E3 '07: Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution Hands-On

By Ryan Davis, GameSpotPosted Jul 13, 2007 9:28 am PT

D3 is bringing its Clash of Ninja series to the Wii, and we take our first hands-on look at Revolution.

With two games in the Naruto: Clash of Ninja series for the GameCube already under its belt, D3 has experience in the over-the-top, ninja-filled world of Naruto, something it hopes to bring to bear in its upcoming release for the Wii, Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution. We got a chance to go hands-on with the game in a few two-player battles, which showed off some of the ways this fast-paced fighter will make use of the Wii's controls.

An interesting point about Clash of Ninja Revolution is that the Japanese game it's based on uses the characters from Naruto Shippuuden, which takes place many years after the original Naruto series, and features a more mature, teenaged Naruto. As much as it might please import-happy Naruto fans to see a Shippuuden game appear stateside, it's a timeline too far removed from what most American Naruto fans are familiar with, so D3 has opted to replace the older characters with their younger counterparts.

Click to enlarge!

While the final version of Clash of Ninja Revolution promises 16 playable characters from the original Naruto series, the demo we were shown was limited to just four, including Naruto himself, and series regulars Sasuke, Sakura, and Gaara. The action for the demo took place in a familiar rooftop arena in the Leaf Village, overlooked by the mountain featuring the chiseled likenesses of the village's four hokage, and though the series has leapt from the GameCube to the Wii, it didn't take long for us to get the hang of the controls. With the action viewed from the side, character movement was handled by the Nunchuk's analog stick. Basic attacks were performed by simply shaking the Wii Remote, while pressing the A button would dish out more powerful hits.

The most significant twist that we saw to the otherwise fairly straightforward head-to-head action was the way special jutsu attacks were performed. If you can successfully initiate one of these attacks, which can depend on several variables, the action will cut away to a series of cinematic camera angles, during which you'll be prompted to perform specific gestures with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. If you're able to act out these gestures in time, your special attack will hit with even greater power. The gestures that we saw tended to be simple, and though they flashed by fairly quickly, the actual timing seemed pretty forgiving.

From a visual perspective, what we saw in Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution looked slightly superior to the previous GameCube installments in the series, and the use of the Wii controls definitely helped spice up the action. Naruto fans can look forward to more coverage of this game as its release approaches.

38 Comments

  • naruto_shippude

    Posted May 4, 2009 10:40 am PT

    I am a HUGE Naruto fan and I have gotta say, after reading these comments I was actually looking forward to this game but I am not now however, I am gonna buy this game because I just love a good Naruto game not just because of the story but also because of the fighting, anyone know what characters are actually in the game??

  • lopeda3000

    Posted Oct 19, 2007 7:27 am PT

    thas it have all the naruto 4 (JP) version?

  • bbbwclmt

    Posted Sep 18, 2007 11:01 am PT

    akuya, you can use a gamecube control and chusma there are 20 in th US version a) kokoru shut da hell up *ignores kokoru* b)all japanese fighting games are cell-shaded even bleach live with it retards

    p.s. naruto4801 let me put this softly to u WOT HAVE U BEEN DRINKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????????? and also WHAT HAS THE GUY THAT WROTE THAT ARTICLE BEEN DRINKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????

  • wrestlemaniaw

    Posted Sep 15, 2007 6:57 am PT

    it's good I think...

  • wiirdawgs

    Posted Sep 9, 2007 2:09 pm PT

    this game looks pretty good

  • ss4fusion20

    Posted Sep 9, 2007 12:58 pm PT

    This game is one of the reasons i got a Wii. Aslong as its better the clash of ninja 2..i will like it!..Naruto never let me down before

  • Chusma13

    Posted Sep 2, 2007 1:44 pm PT

    I hope they add more characters NGNT3 had 30 Revolution should at least have over 30

  • akuya32

    Posted Aug 27, 2007 7:09 pm PT

    Naruto 4 foe the gamecube looks a little better, but as a fan I will get it as well.

  • Naruto4801

    Posted Aug 26, 2007 3:06 pm PT

    You guys are wrong if you look at wikipedia there are 22 characters and there might be more. if you don't believe me see here at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto:_Clash_of_Ninja_%28series%29

  • StrikerGold

    Posted Aug 16, 2007 2:51 pm PT

    @NarutoUzumaki15: But tell us how you really feel about the game! Don't hold back this time.

  • Ns_Speed

    Posted Aug 15, 2007 10:25 pm PT

    Looks good, I hope for a good game. Around 8+ I hope...

  • king_bobo

    Posted Aug 15, 2007 3:45 pm PT

    Looks like it will be okay, but may not be able to compete with other upcoming or already released top-end Wii games...

  • Blackmage456

    Posted Aug 13, 2007 2:49 pm PT

    Looks pretty good but it'll probably suck. Brawl will be much much much better than this game.

  • NarutoUzumaki15

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:48 pm PT

    hello its me NarutoUzumaki4life also know as NarutoUzumaki15 here this is crap simple as that its pure trash let clear this up for the denser people who like to create crap games this game is : crap, shet, garbage, complete waste of time, cheap, pathetic, poor, ugly ,messed up , completely un proffesional waste. a discrace to Naruto. thank you all who have the time to read my comments on the complete shet that was dump upon us by the retards who messed up Naruto clash of ninja revolution.

  • Fang_lord

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 11:37 am PT

    hmm, looks interesting...it has a Unique cell shading to it...definatly not the same as DBZ BT2, but looks just as nice imo.

    Iv never watched Naruto, as it isnt really that big in the UK...although i do love Anime and stuff. The controls seems interesting, i might buy this, but DBZTB3 looks alot more interesting in controls, and gameplay. Also...those cool cutscene type special attacks look so sweet...short...but sweet...

  • MangoLlamas

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:47 am PT

    ...

  • Lord_Hiro_Storm

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:41 am PT

    I agree with ookami-gamer, I don't usually like games made from movies/tv series and books but this one looks alright. It appears, from the gameplay movie, to have a fairly smooth combat system.

  • 360_darkness

    Posted Aug 3, 2007 4:20 am PT

    NO WAY I´M GETTING THIS! ONLY 16 CHARACTORS

  • Smgirl825

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 4:42 pm PT

    Its a dawn shame that the series in the us is so behind of what it is in JP.I was dying to see the older characters in the game.Oh well, I'll just import it then

  • kokoru

    Posted Aug 1, 2007 8:11 am PT

    sorry but this game looks poor, the graphics are so bad... i mean cel shaded graphics run better than other types of graphics, this looks like a ps2 game, actually even worse, since it looks worse than tenkaichi budokai 2 on ps2. many of you may not believe this but the wii is 2-3 times more powerful than the gamecube overall, so we should not expect to see gamecube graphics that have been chewed up and regurgetated... the only game im happy with in terms of graphics is super mario galaxy, looks like nintendo are finally doing something with the wii's power, but it could be much better i think. Nintendo could have easily made the wii the best console, they could have made it more expensive, more expensive than xbox 360 but less than ps3, and they should have put some real horsepower in that machine, made the wii bigger and bulkier like the xbxo and ps3. this way the wii would be the ultimate games console! with awesome graphics, physics, and amazing controls... omg it would be awesome... i hate it now that nintendo is trying to appeal to casual gamers who like to occasionally play on a rubbish game like wii play or something... although nintendo make more money this way, they could have easily made an amazing games console...

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution Quick Links

Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum | Check Prices

Check Prices: $13.13 – 19.99

RadioShack.com $19.99 SHOP ›
eBay $19.85 SHOP ›
Deep Discount.com $13.13 SHOP ›
advertisement

Related Unions

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution Boxshot Enlarge the boxshot
Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution

Game Stats

Full Game Details »Close

Games you may like…

Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.

See More Similar Games
advertisement