TOMY
Licensed video games are hit or miss from the solid Spider-Man and Dragon Ball Z titles to the many dreadful movie based titles (F4 anyone). Lucky for game and anime fans alike Naruto falls into the solid category with a twist. In place of one publisher producing titles for each major system, Naruto has three cooks in three different kitchens. Ubisoft released the excellent Rise of a Ninja on Xbox 360 with The Broken Promise upcoming while Namco Bandai have provided the money Ultimate Ninja titles on PSP (Ultimate Ninja Heroes) and PS2, Uzumaki Chronicles on PS2 and Ultimate Ninja Storm on PS3, which leaves Nintendo's Wii and DS. Tomy and D3 Publishers have released Clash of Ninja Revolution on Wii along with Path of the Ninja, Ninja Destiny and Ninja Council on DS.
While many games, especially anime, hit the land of the rising sun first and then get ported, most if not all usually hit the same system on both shores, but it's been a bit odd with Naruto on Nintendo. Clash of Ninja Revolution was the continuation of the GameCube titles while Path of the Ninja was actually a mashed collection of GameBoy Naruto titles. These issues came through in the game play where there just felt like something was missing, that they did not fit the new systems. This issue has been resolved with Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 on DS and Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 on Wii. Let’s take a look.
Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2
The traditional anime fighting title. 35 characters, multi-player action with unique motion controls for the Wii. The controls are fluid and don't feel forced in Revolution 2, but switching back to the GameCube controller is not a bad idea either. Depends on the gamer's style of play, but both work well. The graphics are not on the same level as the next-gen systems, but they are the best a GameCube engine can put out and worthy of the anime. A new anime opening from studio Pierrot and 16:9 widescreen, 480p support really set this title above others on the Wii. It looks good, plays well and offers up a unique story centered on the Anbu black ops.
Overall a solid fighting game that feels like it was made for the Wii with a unique story not available on any other system which fans of the series will devour and will appeal to all ages where the other systems titles skew older.
Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2
A twist on the anime genre. Not a fighting game but rather an RPG set in the story rich world of Naruto. As with Revolution 2, Path of the Ninja 2 features a unique story where an evil spirit is unleashed and it's up to Team 7, minus Sasuke, to help while dealing with bits and pieces from the anime itself. The graphics are old school at it's finest with sprite based characters that everyone will recognize and turn-based game play. As with any RPG gamers must power-up their characters and use on screen touch to release certain powers. Challenging friends over Wi-Fi with their beefed up squad is a great touch, one more RPG's could learn from.
Overall fans of the series should enjoy this unique take on Naruto as all the charm and design in the anime and manga comes through nicely and with an original story that is not patched together gamers will enjoy this non-fighting Naruto adventure.
Both of these Naruto titles for Nintendo's systems deliver titles any anime or Naruto, Wii or DS owning fans needs to have. Unique stories found only on these systems that are fun to boot, can’t beat that.
Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 Characters Trailer
Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 Storyline Trailer
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