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Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes Hands-On

Related Platforms:
  • PSP
By Justin Calvert, GameSpot, Posted Jun 16, 2007 1:08 am GMT

We do battle with a near-finished version of this promising anime-inspired fighter for the PSP.

Earlier this week, while attending a Namco Bandai press event in San Francisco, we had our first opportunity to spend some time with Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes. Currently scheduled for release on the PSP in "late summer," the game is a team-based fighter that features no fewer than 20 popular Naruto characters--most of which we got to see in action. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes will boast a handful of different gameplay modes, including ad hoc multiplayer battles that can be contested with only one copy of the game. But for the duration of our session with it, we were playing the single-player heroes mode.

All of the characters look great and animate well.

All of the characters look great and animate well.

Only about 10 of the 20 playable characters in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes will be available the first time you play, but you'll be able to unlock the remaining fighters for your roster in the heroes mode. You can choose to play as a preformed team or create your own team using up to three characters and then unlock the other fighters by defeating them. Initially, you'll likely be tempted to simply opt for your three favorite characters, but you'll find that the prefight special abilities to which you have access will be determined by you choices. Those choices will certainly be a consideration as you learn what the character combinations afford you. After arranging our three characters in the order that we wanted them to fight (there's no tagging in or out of combat), we took it in turns with our opponent to bring our special abilities into play, depleting his first fighter's health by a third and affecting his entire team's speed rating in the process.

When a fight gets underway, it's hard not to be impressed by the visuals in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes. The varied, interactive locales you'll battle in use muted colors that really help the brightly colored and black-outlined characters to stand out. We had no problems getting to grips with the uncomplicated controls during our first fight. We're also pleased to report that even the over-the-top special moves that the Naruto series is known for--and which often trigger spectacular, game-stopping animations--aren't difficult to perform (you simply press triangle and circle simultaneously) once you've charged up your chakra gauge. Every character has jump, melee attack, projectile attack, and block buttons; more advanced moves are performed simply by pressing these in conjunction with various directions and double-taps on the D pad. Interestingly, each of the locales in the game has a foreground and a background for you to fight in (as well as underground areas, rooftops, and the like in some cases); moving between these areas is achieved simply by double-tapping up or down on the D pad and hitting the jump button. While all of the eight locales in the game play differently, we've no intention of trying to talk in detail about their individual features. But for those who are interested, here's a list of the locale names:

Chunin Exam Stadium
Hidden Leaf Forest
Hidden Leaf Hot Spring
Hokage Great Stone Faces
Ichiraku Ramen Shop
Kikyo Castle keep
Survival Exercise Ground
44th Battle Training Zone: The Fortress of Death

The differences between the locales aren't just aesthetic.

The differences between the locales aren't just aesthetic.

At the end of each battle, you'll be awarded experience points based on the result and on any special conditions that you might have met, such as finishing a fight with a full chakra bar. These points can be spent on upgrading your favorite fighter's attributes, and our understanding is that you'll have the option to use your enhanced characters in subsequent ad hoc battles with friends. Which characters are featured in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes? We don't have the complete roster just yet, but here's a list of those that we saw in action:

Choji Akimichi
Hinata Hyuga
Ino Yamanaka
Itachi Uchiha
Kakashi Hatake
Kiba Inuzuka
Kisame Hoshigaki
Might Guy
Naruto Uzumaki
Orochimaru
Sakura Haruno
Shino Aburame

We came away from our time with Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes feeling impressed with what we'd seen and played, which frankly isn't always the case where Naruto-inspired games are concerned. We look forward to bringing you more information as soon as it becomes available.

35 Comments

  • singerr

    Posted Jul 13, 2008 2:00 am GMT

    i love this game... i love all naruto games xD

  • LastGamer23

    Posted Aug 22, 2007 4:09 am GMT

    I watch alot of naruto and i feel this new game for psp is going to be a hit to all the other naruto lovers

  • PrinceUchiha

    Posted Aug 13, 2007 4:13 am GMT

    I hope this game isn't disappointing, if this game does well on the PSP we might actually get a series on this system for Naruto.

  • s0njas0n

    Posted Jul 9, 2007 8:18 pm GMT

    yay, more games for the PSP!

  • DouglasBuffone

    Posted Jul 9, 2007 12:19 pm GMT

    I am pretty excited for this game, I imported some of the other Naruto games and they are quite fun

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jul 8, 2007 5:45 pm GMT

    Wow, the visuals looks pretty good for a PSP game.

  • hopper3000

    Posted Jul 3, 2007 6:31 am GMT

    this game came out in japan years ago a lot of hackers have already played it thats why you see walkthroughs.

  • timgendek

    Posted Jul 2, 2007 10:36 pm GMT

    i just noticed they've spelled Might Guy completely wrong, its MAITO GAI

  • timgendek

    Posted Jul 2, 2007 3:53 pm GMT

    First of all why don't you actually wait to PLAY a game before you comment on whether or not it will be good instead of saying straight out its going to suck. Sure you have a right to your own opinion but that was plain rude man, id like to see you make a better game! Another thing, WTF is with reading walkthroughs for games you don't even own, seriously have you even heard of LIFE or are you confined to your bed with your cheesey puffs in a bowl connected to a timer so that one rolls down into your mouth every minute? As for english being better better than japanese, again it is your opinion , but I personally think considering its a JAPANESE titled game that it should stay true to its language, I dunno about you but I'm pretty sure anime and ninja's are JAPANESE!

    On another note I personally think you're a lame loser who spends his time wanking over recorded chess matches!

    END RANT

  • Aforan2

    Posted Jul 1, 2007 2:47 pm GMT

    I personally think (according to a walkthrough i read because i like to read walkthroughs for games I don't even own.) that this game is going to SUCK! So i'm getting Narutimate hero 2 (Actually ultimate ninja 2 cuz I don't play japanese games and the english voices are better) Instead. Ya hear that?!!?

  • MKOwnzU

    Posted Jun 28, 2007 11:52 pm GMT

    Evilmaster101 is right, the japanese voices are WAY better than the english ones.

  • HyruleSage89

    Posted Jun 28, 2007 10:07 pm GMT

    I'm so getting this game when it comes out :]

  • Tohru_Readman

    Posted Jun 28, 2007 3:23 am GMT

    I just hope it comes it in the UK, because playasia doesn't ship psp games to the UK anymore. After reading the preview I'm really looking forward to it and I hope you can put it in Japanese with English subtitles, because the English dubbing is terrible.

    P.S If anyone knows of a good websites thats ships psp games to the UK, basics movietyme please let me know.

  • Evilmaster101

    Posted Jun 25, 2007 10:27 am GMT

    I just imported this game from Japan (Naruto: Narutimett Portable). I can't stand the English voices, they make me want to rip my ears out.

  • jamin218

    Posted Jun 20, 2007 10:22 pm GMT

    I don't think the American version of the anime showed the Curse Seal 2 Form of Sasuke yet. So it might not be in the game. But there is a chance that it is.

  • zeke2040

    Posted Jun 19, 2007 10:51 am GMT

    i can't wait

  • kakashi_Itachi7

    Posted Jun 18, 2007 8:11 pm GMT

    Cool

  • Shadow_3244

    Posted Jun 18, 2007 3:49 pm GMT

    AWESOME! Nice vid rolento, gaara had a cool special but it is in japanese, let's hope that they dom't omit the cool things AGAIN! (Ultimate ninja 1)

  • HXCDEW

    Posted Jun 18, 2007 2:29 pm GMT

    Graphics look pretty good.

  • rolento88

    Posted Jun 18, 2007 12:21 pm GMT

    ibeballing30, yeah he does! sasuke even shows his cursed seal and rock lee opens the gates! check out this vid i found... it shows the gameplay and it looks incredible!

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=-Waj6-h1UXY&mode=related&search=

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