I like Naruto, of the most recent
crop of animated action shows on Cartoon Network, Naruto has the best balance
of character development, all-out action and plot devices. Sure, there are
other decent cartoons, Bleach comes to mind, but Naruto made no bones about
it, it wants to be the reigning action cartoon out there. Now despite the
name, Naruto is not the show’s (and game’s) only hero. In fact, if you ever
find yourself in a spirited discussion about the subject (you know at holiday
parties and congressional dinners) then you might be surprised that Naruto
isn’t even always the favorite character or the most powerful.
If you played Naruto: Clash of
Ninja on the GameCube then you already know what to expect, a fighting game
with tons of characters, moves and more jutsu then you can shake a stick
at. Now don’t get me wrong, this is a new title in the sense of "it’s now on
the Wii" but it is essentially the same game with the exception of a few
surprises.
"Ah crud, I got sand in my shoe."
That being said, this is also the
finest fighting game on the Wii, mostly because I can’t really think of any
other fighting game on the Wii, and therefore it’s the best by default. But
even if there were a slew of other fighting games on the Wii, this one would
still rate pretty well. For starters, even though it has received a nice
glossy finish, the game really embraces its cel-shaded graphics and knows its
source material intimately. I personally like cel-shaded action and this is a
a perfect example of why. The framerate of the fighting is incredibly fluid
and although it is not the TV show, this is as close as the Wii is ever gonna
get.
Now Naruto boasts an impressive
collection of characters in which to fight, 20 in all, each with a veritable
collection of attacks and jutsu moves. In the show, jutsu is the quasi magic
that each ninja possesses that allows them to do the wild and crazy magical
attacks. Things like multiplying yourself several times and then attacking an
opponent in unison or morphing into strange half-human half-beast creature to
obliterate your enemies is all par for the course. What the Wii does bring to
the table besides some cleaner-looking visuals is the enhanced gameplay using
the nunchuk and wiimote. Swinging both around your living room while pushing
buttons is an exciting new way to play, but for traditionalists you can use
the GameCube or standard controller. Additionally there are a couple of
mini-games featured in the title that force you to use the controls in a more
Wii-like way, but they are too few and sadly that’s what I wanted to see more
of.
In a rare instance, the developers
completely forgot to shade this character in.
There isn’t really any sort of
plot to the game; yeah, it is a fighting game and the idea is to select a
character and then play through all the fights to reach the end, but that
as deep as we get. The multiplayer aspect (up to four) can be a bit more
exciting since you can adjust it to be a 2-on-2 battle or even a 1-on-3
battle, but don’t even think about being able to go online like Virtua Fighter
5 (PS3, 360) because that simply is not going to be the case. This means that
multiplayer is based solely on who is sitting on your couch at the time of the
battle.
The audio portion of the game is
also pretty much a port of the GameCube cousin. Not that this is a bad thing;
you would do much worse to find sound effects and action music. It’s just the
more I played the game, the more I realized that this title embraced those
fighting games of the early 90s. For those of you who don’t know what I am
talking about there was a game called Street Fighter II, then came Super
Street Fighter II, which begat Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which in turn
evolved into Super Street Fighter II Turbo lite. It was a
surprisingly effective way to get kids to part with their parents’ money as
they all were the same game with minor additions and upgrades as each new
incarnation came down the pipe. Well, not that I am bad mouthing this game,
because I think it’s pretty decent, but if you have the GameCube version, then
I don’t really see a need for you to go out and buy this version just because
it’s on the Wii.
"Hai, ha, hoo-ha, haiiiiyaaahhh!"
For those who have read my review
and still aren’t sure what kind of game I reviewed, please continue reading.
This is a fighting game viewed from a dynamic third-person perspective. The
action comes a more then a brisk pace and you must use combination of button
pushing and movement in order to attach your prey effectively. Fighting games
have never been accused of having a lot of depth and this one is no exception,
but if you are buying a fighting game then you probably already know that and
have accepted it.
Review Scoring Details for NARUTO: Clash of Ninja Revolution |
Gameplay: 8.4
With several ways to play, using the Wii’s original movement controls
or a standard controller makes the game a pleasure to play.
Graphics: 7.8
Really the game has a really
decent look to it. The action never breaks down and keeps a steady clip.
Bright, clean, cel-shaded love is prominent in this title.
Sound: 7.6
Decent sounding sound effects and
action tempo.
Difficulty: Medium
The games challenge comes in
beating all 20 characters; the battles come fast, but are not impossible.
Concept: 7.0
Not the most original idea, taking
a popular action cartoon and turning it into a fighting game. The novel
approach is that it actually works in this case.
Multiplayer: 7.9
It can be a heck of a good time
having four people going at it in all the martial arts, magic-infused
pandemonium that this game has.
Overall: 7.7
I liked the game; it
has everything you want in your fighting games with the exception of online
capabilities. Still, that blip aside, Naruto is a great fighting title for the
Wii. Just don’t get it is you have the GameCube version.
