Naruto: Ninja Council

"A nice action game based on a great anime"

Naruto is one of those great anime's that hasn't reached American shores, and probably will not for a while. This show has become very popular in Japan, with good reason. These days, it seems almost inevitable that when a show becomes very popular, a video game based on it will follow. Sometimes popular anime just doesn't translate into a good game, no matter how hard you try (look at Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon). Then there are others which seem tailor made for video games. Naruto, thankfully, is in the latter category.

Music: 8.5/10
There is little, if any, music from the show itself within this game. The music that is in the game, however, is good enough that this doesn't pose as a problem for obsessed, ''everything has to be just so'' fans like me. The music fits the levels and bosses just fine. Some of the songs were recycled for other levels. With so few levels, I think they could have been a little more creative with the selection.

Sounds: 10/10
Most every sound in this game was taken from the anime. When a character from the show comes along(not counting the many nameless ninja's), a clip of their voice is used. The sounds when you throw your various weapons and use your moves(even Naruto's Harem technique) are straight from the show as well.

Graphics: 9.5/10
The Gameboy Advance has shown to have excellent graphics for a system so small. Naruto doesn't change the trend. The colors and shading of the levels and characters are smooth and colorful. One thing that stuck out at me was how disproportional Kakashi looked. He is one of the tallest characters in the series, but here they shrank him down to the size of Naruto and Sasuke. It just didn't look right. But I suppose that's just my nitpicking again.

Story
From what I could tell, this game goes up to the first part of the second story arc, where you fight Orochimaru. Since all you do is fight through the levels to get to the bosses, and half the fights don't actually happen in the series, there isn't very much of an actual story.

Gamplay: 7/10
This game can be quite fun the first time. There is a nice array of enemies and bosses. Beating people with your various jutsu's can be quite fun for a while. The search for the leaf symbols can be fun for a while. After you play through the game once, however, it becomes very easy.

Replayability: 3/10
This is where the game really lost points for me. Gathering the leaf symbols would be more fun if you had to get all 100 with each character. Instead, once you collect them all, you don't have to again. At that point you can just skip through the levels very quickly, as there is no reason to take your time. The bosses on the second missions are harder, but you probably won't want to bother again with the other 2 characters after doing it once.

Rent/buy/download?
When this game eventually comes to this country, buy it then. For now, though, I don't suggest paying a bunch to have it imported. Download it if you like breaking anti-piracy laws.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/12/03, Updated 06/30/03