Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles
We take a first peek at Cavia's adventure take on the Naruto story. Hands-on impressions inside.
Published: October 13, 2006
It seems like every time we get a Naruto press release in our inbox, we have to make some kind of long-winded joke about how many freakin' YouTube videos there are for the show. Seriously, think of something completely obscure and chances are someone's cut their own Naruto video to it. Death Metal? J-Pop? R&B? All Naruto (okay, maybe not so much that first one).
So it really should be all that surprising that just a couple of months after the last Naruto game, the surprisingly competent fighter Ultimate Ninja (developed by .hack in-house team CyberConnect2), we're gifted with Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles. Unlike most games birthed from Bandai's long-running deal with Cartoon Network's imported anime series, though, this one isn't a fighting game. Oh there's fighting, to be sure (it's Naruto after all, there ninjas are involved), but this take on the orange-geared wanna-be ninja is a little more ambitious.
For starters, Bandai wooed Japanese development gun-for-hire Cavia to handle the transition, and while most of us in the office groaned (Colin high-fived himself because he's the only one who likes him some creepy incest themes in his repetitive hack and slashers), our hands-on time with the game proved that it's not nearly as bad as some of Cavia's earlier projects would lead you to believe. In fact, at least in the short term, it's rather fun.
Let's start with the basics; you're Naruto Uzumaki, a ninja in training with aspirations at becoming head ninja, the Hokage. When political issues present themselves and a lack of local troop support from the government makes it necessary for local villages to pull protection talent from their ninja schools, it finally gives young Naruto the opportunity to prove his worth and hone his skills. As such, a number of simple objectives are doled out from the academy in an effort to help fill the void in the village left by the soldiers out doing... something.
Naruto is up to the task, though. He's a ninja and for perhaps the first time in these licensed games' history, actually feels like one. He's got a slick five hit combo (Square Button) that pummels enemies, ejects them skyward and then greets them in mid-air with a punch that grinds them into the terra firma with aplomb, and it's all animated quite well. A more area-effect spinning attack (Triangle Button) helps keep enemies on all sides at bay, and the shoulders are used for lock-on (L1), charging up a summon of shadow clones (hold R1) or a charged up M. Bison-style barreling attack (hold R2).
These moves can be mixed up and augmented, too. While in the middle of a normal five-hit combo, pressing and holding R1 and resuming with Square Button taps unleashes a flurry of one-hit clones that continue to pummel. Once you've equipped any number of knives, shurikens, bombs and flashbangs, a simple press of the Circle Button unleshes them. When health is low, tapping Circle and Triangle together unlocked the Nine-Tails Moves (if you've done enough combo damage mind you), which turns Naruto into a lightning quick, running-on-all-fours, ultra-powerful, infinite-stamina ass kicking machine.
So it really should be all that surprising that just a couple of months after the last Naruto game, the surprisingly competent fighter Ultimate Ninja (developed by .hack in-house team CyberConnect2), we're gifted with Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles. Unlike most games birthed from Bandai's long-running deal with Cartoon Network's imported anime series, though, this one isn't a fighting game. Oh there's fighting, to be sure (it's Naruto after all, there ninjas are involved), but this take on the orange-geared wanna-be ninja is a little more ambitious.
For starters, Bandai wooed Japanese development gun-for-hire Cavia to handle the transition, and while most of us in the office groaned (Colin high-fived himself because he's the only one who likes him some creepy incest themes in his repetitive hack and slashers), our hands-on time with the game proved that it's not nearly as bad as some of Cavia's earlier projects would lead you to believe. In fact, at least in the short term, it's rather fun.
Let's start with the basics; you're Naruto Uzumaki, a ninja in training with aspirations at becoming head ninja, the Hokage. When political issues present themselves and a lack of local troop support from the government makes it necessary for local villages to pull protection talent from their ninja schools, it finally gives young Naruto the opportunity to prove his worth and hone his skills. As such, a number of simple objectives are doled out from the academy in an effort to help fill the void in the village left by the soldiers out doing... something.
Naruto is up to the task, though. He's a ninja and for perhaps the first time in these licensed games' history, actually feels like one. He's got a slick five hit combo (Square Button) that pummels enemies, ejects them skyward and then greets them in mid-air with a punch that grinds them into the terra firma with aplomb, and it's all animated quite well. A more area-effect spinning attack (Triangle Button) helps keep enemies on all sides at bay, and the shoulders are used for lock-on (L1), charging up a summon of shadow clones (hold R1) or a charged up M. Bison-style barreling attack (hold R2).
These moves can be mixed up and augmented, too. While in the middle of a normal five-hit combo, pressing and holding R1 and resuming with Square Button taps unleashes a flurry of one-hit clones that continue to pummel. Once you've equipped any number of knives, shurikens, bombs and flashbangs, a simple press of the Circle Button unleshes them. When health is low, tapping Circle and Triangle together unlocked the Nine-Tails Moves (if you've done enough combo damage mind you), which turns Naruto into a lightning quick, running-on-all-fours, ultra-powerful, infinite-stamina ass kicking machine.