I got sick one weekend (who ISN’T sick?!) and decided to pop in Naruto: Rise of the Ninja. Having demo’d the 1v1 fighting mode a million times, I knew the game wasn’t too shabby. In fact, the thing that stood out the most was the 3-dimensional 2D graphics and the quick gameplay. I was a bit hesitant to play an anime based game since I am seriously out of the anime loop and have no idea what the whole Naruto craze is about. The last complete series that I watched was His and Her Circumstances and that was almost 5 years ago! But I guess that’s why this game was perfect for me! It actually follows the first 80 episodes of the Naruto series and includes all or most of the action, silly Japanese humor, and cool moves from the anime. In addition to that, a lot of the cut scenes are actually bits and pieces from the cartoon itself so you feel like you get to watch the anime and then play the main character at the same time!

The game is quest based so it’s up to you to do the main quests and side quests. Most of them are pretty fast - looking for some herbs, running a race on top of the buildings, training on your Jutsus, etc. And every once in a while, you’ll run into some bandit or ninja and have to fight him 1v1. The bosses are tough and may take many tries, but that’s what keeps the game from being TOO simple.

I’d definitely recommend this game - especially if you don’t know a thing about Naruto. I know there’s a ton of Naruto games out there, but next time you’re trying to remember which one is the GOOD Naruto game, just remember: Naruto: Rise of a Ninja. Or Naruto:ROAN. Or -

Naruto:
Remember
Only
Awesome
Ninjas!!