Naruto, this may be one of your good games, but that's not always a good thing.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 is the sequel to last year's game. That said, this is a good improvement over last year's game, but not everything's welcome. The story has been overhauled to include the Hidden Leaf Takeover Arc, and an Arc we've never heard (The Naruto fanboys may have heard of these made-up arcs, I don't know). Nonetheless, the "campaign" is way too short, and you can finish it in an afternoon playthrough. In single-player, you only play as Naruto or Kakashi (later on), although if you take on the missions, you can play from Neji Hyuga to Sasuke Uchiha to ANBU Kakashi. You are limited to only the Hidden Leaf, which is a disappointment, even for a PS2 title. The single-player portion does leave you with satisfaction, but the real drawback is how easy it can be. This may alienate some people who are looking for a good fighting game. The combos are very easy to pull off, but it may take some people about 5 minutes to master the combos. What saves this title from mediocrity is the multiplayer aspect. Overall, there are 20+ ninjas you can fight with, from Naruto Uzumaki to Kankuro to everyone's favorite badass, Gaara of the Sand. The multiplayer is very fun, if and only if you play with somebody else. Depending on who your friends are, they may either hop onto the Naruto bandwagon or just stay out of its way. If you do play the multiplayer aspect, however, you will leave happy. it is exciting and you can create dream matches. New to the series is spinning the analog sticks as fast as you can when you pull of one of your character's 3 specials. It does leave your palms hurting, but it's a welcome addition.
Other than visiting Naruto's house or buying ninja info cards, there's nothing special about this title. The only reason why many will buy it is because it has the Naruto name on it. For people who just want a decent fighting game, this is the game for you. If you're a Naruto fan, this is the game for you. If you're a person who plays games such as Dead or Alive or Virtua Fighter, this may not be the game for you. If UN 2 had online, maybe it would have a higher score. However, the easy single-player campaign, the shallow combo system, and an overall same feeling as last year's Ultimate Ninja had leaves this game a lot to be desired.