Naruto: Ultimate Ninja

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File:Narutoultnin.jpg
The English cover to Naruto: Ultimate Ninja.

The Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series (known in Japan as Naruto: Narutimate Hero) is a series of 3-D fighting games based on the popular manga and anime series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto. They were developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Namco Bandai. The games are available on both Sony's PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. Four games are present on the PlayStation 2 and two are on PSP.

Gameplay

File:UltimateNinja2Gameplay.jpg
Kakashi Hatake facing Sasuke Uchiha in Ultimate Ninja 2.

In the Ultimate Ninja line, the player controls one of the many characters seen within the Naruto anime and manga. The simple goal is to fight the opposing character and to win by reducing their health to zero. The catch to this goal is the vast amount of weapons that appear to the characters as the battle progresses (along with items which could potentially heal the player or the opponent). Along with the various weapons available to the characters, they also have their various special abilities taken straight from the series (Naruto Uzumaki's Rasengan or Sasuke Uchiha's Chidori, for example). To use these attacks, however, the player must have the required chakra as indicated by the "chakra bars" located under the players health. Using the technique drains the chakra bar (which can be regained through various methods, including special, character specific methods for some characters). These special techniques are not performed in real-time, however; once successfully executed, a cinematic takes place, where the player either has to fill a bar to a specific level or hit buttons illustrated in the corner of the screen faster than their opponent to assure the attack is at its full strength. All characters can use the [[Jutsu (Naruto)#Basic techniques|substitution jutsu (which usually starts a duel where the player has to press the O button in time to successfully use the technique again. This continues until either the player or their opponent misses and is therefore attacked). Also, some characters have specific transformations available to them (such as Sasuke's [[Curse Mark jutsu#Curse Mark of Heaven with the right amount of chakra (or, in the later games, by successfully executing their special technique). The first few games of the Ultimate Ninja series let players execute 3 different secret technique Attacks using three different Chakra levels(red, purple, and blue, in order of weakest to strongest), 2 different signature techniques, and a wide variety of kicks, punches, and throws. However, in Naruto: Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3 , players are only allowed to use one secret technique attack, besides the other attacks and techniques. To compensate for this, players will be allowed to select the secret technique of their choice before each battle, but not all secret techniques will be made available at the start of the game. Different secret techniques must be obtained through story mode and completing missions.

PlayStation 2

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja (known in Japan as Naruto: Narutimate Hero (ＮＡＲＵＴＯ－ナルト- ナルティメットヒーロー) is the first installment of the Ultimate Ninja series. It is now a Greatest Hits title, meaning its retail price has dropped to $19.99. The game was released on October 23 2003 in Japan, June 26 2006 in North America, November 17 2006 in Australia, and November 30 2006 in Europe.

The game features a unique battle system with special attacks and various jutsu that can be used. It also features several items, like kunai and shuriken. There are many multi-layered stages from around the Naruto universe, including the Hidden Sand Village, the Chunin exam arena, and the Forest of Death. In the original Japanese version, there were only 12 characters; however, NamcoBandai has added the ability to select both Curse Mark Sasuke and Nine-tailed Naruto as bonus characters. Although both of these characters were already in the Japanese version as transformations, NamcoBandai has separated them into separate characters. Due to this, both Naruto and Sasuke have lost their ability to transform into their advanced modes during battle. This is much like the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 transformation system. The game also features an arcade style story mode. The Story Mode consists of up to six battles divided by some dialogue in a manga style display, one of many homages to its source material.

Critical reception has been mixed, ranging from mediocre to somewhat high ratings. G4's X-Play gave Ultimate Ninja a three out of five for a creative comicbook feel and stylish cel-shaded graphics, but complained that the controls are too simple and the English voices are "slightly questionable."[1] Both IGN and GameSpot say that the game is easy, yet fun, to play, and praise the anime/manga-inspired graphics.[2][3]

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2, known in Japan as Naruto: Narutimate Hero 2 (ＮＡＲＵＴＯ-ナルト- ナルティメットヒーロー２), is the second installment of the fighting game series Naruto: Ultimate Ninja. Like some other Naruto games in Japan, this one was available in two covers: one featuring Naruto Uzumaki along with several different characters in the background, and the other with Sasuke Uchiha and several other characters. The game was released on September 30 2004 in Japan, June 13 2007 in North America, and October 19 2007 in Europe .[4]

Ultimate Ninja 2 features a similar gameplay experience to Ultimate Ninja, featuring many of the same gameplay elements and geography and mini games in the story mode. The game also features an RPG-esque story mode, the first half from the series, the second being an added story arc that takes place between the Tsunade Decision arc and the Sasuke Retrieval arc. In this arc, Orochimaru finds out about a jutsu called the Gedo Mark and uses it to seal Kakashi's Sharingan. Orochimaru then starts his second invasion on Konoha and uses the reanimation jutsu to bring back Zabuza, Haku, and the Third Hokage.

There are a total of 32 characters to choose from (33 in the Japanese version with the inclusion of Doto Kazahana). Some characters have also been fused together, so the player must use a special jutsu to activate them, such as Sasuke with his Curse Mark.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3, originally published as Naruto: Narutimate Hero 3 (NARUTO-ナルト- ナルティメットヒーロー３), is the third installment in the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series. The game was released on December 22 2005 in Japan, and an English release is set for March 1,2008.[5] The limited edition version comes with an extra disc containing an OVA.

The ability to build up a character's technique on a meter is emphasized more from the previous installment. Secret techniques have been limited to one per character instead of three like the last two titles, but the player gains the ability to select from a range of secret techniques to use before battle. This game features the largest character roster in the Ultimate Ninja series. All the characters will be in the game. You get to use Chidori and Rasengan outside of secret techniques. When you use two justus together like Rasengan and Chidori or Fang Cut Fang and CM2 Sakon's jutsu, or Neji's rotation and the Rasengan, there is a mini-game where you press buttons repeatedly. The winner hits the other with the jutsu or if it's equal they get thrown back. Like the previous installment, this game also has an RPG mode. Unlike Ultimate Ninja 2's RPG, this game's RPG will enable you to jump on buildings and have a larger map. The Limited Edition version comes with a DVD giving you hints on part of the RPG mode itself. The game also features CGI animation.

Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Accel

Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Accel (NARUTO-ナルト-疾風伝 ナルティメットアクセル, Naruto Shippūden: Narutimetto Akuseru) is a Japanese-only game and the fourth installment in the Narutimate Hero (Ultimate Ninja) series. It is also the first Naruto game based on the Naruto: Shippūden anime series, which is based on the second part of the manga. The game was released on April 5 2007 in Japan.[citation needed]

The game was first seen in issue #2006-52 of Weekly Shonen Jump[6] along with information about the Naruto: Shippūden anime and related merchandise.

In addition to elements established in previous Narutimate Hero games, Narutimate Accel offers several new twists to combat. When two opponents clash, they will begin a series of high-speed attacks, appearing as a pair of blurs dueling across the stage. The winner is determined by a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. There is also the inclusion of the "Awakening Ougi." When certain conditions are met, a character may trigger an Awakening Ougi. These techniques are more powerful than the standard Ougis and, as the name implies, "awakens" a character's powers (i.e. Naruto's tailed-fox form with overpowering red chakra).

Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Accel 2

Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Accel 2 (NARUTO-ナルト-疾風伝 ナルティメットアクセル2, Naruto Shippūden: Narutimetto Akuseru 2) is the fifth installment in the Ultimate Ninja series. It has been featured in an issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, where both the appearance of the time-skip version of Sasuke Uchiha, Team 10 (Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akimichi), and Team 8 (Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame) have also been confirmed as well. The new feature of the usage of assist characters have been confirmed.[7] It is scheduled to be released on December 20 2007, as well as feature 62 playable characters.[8][9] Sai and Yamato will also be included.

PlayStation Portable

Naruto: Narutimate Hero Portable

Naruto: Narutimate Portable (NARUTO-ナルト-ナルティメットポータブル, Naruto: Narutimetto Pōtaburu) is a fighting game for the PlayStation Portable. This is a region-free game, like all PSP games, and therefore may be played on any PSP from around the globe. The game features 23 characters and the characters' original combos and grab attacks.

Essentially, this game is a scaled down version of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2. Unlike its PlayStation 2 counterpart, Narutimate Portable has fewer characters and levels. Also, each character has only one ougi instead of three and lacks a practice mode.

Interestingly, Naruto and Sasuke's ougi's have them transform into their Kyubi and Curse Seal level 2 forms (for their attacks only) despite the game not being tied to Naruto: Narutimate Hero 3.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes is an English-exclusive fighting game and is the only English Naruto game on the PlayStation Portable.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes is essentially a scaled down version of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 and an edited version of Narutimate Hero Portable. However, Ultimate Ninja Heroes is more of an action game whereas Narutimate Portable was more story oriented. The game also features roughly 20 characters and several new features, such as a three-on-three fighting system, wireless two-player battles, and "hidden team skills."[10]

Playable characters

File:NarutimateHero3CharacterSelect.jpg
The character selection menu in Narutimate Hero 3. Characters selected are the Yellow Flash (left) and Hanabi Hyuga (right).
Character 1 2 3 Accel Accel 2 Portable Heroes
ANBU Kakashi Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN
Asuma Sarutobi Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Anko Mitarashi Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Byakugan Hinata Red XN Green tickY Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN
Butterfly Choji Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Chiyo Red XN Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Choji Akimichi Red XN Green tickY[11] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Cursed Seal level 2 Jirobo Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Cursed Seal level 2 Kidomaru Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Cursed Seal level 2 Kimimaro Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Cursed Seal level 2 Sakon/Ukon Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Cursed Seal level 2 Sasuke Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Cursed Seal level 2 Tayuya Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Deidara Red XN Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Doto Kazahana Red XN Green tickY Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN
Drunken Lee Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
First Hokage Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Gaara Green tickY[12] Green tickY[13] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Haku Green tickY[14] Green tickY[11] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Hanabi Hyuga Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Half-Shukaku Gaara Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Hinata Hyuga Green tickY[14] Green tickY[11] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Ino Yamanaka Red XN Green tickY[11] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Itachi Uchiha Red XN Green tickY[15] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Jiraiya Red XN Green tickY[16] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Jirobo Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Kabuto Yakushi Red XN Green tickY[16] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN
Kakashi Hatake Green tickY[14] Green tickY[11] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[9] Green tickY Green tickY
Kankuro Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Kiba Inuzuka Red XN Green tickY[16] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Kidomaru Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Kimimaro Kaguya Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Kisame Hoshigaki Red XN Green tickY[15] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Konohamaru Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Kurenai Yuhi Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Kyubi Naruto Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN
Might Guy Red XN Green tickY[16] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Neji Hyuga Green tickY[12] Green tickY[11] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Naruto Uzumaki Green tickY[12] Green tickY[13] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[9] Green tickY Green tickY
One-Tailed Naruto Uzumaki Red XN[12] Red XN[13] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[9] Red XN Red XN
Orochimaru Green tickY[14] Green tickY[16] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Rock Lee Green tickY[12] Green tickY[13] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Sai Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Sakon/Ukon Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Sakura Haruno Green tickY[14] Green tickY[11] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Sasori Red XN Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Sasuke Uchiha Green tickY[12] Green tickY[13] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[9] Green tickY Green tickY
Sealed Orochimaru Red XN Green tickY Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN
Second Hokage Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Shino Aburame Red XN Green tickY[16] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Shizune Red XN Green tickY[15] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN
Shikamaru Nara Green tickY[12] Green tickY[11] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Taijutsu Naruto Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN
Tayuya Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Third Hokage Red XN Green tickY[16] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Red XN
Temari Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN
Tenten Red XN Green tickY[11] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Green tickY Green tickY
Tsunade Red XN Green tickY[15] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY
Yamato Red XN Red XN Red XN Red XN Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Yellow Flash Red XN Red XN Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY Red XN Red XN
Zabuza Momochi Green tickY[14] Green tickY[11] Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY[8] Red XN Red XN

Reception

Ultimate Ninja has received both positive and negative criticism since its release date. A notation that all critics have put in the center of the spotlight of positivity is the mission option. Metacritic, a website that compiles scores from numerous video game publications, gave Ultimate Ninja a score of 8.7/10. IGN gave a rather positive review, stating that it "[succeeded] in blending a popular license with good game design" but also made a point that some well needed depth couldn't hurt. GameSpot gave the game the same score as IGN, 7.5/10, and praised the game for its learning curve (though contemplated the fact that "once you've mastered one [character], you've basically mastered them all") as well as its good cel-shaded looks, and concluded, similarly to IGN, that "what Ultimate Ninja lacks in depth, it more than makes up for in style". GameSpy's reviews were much like the previously mentioned ones, positively criticizing the game's looks, sounds (albeit berating the slightly muffled audio) and animation and conning the game's tea-spoon depth.

See also

Notes

  • Narutimate Hero Portable has a story mode while Ultimate Ninja Heroes does not.
  • Narutimate Hero Portable includes Kabuto Yakushi,Third Hokage,Shizune and Curse Mark Sasuke while Ultimate Ninja Heroes does not.

References

  1. ^ "X-Play's review of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja". Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  2. ^ "IGN's review of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja". Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  3. ^ "GameSpot's review of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja". Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  4. ^ "IGN release date for Ultimate Ninja 2". Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  5. ^ Roper, Chris (11-08-2007). "Naruto Returns". IGN. Retrieved 11-10-2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  6. ^ "JeuxFrance.com". Magazine De Jeux Video. Retrieved 2006-11-23. Template:Fr icon
  7. ^ Weekly Shonen Jump (2007); issue 40.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag Weekly Shonen Jump reveals many playable characters for Accel 2.
  9. ^ a b c d e Spencer (2007-09-01). "Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Accel 2 confirmed for this year". Siliconera. Retrieved 2007-09-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Siliconera". Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 English instruction manual. Namco Bandai. 2007. pp. 11–20.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Naruto: Ultimate Ninja English instruction manual. Namco Bandai. 2006. p. 26.
  13. ^ a b c d e Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 English instruction manual. Namco Bandai. 2007. pp. 1–10.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Naruto: Ultimate Ninja English instruction manual. Namco Bandai. 2006. p. 27.
  15. ^ a b c d Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 English instruction manual. Namco Bandai. 2007. pp. 31–34.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 English instruction manual. Namco Bandai. 2007. pp. 21–30.
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