I'd advise non-fans to think twice before buying this game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/08/08

Game Release: Naruto: Clash of Ninja (US, 03/07/06)