Naruto: Ninja Council

"This isn't a failure, but it's only for Naruto fans"

This game is based off a widely known anime in Japan, and has finally reached American shores. Just as a warning, those who are not familiar with the anime will not enjoy this game. This game is not too terrible, as it includes character voices directly from the TV show and somewhat of a storyline. However, there is nothing in Naruto: Ninja Council that offers anything to keep you interested for long.

Graphics:

Actually, the graphics are acceptable for a Game Boy Advance game. Each characters special moves include a quick cutscene showing your characters face. Depending on how much chakra you charge, the characters image could change! The special moves are all unique, so that shows the developers put a some effort in this game. The character sprites are totally clear, but at least you can tell what kind of enemy you are fighting. Luckily, the graphics in this game do not hinder it's playability.

Controls:

Basically, you can get through the game with only minor difficulties with certain bosses by button-mashing. Press A to jump and B to attack. By holding B, you can charge up chakra to use special attacks. Tapping the R button will make your character throw a projectile. On a side note, you have infinite projectiles, but usually it's better to rely on using special attacks or "jutsus", so projectiles are only used occasionally. D3 did the best they could with the few buttons on the Game Boy and while it is repetitive, fans will overlook it. On the bright side, this game is easily learned.

Gameplay:

As advertised on the box, this game is side scrolling. You walk around each level picking up 7 or 8 leaves, then fight a boss battle. Each level is divided into 2 stages which you complete consecutively. In a stage, you will pick up scrolls that allow you to pass through the level. There are hazards, including enemies, monsters, and environmental hazards that you defeat or avoid. There are hidden characters that will heal you or give you an extra life if you find them. Overall, this is very straight forward.

The boss battles are interesting, since the characters retain the fighting styles that you see in the anime, so fans will be familiar with the jutsus. Sometimes, I replay missions to battle against certain characters.

Once you complete the game, you can unlock another set of missions, These missions are much harder, since you lose more life each time you are hit. This is challenging and will sometimes frustrate you to no end.

You can play as Naruto and Sasuke in the beginning, but once you beat the game once with each of them, you unlock the third character. This character is the strongest of the three and is totally cheap. After playing with this character, you will never want to play as Naruto or Sasuke again.

Story:

A little story is better than nothing I suppose. Basically, the story is that there is a test in Konoha. This game goes on a complete tangent and is not related to the anime at all. It is of little consequence however, since I didn't really pay attention to it. The story mode is nothing more than an image of a characters face and some text.

Sound:

All the music in the game is dull, but at least every stage has a different tune. You can unlock a sound test and listen to all the character voices. The punches, kicks, and jutsu sounds are all there. However, only your character actually has a voice. Everyone else in this game speaks with text. Sound has not been a strong quality in any Naruto game and most anime fans are more concerned with the characters anyway.

Playtime:

This game may take you 10 minutes to get used to and probably 3 hours to beat. Most anime games do not have a long lifetime anyway. D3 tries to keep people playing by including many unlockables as incentives to keep playing, like unlocking a sound test and gallery mode.

Replayability:

In the game, you try to collect 100 leaves. You don't need to get 100 with each character because it's cumulative. After getting all 100, you will never want to bother will collecting them again. Ninja Council offers you three save files, but one is enough. After unlocking everything, the story mode does not appeal anymore and the only thing left is playing in the Free Mode. As a result, there is very little replayability value.

Final Recommendation:

You are probably a Naruto fan since you are reading this review. I'm not sure whether they even rent Game Boy Advance games anyway. I suggest that you buy this game used, as buying it new will just be wasting money. However, it is perfectly fine to skip this installment and wait for Ninja Council 2, because you won't miss much by not playing this game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/08/06