In Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution you can perform acrobatic fighting moves from the anime and manga and couple them with cool motion control mechanics on the Nintendo Wii.
With 20 Naruto ninjas, the game offers players an action-packed single-player story mode and there are 2-player multiplayer battle modes and even an up to 4-player versus mode for fans of the show to see who’s the strongest.
System: Wii
Genre: Fighter
Release dates: October 23rd 2007 (USA), March 28th 2008 (EUR), March 30th 2008 (AUS)
Players: 1-4
Developer: Eighting
Publishers: Tomy, D3, Nintendo
Origin: Japan
Naruto is the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a shinobi (ninja) who wants to obtain the title of Hokage (village leader). However, an incident occured 12 years ago, when a demon fox attacked the village; many shinobi fell, until the 4th sealed the demon within a baby. As a result, the adults see Naruto as the demon. As a Genin, Naruto is part of a three-man team – the members are Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and their instructor, Kakashi. Together, they will face many challenges, make friends, face deadly enemies, and try to survive each other.
Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution is an original Nintendo Wii game exclusive. Based on the hit series currently airing on Cartoon Network, this first game for the Nintendo Wii released in North America and Europe will include characters that have never been featured in the Clash of Ninja game series. The game will follow the storyline of the television series from the events of the Chunin Exams arc to the end of the Search for Tsunade arc. It will take advantage of the Wii Remote in fast-paced ninja action for up to four players in nine different gameplay modes. The next generation in Naruto games will also include all new character animations, new interactive environments and special mini-games created exclusively for the Wii Remote.
Watch the Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution launch trailer.
The main features in Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution are:
* Twenty available characters – Among the available characters will be original characters such as Naruto, Sasuke or Sakura, but other characters will include some never seen before in the Clash of Ninja series. Plus, the characters will have all new animations for the Wii!
* Battle it out in one of six stages – Each of the six stages will have two distinct combat zones that allow players to beat their opponent in one stage and then continue to pile on the punches as they transition to the next combat zone. You can do this by performing a strong attack near the border of the arena.
* Exclusive content – This game will include all new game effects, new interactive environments and an all new special attack animations.
* Various game modes – Game modes include: story mode, score attack, timed attack, survival, 2P Versus, 2P Score Attack, 2P Survival and 1-4 Multiplayer Versus.
* Three special mini-games created especially for the Wii Remote – Shuriken Throw, Rasengan Training and Shadow Clone Trick.
Watch a Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution Wii controls gameplay demonstration.
How much fun is Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution on a scale from 1 to 10?
FUN FACTOR – 7.5
The game gathers 20 fighters in a competition for those looking for a fight. The cel-shaded graphics will make you feel like you are in the animated series controlling the action. Add in the expressive new style of Wii motion controlled gameplay and you’ve got a fighting game fans dream of once you get past the motion controls learning curve. With a loose story re-telling single player mode that once played through allows you to unlock all characters for fun multiplayer battles. That’s really what this Naruto game is all about, making it a must-have for fans of the series.
Graphics – 7.5
The first thing you’ll notice about the game are the cel-shaded graphics that perfectly do the anime TV show justice. The character animations in-game are present aplenty. But I did find myself wondering why the shadows the characters cast are blocky, that’s so ten years ago. Cutscenes are present too, but are more like reading a voiced manga, after a fantastic game intro I would’ve expected it all to be animated. The visual effects are bright and flashy making sure the game delivers on the action-filled battles. The multi-tier battle arenas look simple and take you to six different locations with only some items being destructible.
Audio – 8.0
The voice acting is done by the same actors who do the Cartoon Network-dubbed English version of the anime series, it’s very true to the series. “BELIEVE IT!” The soundtrack isn’t that diverse, but what’s there fits the game’s theme very well and is quite catchy to the ears as it stays true to the series’ jingles. All required fighting sound effects are your standard effective fare.
Ingenuity – 8.0
Thanks to the motion sensing Wii Remote and Nunchuck controllers (or the lone Wii Remote), the game supports full gesture control which means that every attack in the game is performed using a unique motion that corresponds to your favorite character’s hand-motions in a fairly realistic manner. This means the game has some learning curve, but in the end it gives you a feel for a more physical way of playing that puts you in the shoes of your favorite Naruto characters. Because most importantly, you’ll be able to pull off character-specific special attacks by doing specific motions and firing them off. So if you’re playing as Naruto, get ready to do a shadow clone jutsu and then pull off a Rasengan! Be sure to time your effective use of Chakra energy wisely. There are downsides however. Sadly some chain combos are made very difficult if you mess up your motion control movement with a weak attack in the middle of your combo, hence stopping the combo just because you accidentally added a random movement of the Wii Remote in the heat of battle. Another nitpick is that the fighting styles are different for each of the characters, but they end up feeling samey since they share a lot of the same execution moves. But this is spiced up with the special moves (jutsus) that have you follow on-screen instructions for motion controls to execute a huge attack!
Worried it might get tiresome after many hours moving your arms? Aside from taking a break every 30 minutes, alternatively you can just as easily use the GameCube controller or Wii Classic controller instead, using only button presses and analog sticks for player control.
Replay Value – 7.5
Fans of the series who played the Naruto: Clash of Ninja and Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2 games on GameCube before, might not find too many new options or gameplay here. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kisame, Itachi, Tenten are some of the new characters in this latest game in the series though. If you’re a fan of the TV show or are new to the fighting game series, you’ll like it very much. You’ll be able to play through the game in about 10 hours. But there’s a lot of replay value with the various other gameplay battle and ninja training mini-game modes, but that only becomes apparent if you’re playing with at least one friend (up to 4-players), keep that in mind. Let’s hope for online multiplayer in the Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 sequel in October-December 2008.