Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Preview

by David Daniels - 2008/08/11 9:18am

The Ultimate Ninja series was started on the PS2 and is arguably the best of the various Naruto licensed fighters available. So now we have Ultimate Ninja Storm due to be released for the PS3 system. A demo has been released on the Playstation Network as of July 17th.

The game will cover the manga storyline up to the “Sasuke Retrieval Arc”, which is a step back from where the last game left off in Japan, but this is mainly to be spoiler free to the US and Europe who have not yet seen much of the story past this arc. The game will feature 25 playable characters, 19 of which have been announced already. The developer has also promised to make up for the arguably small character selection with promised DLC after launch. Like the games before it, Ultimate Ninja Storm will also have platforming sections and boss fights, but these have yet to be seen in great detail.

Ultimate Ninja Storm retains the majority of gameplay elements from the first 3 instalments in the series. It still features the same cel shaded style and manga character design that made the series stand out from the other more “anime inspired” fighters of the same license. This time around the graphics are greatly improved to the point where the developer has been throwing around the phrase "We will break the barrier between anime and video game". And you really can’t blame them, the game looks phenominal and it does truly break the barrier between anime and game, any screenshot in this article will prove the point.

In the demo, you are allowed to choose from either Naruto (with Sasuke and Sakura as back-up) or Kakashi (With only Gai as support). You battle in a forest lake area. Both characters also have access to a transformation which only becomes available when close to death. A lamp will appear next to the chakra bar which can be filled by charging up your chakra enough to activate your transformation into either 1 Taled Kyuubi (Naruto), or Sharingan Mode (Kakashi).



The game moves the series on from fighting on a 2D plain to battling around a large 3D enviroment (with the ability to battle on walls and standing on water), but it still manages to feel similar to the old games. This is due to the control scheme retaining the simplicity of the same system of having one button to melee, one to jump and one for chakra based actions. Chakra is like the magic bar of the game, it allows you to pull off some spectacular specials and to power up normal attacks, such as, throwing a shuriken. The game also lets you take 2 other characters on your team to act as support during battle, at any time you can use L1 or R1 to call in a character to deal some damage to your opponent, you can also call both of them in at the same time to buy yourself time. The game also retains the items system, you can use the D-pad to use ninja items that range from deadly kunai traps, to stat boosting ramen. Battles in the game can get really intense with the inclusion of the “MASH!” sections which occur if two characters try to hit each other with special moves, the section forces players to mash a corresponding button as fast as they can in order to beat the opponents onslaught and claim the damage.

The game seems to really be ticking all the boxes for fans of the series, with the exception of the exemption of an online mode. The game seems to be a massive leap forward from it’s predecessors with battles now fought on huge scales. As long as the platforming sections are as good as the previous games and boss battles have the same intensity of normal fights, the expected release date of October 15th can come soon enough.