good rent
First off, the graphics are beautilful in almost every way. The specials have all been redone, even though most were just displayed at different angles. The cell shaded figurines look as beautiful as ever, and the stages looks fantastic. My only problem with the graphics are the shadows. They look like an 8-bit Sonic out of a Genesis game!
Gameplay is very similar to the last installment. Added from its counterpart in Japan, Y-cancelling, sidestepping while running, two specials, stage obstacles and two-arena stages have all been added, but don't affect gameplay as much as it should. Gameplay modes have actually been removed, however. Oboro (shadow mode), Team Battle (3-man cell), and many of the extras packed in each installment of the series (ninja cards) have been removed rather then being added upon like in Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 3.
The story mode took a turn for the worse. Unlike Clash of Ninja 2 and Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 3, the story mode starts with the finals of the Chunin Exams, so new players unfamiliar to Naruto itself will have trouble understanding the story, such as Naruto's hatred towards Neji and how Rock Lee was seriously injured in the Chunin Exam Preliminaries, all of which were referenced but not throughly explained. New to the series, each missions have certain objectives that must be completed, all of which get harder as you take them on in either Genin, Chunin, or Jounin levels. Its all too short, while Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 3 has 32 missions, Revolution only offers 23.
The character roster isn't as improved as it should've been, either. Pretty unexected for a sequel, Revolution's character roster hasn't grew any larger than Clash of Ninja 2's. While the game adds 7 new characters, they remove 7 favorites (Iruka, Kiba, Zabuza, Haku) for no true reason. Among that, they also don't add characters that should have been in the game, and because of that it also ruins the story mode (Sarutobi, Kabuto, Chouji).
Sound is everything its supposed to be. Nothing more, nothing less. Like the gameplay itself, it ends up getting repetitive, and most of the sounds are just carried over from Clash of Ninja 2, which borrowed almost everything in terms of sound effects from the first Clash of Ninja.
Dispite these negative comments, however, the game has its strong points. Its addicting at first, adds three minigames to the spectrum, and its just never-ending fun in multiplayer. It ultimately is better than its predessor. However, I do recommend you rent it first.