Naruto shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm is a 3D fighter based on the popular Naruto shippuden series, which is apparently different to normal Naruto and deserves an extra word. Published by Bandai Namco games and developed by CyberConnect2 who developed the .//hack games, Naruto games and Little tail Bronx series, but probably most well-known for their more recent title Asura’s wraith. I don’t know much about the franchise so I may get a couple things wrong, which I am going to apologies in advance.
The stories err, well, it’s there, it’s split into two different modes ninja escapades and tournament mode. The difference is ninja escapades take the story from the actual series and places you in the shoes as some of the characters meaning that you get nice little anime cut scenes followed by you beating the crap out someone. This is great, as the animation is amazing and I am guessing they only took the main parts from the series, which is great however kind of acts as a double edge sword. By this I mean I don’t think I knew what was going on – as far as I know naruto is about a bunch of psychopathic cultists dressed in their nans curtains that hate anything with a tail. Oh yea something about magic eyes and a family of ninjas. I would love to say more, but because there were only three ninja escapades to do, that’s all I got and hey, if there’s more to unlock I would love to know how I mean after beating the tournament mode a couple times normally and with mecha naruto nothing happened so I guess that’s all I will ever know about naruto.
The tournament mode is interesting as there’s a lot going on – with the lottery tickets, elite lottery tickets and money to buy stuff like ninja cards and other more useful interesting items like bento which help in fights in the tournaments. The story is pretty basic and what you expect from a fighting game- you must compete and win the tournament after which you unlock the tournaments of a higher grade from D to S. The fights are either the standard one on one when you are doing other things like missions to get more characters to use as partners during the tournament and a 4 player mish-mash to get the most orbs by mercilessly beating them out of the other opponents. As more of the tournaments are completed more of the map of Tournament Island is unlocked and allows you to do more things and go to different areas as it kind of acts like a giant hub which is great and a lot of fun. The mecha naruto tournament mode is a little different as you still partake in the tournament except you are thrown into a tournament mode with more story about a random robot they found on the beach. I am not going into more detail so I don’t spoil anything but honestly its more that every time I think of the mecha naruto it irritates me with its winging and stupid wearing robot noises that sound like it came from a rubbish 90’s sc-fi.
The gameplay is solid as hell; in fact, there’s a lot of moves that look badass as hell and with so many different characters and alterations to the characters that can be made you will always find a fighting that matches what you want. The animation also left me astounded for ages. I’m not kidding, even the god dam title screen to select the game mode is so animated it feels like it’s trying to punch you in the face and you’re actually playing. Never playing a 3D fighter I was surprised how much I enjoyed the fighting as it felt a lot more rhythmic and like a proper intense sparing match. The camera was an issue. Not in the standard one vs one fights. But, in the four player blood brawls it was a real pain to the feel of the experience as even when you weren’t locked onto a target the camera was very limited and anything that wasn’t immediately behind me or too far away my side I couldn’t see, which I guess is true in real life, meant that I would get screwed over after chaining a really nice combo. It would be nice if the other two were duking it out, but it seemed everyone went for me all the time, which meant it was extremely easy to be put into a corner with not much of a way out.
Overall, Naruto shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm is a great game and a great fighter to play with friends with crazy animation and real rhythm to the fighting its great I just kind of feel it’s more of a fan game. By that I mean that it’s made for people who already have watch naruto and know what it’s about and although it stands up on its own their I would have loved to see more ninja escapades and the tournament mode to be a little more interesting. Oh, and get rid of metal naruto – kind of guessing he isn’t part of the actual series and we all know how metal sonic and all the other ridiculous characters added to the series.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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