Ultimate Ninja Review Part 2. Let's be honest here and provide a well-thoughtout review.
Presentation is someting that was well done for this title. Colourful box art helps it stand out on the shelves of game retailers, which are usually covered with titles from various producers. Eye catching is important, and this title doesn't fail in that regard. Also, Bandai Namo provides great website support at http://www.hokagesroom.com/link.html?i=KzY0cw where players can get passwords to unlock various goodies in the game. For those looking to pick up the title or have already, http://hokagesroom.com/?friend=xrUrNd provides a community page for players to discuss various Naruto related topics and compete for prizes. For simply owning the game, players can quickly accumulate points towards prizes like Naruto Headbands and upcoming Naruto titles, lilke Naruto Uzumaki Chronicles 2. This is very appreciated since many game websites provide only a taste of what players will expect and maybe a few wallpapers to decorate their computer screens. I give Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2 an 8 for this effort.
Gameplay is also on the right track. Those who played the original Ultmate Ninja will find NUN2 to be a significant upgrade. Gameplay is smoother and players can now execute special movies outside of combos with simple commands that even rookies can preform. The new Ultimate Road also provides a new spin on fighting game story modes, where players can play through story arcs from the TV show, as well as a new one, the Gedo Mark quest. It is refreshing to run around the villiage of Konoha and talk with various Naruto characters, while being challenged to fight and compete in a slew of mini games. The character roster is both a blessing and a curse for this title. With more then double the amount of playable characters, players will jump at the new additionals like Uchiha Itachi and the Third Hokage. Each character has their own unique moveset, and even Might Guy and Rock Lee, who are mirrors of each other in the show, have their own arsenal of attacks. This being said, don't expect to win in fights with Genins when your opponent is using some of these new characters. Unlike titles like Capcom vs SNK 2 Mark of the Millenium, where boss characters have been toned down or are few in number, there is a significant division on those who are powerful and those who aren't in NUN2. While it might be challenging to take Tsunade on with someone like Haruno Sakura, it gets frustrating after a while. Because of this, characters are as well not as rounded as other Bandai Namco titles like Tekken 5 and Soul Calibur 3. This, on top of the hard to execute techniques like the substituion justu, which is very easy to perform in the Naruto Clash of Ninja series, creates a huge divsion between novice and expert players. So don't expect to win against someone who has mastered these techniques while using characters like the Third Hokage. That being said, NUN2 does deserve an 8 for gameplay, nothing higher though.
Visuals are impressive, although not fully rendered in 3D. I gave Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2 a 9 in my last review, and I stand by my decision here and this is why. When placing Dragon Quest VIII, a game highly praised by the gaming community, besides this title, one will notice that cell-shading is is a fair bit better in Ultimate Ninja 2. The hard edged found in the Square-Enix title aren't found in NUN2, as they have been smoothed out, providing players a much cleaner cast of characters. Stages design is also very well done. Vibrant colours, proper shading and impressive 3D rendering make them come to life. It is hard not to feel like one is playing through the TV show when these backgrounds can be even distracting during a fight. For this effort, Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2 deserves high praise for its graphics.
Sound, unlike visuals, has a lot of room for improvement. What we find is a rather bland soundtrack for an otherwise exception game. What is upsetting is that players won't even find Toshiro Masuda's staple tacks from the show, but instead, cheap mock ups which really take away from this game. Voice acting as well needed to be better. Voice overs didn't match lip movement and in certain circumstances, the lips continued to move after the speech stopped. While graphics were a step above that those of Dragon Quest VIII, Square-Enix did a far better job casting voice actors. Although the actors used were the same used in the Engilsh dubbed version of Naruto, the quality of the lines delivered were well below those of Viz's already low standards for this show. While it may seem unfair, I stand by my decision of giving Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2 a 6 for sound.
This games replay value can be easily defined by its large character roster and enormous amount of unlockable goodies. While customizing characters does provide additonal shelf life to NUN2, some players will prefer not to spend too much time with this since it takes away from the uniqueness of each character. They will not simply choose a different character with the right moves then try to put those same moves on the wrong one. Ultimate Road provides hours of gameplay, but it would have been nice to include a simpler arcade style mode or unique stories for each character than having the game centered around a pseudo role-playing adventure. While others would give this game a 9 or 10 in value, I will stick with a modest 8 for those who aren't avid Naruto fans.
With all this said, Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2 isn't simply a game for those who enjoy the hit TV show, but it is an enjoyable title for those looking for another good game on the PS2. With many developers now producing titles for the next-gen system, which are either hard to find due to their high demand, or too expensive and troublesome for players to pay the hefty price tag, it is nice to find a game of this quaity still on current-gen consoles.