Naruto made his first 3D debut in Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles just a scant 10 months ago. It was novel seeing our little orange buddy in the 3D world, but the overall game proved to be disappointing because of the repetitious fighting and other in-game problems.
In the latest release of this franchise, Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2, the situation has gotten a little bit better and a little bit worse. UC2 gives you the option to switch out more characters in your party at will, which helps you to defeat the more rugged baddies in the game, but the overall fighting system differs little from the previous outing. You don’t really have to memorize too many sequences and you’ll be successful in most fights, so it’ll be fun for kids.
As for real fighting fans who are accustomed to the complex maneuvers and button sequences — they’ll be let down by UC2. Instead of being a pure fighter, UC2 carries on the tradition of the Chronicle series by making it an adventure/fighter with just a dash of RPG elements thrown in.
In this game, Naruto is given the task of preventing the Shirogane Clan from finding five Spirit Orbs. If the evil clan is successful, the Master Puppet will emerge and wreak havoc with his puppet minions to take over the nations. In Naruto’s quest to save Hidden Leaf Village and the rest of the countryside, Naruto goes on his standard city-to-city journey in killing bad guys, leveling up, and talking to a wide variety of characters.
The story mode is where all the action and, some would argue, non-action takes place. In between your travels to different villages, you’ll face numerous cutscenes (and lots and lots of loading screens) that push the game along. But beware, the dialogue starts to fill up with a lot of technical Naruto jargon, and if you’re not familiar with the series there’s a good chance that you may get lost. I actually found myself dozing off several times because the dialogue was so long and drawn out.
Whether all these cutscenes are necessary is up for debate. But somehow, Naruto is brattier than what I remember him as being from previous games. His outbreaks and insults don’t seem as funny anymore, and to newcomers, they’ll probably be irritated by the raspy voice and attitude of the orange ninja.
As far as gameplay, it’s pretty predictable as you get your main orders from the characters around you and travel across a map which represents all the places you have been or are going to. The map unfolds as you explore more territory and you do a little backtracking along the way as well. Other modes in N: UC2 include Mission, where you can earn "Skill Chips" and other rewards to enhance your powers, Survival Mode and a Two Player mode.
Fighting moves are simplicity itself. Hit triangle for strong attacks, hit square for weak attacks and your R1 and R2 buttons for Jutsu (special) moves. You can do combos by mixing up the square/triangle sequences and you can pretty much fake your way through the fights by just wildly mashing the buttons.
This game isn’t really for the Naruto crowd, because the storyline is so odd and, at times, confusing; nor is it for first timers, who will probably get bored with the hundreds of fights, loading screens and story animations. What this is geared for is the kids. The fighting system is easy to learn, and the way you can increase your character’s skills by means of a "Skill Plate" is unique.
If you really want to see how Naruto plays in this new game, maybe a rental would be a safer bet than buying it.
