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Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (Xbox 360) artwork

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (Xbox 360) review


"Essentially, if you're a fan of Naruto you'll probably love it. That's all I have to say, and I've probably wasted ten minutes writing this because almost NOBODY will look past the zany looking box art to the right. But if you do, I think you may find yourself enjoying this game a hullava lot more than you expected to."

Okay, I've decided to review this because nobody else has, and by doing so I may be committing social suicide on this site, despite having no social influence here anyway. However, I'm going to review it anyway, because I do enjoy Naruto.

First off, if you're one of those people who scornfully sniggers at anything Anime/Manga/Japanese - related, then you won't want to buy this game. It embodies pretty much every stereotypically weird asset of Manga and Anime culture, with giant ninja toads and battles between huge snakes and a demon fox being just a couple of these instances. If you're anti-Naruto, then leave now.

But if you enjoy Naruto, or any Anime for that matter (as long as you're not one of those opposed to Naruto because DBZ supposedly 'made' it) then I URGE you to buy Ninja Sotrm 2. Why? Because it's epic.

I'm not going to make this a long review, purely because there isn't that much to talk about. The game's story tackles the Shippuden series up until Naruto saves the Leaf Village from Pein (see? If you don't watch/read, don't buy) including the major battles, such as Sakura and Chiyo against Sasori. The free play mode involves tag or single team battles with a satisfying roster of around 45 characters, each with their own jutsus and 'Ultimate' jutsus. Then there's online play. And that's the game modes, in a nut-shell.

But the thing about the Ultimate Storm series, I feel, is that it has GREAT replay value. I bought this game last October, and I'm still playing it over the likes of Brink (bash it if you will but I only bought it a couple of days ago). When friends come over (admittedly, other fan-boys of the genre) we have an awesome time, mixed with intense battling and pi*sing ourselves laughing at how insanely fast-paced it is once you begin to master the gameplay, which doesn't take long. It's an investement, if you're into ninja-fighting with a juicy and colourful twist.

The story gives little perks, such as Ninja Info Cards with different titles and pictures to unlock and use online as a sort of profile, and there are quite a lot of side missions to be completed, a couple of which I still haven't done because I can't find all of Tonton's (a small pig) pearls... Yeah, some of the quests are a bit... yeah.

It's quite different from the other games based on the series, such as Broken Bonds, and this is one down-side. The lack of complex jutsus means the game seems a lot simpler than most would like, but the sheer speed of the battles means that if button-sequences such as in Broken Bond, were employed then the game would be either painfully slowed down or impossible to beat.

But still, I must stress the fact that this game has one of the longest replay values I've come across for a long time. Both on free-play, and online too, where there is are ascending ranks to overtake and prove your worth oline, though the negative considering onlien-play is the myriad of utter 'noobs' who incessantly play as Naruto and/or Sasuke, both of whom have near-unbeatable 'Awakenings' (a mode reached after a certain amount of health is depleted). Many times I've resorted to screaming at my T.V because of these people, who, without being discriminating here, seem worryingly often to be French... Strange.

Essentially, if you're a fan of Naruto you'll probably love it. That's all I have to say, and I've probably wasted ten minutes writing this because almost NOBODY will look past the zany looking box art to the right. But if you do, I think you may find yourself enjoying this game a hullava lot more than you expected to.



Elephant_Joe's avatar
Community review by Elephant_Joe (May 31, 2011)

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fleinn posted May 31, 2011:

..Nagato is definitively called "Pain" ..'attebayo.

Funny thing, really. Japan has a few of these fighting games that look like these. Dragon Ball, there's another ninja one -- they all seem to be designed for online competitions in a way that Tekken and MK and so on isn't. A bit similar to Marvel vs. Capcom - that it's based on combos and timing more than instant reaction and counters.. ...did this have online like DB, btw?
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Elephant_Joe posted May 31, 2011:

Yeah, definitely, online's a large element of the game, and yeah, a lot of the time, it's down to good timing xD So many times I've been thrashing some guy, and then they've got me to the floor with one hit and on the rebound hit me with some ridiculous one-hit k.o :p But it is good, that makes it sound bad. There are loads of ranks to ascend to; I'm Tsuchikage apparently, despite playing as Kankuro xD And that's after months of playing.

And also, fair enough with the Pain comment xD I never know which one to use, fearing whichever one I pick will result in a horde of angry fans nerd-raging. At least you said it nicely.
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fleinn posted May 31, 2011:

:) ..pretty sure it's a transliteration hiccup for the Japanese pronunciation of "Pain", that only exists in the licensed version of the series.

Anyway, you described that strange way the game is pretty intense, even if it's not as immediate as other fighting games really well. I mean.. it's pretty much necessary to have this to make it work online, because of the lag. Because it gives you the opportunity to react to the action the other player makes, even if it's not immediate. Instead of ending up just being too late, etc. But well done explaining part of that without going technical..

..what was tsuchi again..? Earth?
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Elephant_Joe posted June 01, 2011:

Yarp, the hovering midget of the Stone Village xD Yeah, when it does lag, which inevitably happens even if I always insist it's the other's stupid connection, it sucks 'cuz like you said, you get a massive reaction period and everything just fails horribly xD
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fleinn posted June 01, 2011:

Right, grumpy guy with the back-ache.

So you still get those obvious "I couldn't react to that", even with the "slow combo counter" thing..? How does that look?
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Elephant_Joe posted June 01, 2011:

Mm, they do crop up and it's annoying as hell. But to be honest it's not often, and the noobs online only really manage to get you into one of those situations if you go all out and frenzy like a mentalist xD I don't know how everybody else plays, but I prefer a more defensive strategy and waiting for them to make a move... the only problem THERE is there's a chance someone else is the same. But yeah, when you're in the air and they do a finishing move it's frustrating, but more often than not you can escape somehow... after all, it's a game of ninja :p
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zippdementia posted June 06, 2011:

Many times I've resorted to screaming at my T.V because of these people, who, without being discriminating here, seem worryingly often to be French... Strange.

I remember playing DBZ something-or-other with a group of Frenchmen and they were ridiculous. They sucked at Street Fighter 4, though.

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