I was no going to write a review for this game but everyone is bashing this game, so I might as well. I am not saying the game is great but come on people it is not one of the worst games on the playstation 2. This game is really flawed, but there are some bright spots which should be enough of a reason to play it.
Story 9/10
The story is the same for the most part to the Naruto anime, well the Japanese version anyway. The plot follows the basic guidelines for the show. Virtually you are only Naruto and you have to accomplish various ninja missions that range from A to D ranks. Fans of the anime will be iffy with the story since the game does release some spoilers about the show
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Graphics 7/10
The graphics are not anything spectacular, but they get the job done. I especially like the character models, they all look pretty much like the characters on the cartoon. There are only a few exceptions to that statement. One character that comes to mind is Gaara, he really looks mental in this game, which is not a good thing. Overall the character models are all great, especially Naruto.
The cut scenes were also done superbly graphic wise. I simply loved the animation in the cut scenes. The only thing i could say negatively about these scenes is that you HAVE to watch them, there is no way around it. If you like watching cut scenes this wont be a problem for you, but for gamers like me i was furious that I had to watch every minuscule scene.
Another thing about the graphics is that most of the moves that are done look pretty cool. The only exceptions are Sasuke's Chidori and Naruto's Rasengan attacks. These attacks are both done unrealistically in the game and the animation is basically utter garbage. Another problem I have with Naruto's Rasengan is that its done totally wrong in the game. His power in the game falls from the sky and then courses through him while doing this attack, this is different from the show since in the show he has the power come directly out from his hand. Overall the graphics are pretty nice and were smoothly done, most of them anyway.
Sounds 6/10
I love the battle music, it gets you hyped for that particular battle. This game does well with the music by having the right tune at the right times. For example they have this slow beat at the Hokage's House while having an upbeat beat during battles. The battles sound the best to me since many attcks done by you and the enemy sound pretty cool. I also like the sound of the various environments.
One thing i despise about the sound is the voice actors. After watching the show in English you would definitely expect more in this department. The only thing positive about this part is Naruto. He sounds the same as in the show, he is still the same whiny kid that gets serious when he needs to. Everyone else has bad voices, especially Sasuke. The only voice I enjoyed besides Naruto's was Kakashi who sounds pretty decent in the game.
Gameplay 3/10
This is were the controversy takes place. If you have read reviews about this game some people love the gameplay and some utterly despise it. In my opinion the gameplay is pretty bad. One problem I do have is the difficulty of the missions are so random. I remember the first three missions were rather simple and then i think it was the fourth mission that took me seriously about twenty tries to beat it. And then the next mission would be easy again. It seems to me that the developers really rushed this area.
Now onto to battles. You play as Naruto, who has a bunch of combos and three main specials at his arsenal. One special is the Shadow Clone Jutsu which creates multiple copies of yourself. Power strike allows you to attack many enemies at once. And Sexy Jutsu stuns the enemies for a while so you can destroy them. In my opinion most of these moves are useless in regular battles since the bad guys are so easy to beat. The AI in this game is so weak, the computer does the same thing over and over in every battle, they attack and throw stuff at you. They really get predictable after like the second enemy battle.
For those whom are wondering if you are able to use characters like Sasuke, you are, but only for about 20 seconds. During battles you can call a partner to use, but after their Chakra, or power, meter runs out your stuck with Naruto again. This pretty much sucks since you will get sick of Naruto very quickly since all of the moves he does gets really really repetitive. After a while you will just end up button smashing rather than relying on skillful combos to win. Also at some points you can go into demon mode and in this mode Naruto is invincible and powered up, but its only for a very limited time.
Replay Value 2/10
This game has a low replay value. After you beat all of the missions i doubt you will want to play them again. Some are just to hard and some are just too retarded. One reason I played the game over was to use characters like Sasuke again, even if it was for a short while. Simply stated the average game fan won't play through this one again
Overall I say RENT this game, you can easily beat this game in the span of a week. You could get it cheap now though, so if you can find like a ten dollar copy I would say you get your money's worth.
Related Reviews
Naruto: Ninja Council 3 (Nintendo DS) for Nintendo DS
http://www.epinions.com/content_411916144260
Naruto: Ninja Council 2 for Game Boy Advance
http://www.epinions.com/content_411832258180
Naruto Ninja Council 1 for GBA
http://www.epinions.com/content_411828588164
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