Review: Naruto Clash of Ninja
Oh no another licensed game based on an anime, I swear 9 out of 10 of the games that are released like that stink. Wait, a company that makes decent fighting games made this one? Well let's hope this game bucks the trend, because Naruto is one of my favortite Anime.
Story:
Naruto is a young man that has just become a ninja and he out to prove his worth to his village of ninjas, despite the fact that he is the class clown and is considered and outsider by the rest of the villagers. The story stays faithful to the anime source material which for fans is a very good thing.
Graphics:
The graphics are good and capture the look and feel of the anime extremely well. But what anime based game doesn't now a days regardless of quality? Still the graphics are good and while not anything to run out and tell you mom about are good enough to make you think you are in the locals featured in the series, fighting with the characters in the series.
Music:
The music is average. They didn't use any of the music from the series, but they did use music that sounded like they could have used it in the series. That being said the music for the ending credits sounds like the Japanese ending of the TV series, with out the lyrics. I guess they felt the broken English might scare people away. What is really impressive is that me and my friends played this game for 3 hours straight, and only had one or to lines repeated the entire time we were playing Naruto Clash of Ninja, the voice acting not only stays true to the dubbed version of the series, but offers a lot of variety, so your interest manages to be kept the entire time.
Control:
Control wise the game is simple to control and play, yet manages to have a complex countering system that is intuitive, and easier to pull off than the counter system in Dead or Alive, but can not be abused like it was in DOA3. Fighting can get frantic and intense as you attack, counter, and dodge. And things can get really heated when you are beating on your friends. I would call this a button masher but the counter system breaks that tactic up nicely, and still leaves the chance of someone new picking up and playing the game. Also you can focus to put more power into attacks, usually in ninja star throwing, but it plays a big part especially power attacks like Kakashi's Chidori allowing you to take out a big chunk of life if you get the chance to hit your opponent with it.
Design:
Eighting is the company behind the Bloody Roar series, and I think that Naruto is a far superior game than that, the levels are themed well, and look like their anime counter parts, and each characters personality come through well. And the harder modes you unlock as you go will show you just how good you aren't. But all is not well in Naruto Clash of Ninja. There are only 3 more characters to unlock beyond the starting 7 characters, (there is a rumor of a 4th but I have yet to find them) only giving you 10 characters in total and 1 of them is a super powered version of the same character. Another is also a super powered version of the original, but that one plays differently at least. What is worse is that all of the unlockable options and characters can be gotten in 3 or 4 hours of game play, making the replay value almost nil, unless you are playing buddies.
Naruto fans this is your game. Fighting game fans should like it for a quick fix and should rent it Casual gamers should enjoy this game fir a bit. This is a game that deserves to be tried. I justified the purchase due to the fact that the other games in the series will come to America if this sells ok, and I understand that those ones blow this one away in not only game play but features. I felt it was worth the $40 price tag, others may not, Rent this first.
Graphics
8/10
Game play
7/10
Sound
7/10
Fun factor
8/10
Tilt
7/10
Average score
7.4
Naruto Clash of the Ninja:
Pros:
Good graphics
Great game play
Great voice over work
Frantic multiplayer
Cons:
Only 10 fighters!?!
Not much replay ability after unlocking everything
Unlocking everything takes 5 hours. tops