Naruto RPG: Uketsugareshi Hi no Ishi

"Fun game, which fans of the series will enjoy"

Naruto RPG: Uketsugareshi Hi no Ishi (Will of the Inherited Fire, I believe it translates to) is an RPG game, and not a bad one at that. It's an enjoyable game with a good storyline, catchy music, a bit above graphics, and an easy to learn game play.

Graphics: 8/10
Not bad for the GBA, however improvements could be made. It can still give you the anime feel, and the jutsu's are done very nicely, but more actions and movements for the sprites outside of battle would make it better. The battles for this game are good. Most of the enemies look great, however some of them (usually the human enemies) look strange with awkward stances.

Music/Sound: 9/10
The music I thought was catchy and memorable. The battle theme really fits the ninja kind of battle. The boss theme I really liked. I actually waited a couple of minutes during the battle just so I could hear the song a couple of times before I attacked. The sounds fit perfectly too. Explosions and such were made well. The loss of the ten out of ten score was because of the short amount of songs. More variety always makes games better.

Story: 10/10
When I read the mangas and watched some episodes, I really enjoyed the story. The basic outline is about 3 kids, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, who are training to become great ninjas for their different purposes. Naruto was always hated as a child because of the fox demon sealed inside him. The demon had killed many people, destroying families and such. So Naruto wants to become the Hokage, one of the most respected names. Sasuke wants to kill a certain man because of something that person did (can't reveal anymore, as that's a spoiler). Sakura wants to prove she can take care of herself and such. The people they meet on their missions have very deep stories themselves.

Game play: 7/10
The game play is like most RPGs nowadays. First, you are sent out on missions chosen by the current Hokage and ninja instructors. Then you run around with your team in forests and things of the like, randomly encountering either wild animals, enemy ninjas, and maybe other enemy types. Missions can be hard for those can't understand Japanese. Anyway at the end of every mission there's the enemy whom which you need to defeat. Equipment and items are purchased at the village Konoha, where the team lives. The equipment will update with the progress in the game. They are usually costly unless your a training freak (like me...). Battles are done like most RPGs, with an ATB gauge. Character names will move up on the blue area. The faster the characters are, the faster they will move up. Once they reach the yellow area, everything stops, and options will appear: Attack, Defend (Parry? I don't know), Jutsu (Magic basically), Item, and Run. All choices with the exception of Jutsu, will be executed immediately, moving the character's name to the red area. Character Jutsu will be immediate also, unless you set it to be like regular Jutsu. However character jutsu will require button commands before it reaches it's maximum potential. If done improperly, the jutsu will work, just not as well as it could've been. Character Jutsu will also level up the more you use it. The gameplay was interesting at first, but it loses it's luster a bit more in the game.

All in all, Naruto RPG is a game just above standards. I recommend this to Naruto fans and people that can read Japanese. And for people that won't hate the system early on or later, and can understand what they're saying, I say try it. It might get you hooked on the series.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/30/04