Rating

B

Specific Ratings

GameplayA-
GraphicsB
Learning CurveC
Replay ValueC-
SoundC+

Pros and Cons

Pros
  • Vided Cell-shaded Graphics
  • Great RPG for people who've never seen the show.
  • Lengthy quest and Interesting story
  • Free-roaming world
  • Funny moments
  • Fantastic Combat system
Cons
  • English voice acting is annoying
  • Controls are a bit loose
  • Naruto (yep, he’s annoying)
  • Some Repetitive Bits

Naruto: Rise of a Ninja (Xbox 360)

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Summary

....more like rise of a Comedian

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Description

Before you roll you eyes at the idea of a Naruto game being anything but a low budget fix for "anime-aficionados," remember that at one time or another every game began as "some stupid story." And if you you’ve never heard of Naruto before, or you have and think it’s a "teenie-bopper" thing, then you are really missing out if you don't give this game a chance.

Rise of a Ninja is the first in a series of exclusive Naruto games for the Xbox 360, that chronicle the story of an anxious [and obnoxious] young ninja and his often comical quest for fame and the title of Hotage (the leader of his Ninja Village). Since this is the first game in the series, it naturally only covers the first one-hundred or so episodes, and ends abruptly after the defeat of Gara at the Tournaments.

Though this game clearly targets longstanding fans of the Cartoon Network hit, who most likely already know the story inside and out by now, I still found that Rise of a Ninja offers a surprising amount of depth and focus for folks who may have never even heard of the show. In fact, it is safe to say that Ubisoft carefully crafted this game primarily to attract potential fans who may be a bit more willing to plant 30+ hours in a RPG, than 1500 hours on the actual animated series. And yes, you heard me right -- this is a RPG. Though the game comes with a nifty "fighting mode" (similar what you saw in Ultimate Ninja Storm), the real meat of this beast is in its story mode. Which is so full of life and humor that you may wonder why they hadn’t translated the story into a RPG before now.

What I found fascinating about the whole experience, was how engaging, unique and fun the whole affair was to me, especially given that I had never even watched the show. From the very moment I began the play the game, I had no problem following along with the often fast paced story, which is held together with quests, random dialogue with the many residents of the world and a lot of in game cut-scenes. Sandwiched between all this, are brief clips of footage from what I assume are some of the better moments from show. The game’s main story uses GTA style "on-rails story questing," but you wont seem to mind this. This is mainly because the developers opted to give the player the illusion of a free-roaming RPG rather than standard linear fanfare -- and boy does it payoff here.

Rather than just rushing through all the episodes, the player is allowed to freely explorer the world of Naruto and interact with all of its locals. While in "The Village Hidden in the Leafs," I found myself cutting to important interactions and learning about the game world while brushing up on my Naruto lore. If you’re in the mood to take a brake from the chaos of the story, you can always participate in one of the many available mini games scattered throughout the Village. You could also search the world for Coins to buy new Skills, upgrade weapons and health items, or train with some of the interesting ninja tutors (here’s looking at you Kakashi) who you can earn money from buy defeating them in combat. Then you could always complete a few mini-quests for them, each of which grant you points to buy new moves that make Naruto noticeably more powerful in combat. With every quest you complete or mini game you finish your version of Naruto slowly inches toward becoming a more powerful adversary, as it seems like every little action raises his health and chakra.

Rise of a Ninjas' combat is also a breeze. Though this is by far the most simple fighting system seen in a console Naruto game, it is this simplicity that makes the combat so much more engaging. The most casual scuffle can be challenging and requires careful planning of attacks and skilled use of you’re different Jitsus. Which brings me to the best part of the fighting system – the Jitsus. These Jitsus are special moves that can be used in both combat and the world’s many quests. Jitsus like ‘Chakra Concentration’ make exploring the different environments a breeze, by running up trees and walls or skipping across the surface of a lake. While preforming ‘Sexy Jistsu’ for some of the villages local perverts warrants a couple of laughs. Even Narutos signature ‘Shadow Clone” Jitsu doubles as a means to destroy environmental objects.

All Jitsus in the game can be upgraded as the story progresses, and require you to make skillful use of both you’re analog sticks to preform them. Though the jitsus can be a tricky to complete, they can be mastered in a few short hours, and make battles that much more interesting. Jitsus are so powerful, they can easily turn the tide of a battle towards you, or send you spinning to the ground in defeat. And it’s because these Jitus are so powerful, yet so hard to preform, that the multiplayer action is that much better. You can only use them after a well timed attach that gives you distance from you’re opponent, and even then they require a charging period to reach the jitsus different power levels. If that wasn’t tricky enough, there is the actual skill of timing both the Chakra charge bar and then preforming the resulting ‘Quicktime event’ in which you and you’re opponent race to hit a series of buttons and foil each others actions. The combat was so entertaining that no matter how many battles I entered, I was never too tired to take on another enemy.

My only qualm was with Rise of a Ninjas’ controls. Though they are well mapped, I felt that they could have been a bit tighter, and that a few of the actions could have been tweaked a bit. It seems like Naruto himself, only has two speeds: walking at a snails pace, and sliding all over the place in a sonic dash. This makes some of the platforming segments and the races a bit of a pain. But overall, the controls where as solid as the gameplay and I never once felt like I was fighting with the controls during the combat segments.

The game itself boarders the fine lines between serious, humorous, and just plan annoying. But luckily for me [unlike Naruto himself], this game is a lot more the first two than the latter. And while the story covers A LOT of ground, Ubisoft has done such a fantastic job of condensing the content into a role player, that people who have missed out on the show shouldn’t feel that they are missing anything anymore after completing this game.

Rise of a Ninja truly is great game, and easily one of the best anime based titles ever made. And while many people will still complain that even after dozens of hours in the game, that it ends just as the story begins. I think they should all still feel better knowing that this is just the beginning of the saga [look for Naruto: The Broken Bond next]. Though only a average RPG, Rise of a Ninja offers so much fun in the combat segments, and in a exciting story centered in a vividly imagined, and fully explorable world. While the whole thing is brought to life in fantastic detail by some of the best cell-shaded visuals to grace the 360.

Naruto can be repetitive at times, but you would still be doing yourself a great disservice by assuming that if you haven’t watched the show, you cant understand or enjoy the game. Naruto is a lighthearted romp, but enjoyable none the less. And given that you can now buy it as a bargain title $20 or less, it's a great find for the game on a budget.

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