|
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2
The next instalment of the popular anime
series Naruto kicks its way onto the PlayStation 2 that transform the
gamer into Naruto, a ninja who must defend the world from a variety of
strange beasts and demons. The original story of Naruto is about a ninja
who became the living vessel of a captured demon with the latest story
involving the ultimate fighting competition!
In order to master Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2, the gamer will need to take
full advantage of the players will want to take full advantage of the
Secret Techniques that use Chakra. This is no easy feat since it asks
for the players to tap the exact order of buttons that come up on the
screen or to compete against their opponent to tap a particular button
the fastest. If the player on the offensive loses, the attack does
little damage. Don’t assume this is a pick up and play game. If players
invest time into learning the powerful attacks, the game will become
significantly easier to play.
Another aspect of the game that creates a moderate level of difficulty
is the computer A.I. They have the tendency to take to the route of
blocking rather than actually putting on an offensive barrage of
attacks. This ends up being a problem when the players are timed and the
opponent is continually sticking to the method of blocking. I often
found myself frustrated within the storyline mode and I couldn’t land
one attack because of the blocking.
For the returning players, the controls remain the same whereas the game
modes haven’t. The story mode now pits players in an assigned character
from the developer’s choosing to fight with. As players advance through
the story mode, new characters will be assigned to the player to use. If
this deters anyone away from playing the story mode, let it be known
that the story mode is the only method of unlocking all 32 playable
characters.
The story mode, titled Ultimate Road, is an interesting take on how to
handle the default story mode found in almost all fighters. Instead of
the simple “tournament” style found in Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter,
there’s an actual storyline to play. Protecting Naruto’s village is the
most important goal of the story mode. Also, take into account that many
of the matches ask for the players to just finish the match alive or
with a particular amount of health left, Ultimate Road isn’t the typical
story mode.
If Ultimate Road, or any story mode for that matter, isn’t what players
are looking for, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 contains a few other gameplay
options. There is a versus mode, titled ‘Vs. Duel’, that allows players
to fight without any set requirements to win the bout. Naruto comes
packaged with a training mode for the players that feel they are
inexperienced and want to learn more. There isn’t a heap of gameplay
options, but what is provided here is enough to grasp the player’s
attention for 6-8 hours.
In conclusion, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja is your standard fighting game
that is still quite entertaining if you like the cartoon or anime genre
and is probably great for the younger generation of gamers. Good
gameplay and fun to play! |
