Naruto: Ninja Council 2

"Once again, Naruto manages to push out a pile of steaming fanservice. And it smells BAD."

Naruto Ninja Council 2 is a game on the GBA. That's true. It also has Naruto. Also true. But if I were to say it was a good game, though, I'd be lying. This game is, put simply, not very good. It has everything you'd expect from a manga/movie based game, and absolutely nothing you wouldn't. It simply doesn't bring anything new or exciting to the table. Let's break it down.

Everything will be rated from 1-10/10, with 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest.

Graphics - 8/10
For a GBA game, it's really not that bad in terms of graphics. The sprites are easy to see and tell apart, the animation is fluid, and there doesn't seem to be any failures in terms of the characters sprites being badly made or badly animated. The art style really isn't that bad in terms of the characters and foreground. However, the backgrounds are kinda dull in places, specifically the generic cave levels. Also, some things just don't make sense. For example, why are there floating cards or windows are whatever that blow up when I walk over them? That doesn't make any sense! Some things just aren't that clear.

Storyline/Cutscenes - 4/10
I spent most of my time in this game trying to figure out what was going on in the story. Without any background in the manga or Americanized version of the anime, you'll have NO IDEA what is going on in the game. At all. Three or four of the characters are named in-game, and everyone else, especially the bosses, get no names at all. Also, cutscenes/dialogue is difficult to follow and doesn't give the characters any personality. I, having some past experience in reading the manga, should have been able to at least catch the drift of what was going on in this game.

Gameplay - 5/10
Gameplay is a'ight. Not bad, not good. The controls surprised me by being fluid and tight, along with actually responding when I wanted them to. However, the rest wasn't so great. The combos are laughably easy. Up Up B, Down Down B, and Up Down B? Could you imagine doing a Hadouken by ducking twice then punching the air? I mean, I know most of the narutofans in the world now are between 7 and 12, but this is just ridiculous. Also, the combos don't execute right when you do the combo sometimes. On occasion you'll do your punch first, letting an enemy hit you and force you to start all over with your Up Up B. Sometimes it won't work at all. And when you're surrounded, seconds from dying, this is completely inexcusable. Also, a little bit of guard-walking wouldn't hurt. I'd like to move into a position where I can actually fight whilst guarding against an unstoppable wind attack of death from an impossible boss.

Difficulty - 2/10
The 2/10 doesn't mean out of ten, it is a two on the difficulty scale. It means that this game is so bizarre that you'll never be able to know when to really try hard. General stages are easy, for the most part. Really easy. I mean, they're so easy I don't even know what to say about them. Run for a while, then mash b and directions until enemies go away, occasionally tap L to switch characters (this is a non-issue though, when you die you switch out pokeymans style), lather, rinse, repeat. However, the bosses? Oh man, you got it coming. If you meet a character with a cutscene before it, prepare to see the words "Game Over" over and over and over. Bosses are ridiculously hard to fight, and crazy cheap, too. They block constantly and never sit still, making it impossible to effectively fight them. Also, sometimes regular enemies will surround you and just pummel the sweet ever loving glory out of you until you have to restart the stage.

Sound - 1/10
I've played games of Kick the Can with better BGM and sound effects than this. Here, lemme paint it out: Imagine you're running along a linear, 2-dimensional path, whilst a four-year-old stomps on a thirty-dollar electronic keyboard and a DJ with tourettes makes punching sounds and grunts. Yeah, it's really that bad.

Replay Value - 1/10
You won't want to play this game once, much less twice again.

Listed Pros and Cons

Pros
+Decent Gameplay
+Tight controls for an action game on the GBA.
+Good character sprites
+Definitely a Naruto Game, and it's actually in English for all you 7-12-year-old kids out there.

Cons
-Strange difficulty jumping
-Weird learning curve
-Unfair boss enemies
-Abysmal sound
-Incomprehensible storyline
-Dull backgrounds
-Seriously, REALLY BAD sound.
-Boring
-Just not really a fun game to play

In conclusion, Naruto Ninja Council 2 is what it is. It's a big heaping pile of fanservice dogcrap shoveled unceremoniously into a GBA cartridge (or rom, depending on what you play it on). If you're a huge fan of the series, you'll play it for sure, and you'll see what a heaping pile it is, but still sing its praises. It's really REALLY a BAD GAME. DON'T BUY THIS. DON'T EVEN PLAY THIS. It's not worth it for the animations of the sprites alone. It doesn't add to the storyline of the anime/manga AT ALL, it doesn't give you a fair chance at times, it doesn't do your ears a favor, it's boring, and all-around, it's really not a good game. All you naruto fans out there considering this game, DON'T. Don't get it. You don't have to stand for crappy games with your favorite characters strapped on like a crappy Ronald Regan mask. Just hold out, if you don't buy it one of these things will happen: (1) They'll stop making these crappy games or (2) They'll start making games that contribute to the gaming populous. Avoid this game.

Scores
Graphics - 8/10
Gameplay - 5/10
Difficulty - 2/10
Sound - 1/10
Replay Value - 1/10
Total Score - 17/50
Avg Score - 3.4/10

My Score - 2/10

DON'T PLAY THIS GAME.

This has been Warpstarkirby, signing off.

Seriously though, don't play this drivel.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 07/01/08

Game Release: Naruto: Ninja Council 2 (US, 10/04/06)