Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm (PS3)
alt="Naurto: Ulitmate Ninja Storm review for PS3"/>I'd hate to see the size of his lily pad.
There's never been a shortage of titles for fans of the blond-haired, orange jumpsuit-wearing ninja Naruto to choose from. The latest of these, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, is the first to bring Naruto to the PlayStation 3. But can developer CyberConnect2 duplicate its success once again, or will the nine-tailed fox finally get clipped?
In case you've been living in a bomb shelter for the past few years, you've probably already heard about the Naruto series. Years ago, the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire was attacked by a powerful demon in the shape of a nine-tailed fox. The demon was defeated and his essence sealed inside the body on a newborn baby, Naruto Uzumaki. Shunned by the village for his secret heritage, Naruto grew up alone, causing trouble and pulling pranks, until he eventually earned his place as one of the village's newest ninja recruits. Ultimate Ninja Storm picks up right after this point, following Naruto and his friends through their various adventures.
alt="Naurto: Ulitmate Ninja Storm review for PS3"/>I learned this move from Street Fighter II.
This is, hands down, the best-looking Naruto game to date, and one of the PS3's better-looking games. The visual style looks like it was ripped straight from the anime -- the characters look and move exactly like their anime counterparts, but in free-flowing 3-D motions, and the environments (while a little sparse) are also true to the cartoon. The developers also, wisely, used a filter to soften the game's textures and to give everything a uniform look. When it all comes together in motion, the overall experience feels more like interacting with an actual episode of the show than playing a videogame.
There are still a few flaws with the presentation. One of the most noticeable is the lack of voiceover work. The game features both Japanese and English language voiceover acting from the principal cast, but there's just not enough of it. The bulk of the dialogue is presented in on-screen text scrolls. Considering the available space on a Blu-ray disc, it's hard to see why there's not more audio, especially considering that Naruto: Rise of a Ninja on the Xbox 360 easily had more than twice the voiceover work when it was released last year. It seems like a waste to have the talent available but not make the most of it.
alt="Naurto: Ulitmate Ninja Storm review for PS3"/>Sometimes, you really are your own best friend.
The Ultimate Ninja series has never really been geared towards the hardcore fighting game market. The games have always been button-mashers, and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm seems to follow the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. Instead of having to remember countless controls to pull off chained combos, you pretty much hit the circle button to attack as fast as you can while dodging your opponent's attempts to do the same. There are no complex joystick motions to remember; no half-circle this way or quarter-circle that way; no light, medium or hard punches or kicks. It's quick and easy, and for this particular series of games, it's effective.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja: Storm's gameplay is broken into two parts: Ultimate Mission mode and Free Battle. Ultimate Mission is the game's main story mode, which takes Naruto and his crew through the key points in the anime. Using the Hidden Leaf Village as a hub, Naruto picks up missions of varying difficulty grades, much like in the show. In a lot of ways, it's reminiscent of the 360's Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, in which the village and the townspeople expand the experience and make it feel more cohesive as a story than the previous Ultimate Ninja games on the PlayStation 2. By playing the free missions offered up by villagers, you earn mission points and money; by earning enough mission points, you unlock the special flashback missions, which retell all of those key battles and events that have unfolded.
alt="Naurto: Ulitmate Ninja Storm review for PS3"/>Naruto reminisces on his vacation to Mt. Rushmore.
Free Battle, as the name suggests, lets you set up your own battles. Want to see what would happen if Naruto had Orochimaru for backup? Done. Want to pit Team 7 against Team 8 and see who's really the top team? Done. Want to take the fight online with your friends for the ultimate fan battle? Not done. In spite of everything Ultimate Ninja Storm has going for it on the PS3, the developers still haven't added any sort of online play. If Ubisoft could do it with Rise of a Ninja the first time out of the gate, why couldn't CyberConnect2? Unlike the PS2, the PS3 was geared for online play right from the get-go. That glaring omission punches this game harder than anything any of the characters in the series would ever be able to muster.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm isn't much more than the latest addition to the Ultimate Ninja franchise with a nifty new coat of paint. But fanboys will love the look of the game, as the anime is faithfully recreated in 3-D cel-shaded glory. And despite its simplicity, the combat is a lot of fun, especially with a friend. Unfortunately, there's just no excuse for the absence of online play on the PS3. Still, Ultimate Ninja Storm is the best way to get your fix of Naruto and his friends in the videogame market today.
This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.
