Naruto: Ultimate Ninja

"Why start with the worst narutimate game?"

Ok ok. Narutimate hero has reached North America! WOO! or not! There is already up to "ultimate ninja 3" and they decide to bring over the first one?! The second game totally kicks this one's sorry butt across the room at the very least. It's not a bad start, but with so very little characters, its hard to give any pity points to this game. Even when the original game came out in Japan, I still thought, "....This is the Naruto game?!" Yes this is a rant if you may.

Anyways, lets take a look at the games points.

Music/Sound 6/10

The music in this game is perfectly suited for it. Although there is nothing from the actual cartoon series, the BGM is passable. Traditional ninja style music or what not. Not like some silly hard rock to spice up the thing. It is commendable.
The sound effects are not too shabby and the voice overs....well, never really liked the english voice cast for this anyways, but hey, who else would be brave enough to be slandered by all the japanese fans to do the voice acting?

Graphics 6\10

Well, can't say much here. I suppose going for the manga-style art is an interesting idea. Heck, I like it more than some 3-D junk. The only real complaint I have here is the facial expressions. It's pretty generic from all the art style. It's like playing any DBZ budokai game. Or looking at one anyways.

Gameplay 7/10

Playing this game can actually be pretty fun. With only 1 melee attack button, it simplifies a lot of things. Easy controls, interesting modes of play, fighting engine....again, feels like DBZ. Also, depending on how "good" one is at the game, it can be a moderately slow paced game, or a really quick, all over the place game.All in all, the gameplay isn't bad at all.

Misc factors 3/10

What is this reviewing you say? I am biasly (if thats a word and spelled correctly)laying the smacking down the presentation of Ultimate Ninja. This is where the game lost all of my respect. First of all, the one major beef I have is the lack of characters in the game. Has anyone ever seen the anime!? There are soooo many characters and yet, not all of them are playable. Oh they're there, but not as playable fighters. Also, in the game, Sasuke has Chidori. Rasengan anywhere? And some of the coolest people arent playable like Jiraya or Uchiha Itachi.

Conclusion: If you really like Naruto,then buy this-no rent it. This is just an opinion of mine. Dont have to listen to me. Just take my word for it and wait for the second Ultimate Ninja game to follow(if it makes it here)...

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/06