Naruto: Ultimate Ninja
Ninja fight all the time. That's real Ultimate power.
Published: June 30, 2006
Let's just start this the same way nearly every review will (cause we conform like that, man): licensed games suck. They look crappy, they play crappy, they're rushed, they're no fun they blah blah blah blah blah. You've heard this before. If you're any sort of anime fan, you've likely played most of this before, because when anime and licensed properties come together, it's like someone pooped in an envelope and then mailed it to you in a decorative, highly ornate container. There's potential, you can't wait to open it and see what it's inside, cause may be this time it--yep, crap again.
Except, amazingly, Ultimate Ninja isn't crap. Yeah, I know, that's a little shocking to read -- it's even weirder to write -- but even after suffering through more useless music videos on YouTube set to Naruto scenes, I'm still impressed with how well-respected the source material is here. Hell, maybe all the online abuse helped, but it doesn't really change the core of the game and the fact that Bandai's CyberConnect 2 studio (the guys behind the .hack series) has assembled a solid fighting game with a modicum of depth and enough stuff flying around the screen that even the most ADD-addled child will look on with rapt attention.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja is Super Smash Bros. with ninjas. That, um, go to school. And have various love interests and personal conflicts that are never really explored in the game, despite having a story mode. If ninja + SSB isn't really your cuppa tea, you're excused... to meet your end in a fiery explosion at some point down the road. When? You'll never know, buddy, because that's just how ninja work. Shouldn't have turned your back, I guess.
I already went over the basics of the game in our preview, but here's a basic recap. You get one attack button. One, and mixing it up with d-pad presses, you can create a couple dozen different combos per character. You have a "special attack" button where you can use items (flipped through with a shoulder button press to select), and these are plucked from sideline characters that happily offer them up to either you or your opponent (finders keepers) with the adoration of a groupie gettin' down with the band.
That's really it. No, wait, that's not entirely it. You'll scream around a handful of different levels, all peppered with a few random interactive objects that break and then disappear as your keeyaw your way through a level. In most levels, you also have two or three tiers to things; a foreground and background plane (accessed by tapping up or down and jump at the same time), and a tunnel or ledge or something above or below one of those planes. At random points throughout the battle, if you're fast enough, you can respond to an on-screen prompt and move things to a completely different arena, which can actually turn the tide a little.
And that's really it. You zip around (all the characters can initiate a quick hover/dash move towards an enemy or up in the air at an angle), change planes, beat up on folks that blithely offer items, and... oh, yeah, there's throws and super attacks. See, you can chuck guys if you hold away from them on the d-pad and are close enough to grapple, but then you can also teleport over and kick 'em again after you've thrown them. This move, however, can be countered, leading to extra pain and a bit o' strategy. As you throw or punch or kick the other guy, you'll build Chakra Points (you can also get them from those bystanders), but you'll also drain your opponent's points.
This in turn fuels your Chakra Meter, which has three levels. At any time, you can choose to expend one or more levels (up to your max, of course) by pressing the Triangle button up to three times and then connecting an attack while your character is tinted a funky shade of rage. A simple block will stop this, and you're on a very short clock to make a successful strike, so it actually ends up being pretty fun. At first, the lengthy cutscenes that play as you attack are fun too, but you'll see them often. Very often, and the simple mechanic of pressing a snaking string of buttons to increase your attack if you're the attacker or halving it if you're the recipient all starts to get a little tiresome.
Except, amazingly, Ultimate Ninja isn't crap. Yeah, I know, that's a little shocking to read -- it's even weirder to write -- but even after suffering through more useless music videos on YouTube set to Naruto scenes, I'm still impressed with how well-respected the source material is here. Hell, maybe all the online abuse helped, but it doesn't really change the core of the game and the fact that Bandai's CyberConnect 2 studio (the guys behind the .hack series) has assembled a solid fighting game with a modicum of depth and enough stuff flying around the screen that even the most ADD-addled child will look on with rapt attention.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja is Super Smash Bros. with ninjas. That, um, go to school. And have various love interests and personal conflicts that are never really explored in the game, despite having a story mode. If ninja + SSB isn't really your cuppa tea, you're excused... to meet your end in a fiery explosion at some point down the road. When? You'll never know, buddy, because that's just how ninja work. Shouldn't have turned your back, I guess.
I already went over the basics of the game in our preview, but here's a basic recap. You get one attack button. One, and mixing it up with d-pad presses, you can create a couple dozen different combos per character. You have a "special attack" button where you can use items (flipped through with a shoulder button press to select), and these are plucked from sideline characters that happily offer them up to either you or your opponent (finders keepers) with the adoration of a groupie gettin' down with the band.
That's really it. No, wait, that's not entirely it. You'll scream around a handful of different levels, all peppered with a few random interactive objects that break and then disappear as your keeyaw your way through a level. In most levels, you also have two or three tiers to things; a foreground and background plane (accessed by tapping up or down and jump at the same time), and a tunnel or ledge or something above or below one of those planes. At random points throughout the battle, if you're fast enough, you can respond to an on-screen prompt and move things to a completely different arena, which can actually turn the tide a little.
And that's really it. You zip around (all the characters can initiate a quick hover/dash move towards an enemy or up in the air at an angle), change planes, beat up on folks that blithely offer items, and... oh, yeah, there's throws and super attacks. See, you can chuck guys if you hold away from them on the d-pad and are close enough to grapple, but then you can also teleport over and kick 'em again after you've thrown them. This move, however, can be countered, leading to extra pain and a bit o' strategy. As you throw or punch or kick the other guy, you'll build Chakra Points (you can also get them from those bystanders), but you'll also drain your opponent's points.
This in turn fuels your Chakra Meter, which has three levels. At any time, you can choose to expend one or more levels (up to your max, of course) by pressing the Triangle button up to three times and then connecting an attack while your character is tinted a funky shade of rage. A simple block will stop this, and you're on a very short clock to make a successful strike, so it actually ends up being pretty fun. At first, the lengthy cutscenes that play as you attack are fun too, but you'll see them often. Very often, and the simple mechanic of pressing a snaking string of buttons to increase your attack if you're the attacker or halving it if you're the recipient all starts to get a little tiresome.