
	Platform Xbox 360 Genre Fighting Publisher Namco Bandai Developer CyberConnet2 ESRB T (Teen) Released October 19, 2010

- Adds online gameplay for the first time - Cut-scenes play out as an actual animated episode of the show for fans to enjoy

- Adventure mode is nothing more than a mediocre item-collecting chore with possible paths of exploration never clearly understood, and even worse, it gets frustrating waiting over and over for each little section of the environment to load - Casual gamers not versed on the Naruto history won’t find this very appealing, even with good button-mashing fighting sequences

Review: Naruto Shippuden Vol.1 (DVD) Review: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2 - The Phantom Fortress (PSP Review: Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution (Wii)
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Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2

Score: 7.0 / 10

With a magna/anime franchise clearly as immensely popular worldwide and especially in Japan as Naruto is, is easy to see why there’s literally dozens of games based on it readily available. And here’s yet another: Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja: Storm 2 on the Xbox 360, which is primarily a good fighting game tag-teamed with a mediocre action-adventure that’s definitely meant to be alluring more to the Naruto fanatic than Joe Average Gamer.

As a non-Naruto expert, I won’t even try and figure out the nuances and plotlines of what’s going on through the adventure mode of the game. But for fans, the Naruto Shippuden story will drive all the gameplay, and for those that can actually get through the mediocre item-collecting aspect, there’s a solid multi-tiered fighting

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game and excellent anime-quality cut-scenes that play out the background story. Most of the “action” in the adventure mode has gamers delivering items or collecting them, and even worse, to move throughout the adventure, gamers have to constantly over and over wait for each little section of the gaming environment to load. On top of that, there are no clearly defined branching paths that gamers can

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see. Some areas are discovered purely on chance, or by pushing your character around various points of the environment currently on-screen until the character is able to head off into another direction. The only time the adventure mode isn’t mediocre is when there is a ninja battle between the gamer (along with a support character that can be called in a la tag-team wrestling, when the need for assistance in the fight arises) and a foe.

It’s the fighting game, the main gameplay of the entire Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja: Storm 2 experience, that is much better than the entire adventure mode, although those gamers not familiar with Naruto may not find it quite as enjoyable. The button-mashing fighting takes on a multi-tiered approach, with the gamer needing to climb tiers in the battle as it escalates to finally defeat their foe. Some of the fights are bizarre, with strange, weird opponents that only a Naruto fanatic could appreciate, too. A new feature sure to delight Naruto fighters is that for the first time, there is online Xbox Live fights available.

With so many choices on so many varying platforms, I’m not sure how gamers who are avid Naruto aficionados can delineate which Naruto title is really worthy of purchase over the others (although the most rabid Naruto fans probably buy them all). But those looking for a mix of good multi-tiered fighting that’s finally available online with some elements of an action-adventure (although nowhere near as engaging as the fighting aspect) that also provides long, fan-appealing anime cut-scenes that weave together another Naruto tale should be satisfied with the second installment of this particular Naruto-based franchise.

– Lee Cieniawa
lcieniawa@armchairempire.com

(February 1, 2011)