When it comes to Naruto games, it’s hard to keep coming out with games where you keep using the same characters over and over, and keep using the same storylines over and over. However, though much of that never changes, sometimes a game will come around and be something a bit unique and different. Naruto: Ninja Destiny is a hard game to review, because on one hand you’ve got to review the game for what it is, but on the other hand you’ve got to cut it a little slack for what it is trying to do. In the end, however, Naruto: Ninja Destiny is ultimately a nice little fighter on the portable DS.

THE STORY SO FAR
Naruto details the story of a young boy who had the spirit of the demon Nine-Tailed Fox implanted into him, thus shunning him and making him an outcast of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Not one to be put down, Naruto grows up to become resilient and strong, and ultimately one of the most promising ninjas of the village.

Naruto: Ninja Destiny follows a section of the Naruto mythology that many of the games up until now haven’t delved into. The game takes places starting right at the end of the Chunin Exams, where Naruto, among others, must compete against each other in hopes of proving themselves worthy to be ranked as a Chunin. After the Chunin Exams, you’ll be moving on to the battle of the legendary Sanin.

The story is told completely through static cutscenes and scrolling dialogue, detailing the adventures that fans should be familiar with by now if they’ve read the manga or have been watching the anime. As usual when it comes to Naruto games, we’re saddened that the game doesn’t go any farther, as the North American audience hasn’t got to experience really anything beyond what we’ve already been given, and personally I’m wanting to see stuff post time jump. Despite that it’s still nice that the game features a few story elements that not many past Naruto games have delved into.

GAMEPLAY
Like most Naruto fighters, the story mode of the game is pretty much the default when it comes to single-player gameplay at first, but you’ll probably play the mode a max of two or three times (to unlock extra characters). The story mode isn’t too long, especially if you are playing on the default difficulty setting and quickly pass through the cutscenes to get to the fighting. Once the story mode is done, you’ll then likely head to the arcade mode next, which will have you taking on a series of opponents one after another. Much like the story mode, one of the big reasons you’ll be spending time in this mode is because you’ll also be able to unlock a bunch of characters this way, such as using one character to beat the mode to unlock a new character, etc.

Up until now all of the Naruto fighters on the DS have been side-scrolling 2D fighters, but when it comes to Naruto: Ninja Destiny we’re looking at a first – the first 3D Naruto fighter on the DS. If you’ve ever played any of the Naruto games for the Gamecube or Wii, you’ll be right at home with the overall gameplay and look of Naruto: Ninja Destiny, as the two series share much in common with each other when it comes to gameplay.

Naruto: Ninja Destiny is a pretty casual game, meaning that it can be a button-mashers’ dream come true, but yet on its highest difficulty (or against a live human opponent) you’ll find yourself involved in some pretty hardcore fighting, featuring plenty of blocks, dodges, side-steps, and substitutions. It isn’t always there, but Naruto: Ninja Destiny can be a pretty hardcore game at times; it’s no Virtual Fighter, but then again not many fighters are. The directional pad controls your advancement forwards and backwards, as well as side-stepping in and out of the environment. You’ll also be using all of the other buttons as well, using the left trigger for substitutions, the right trigger for blocking, the Y-button for strong attacks, the B-button for light attacks, the X-button to jump, and the A-button to perform your personal jutsus that your characters are most famous for. Each character has a number of combos, which you’ll discover by combining strong and light attacks together, as well as directional presses as well.

The action all takes place on the top screen, but that doesn’t mean that the bottom screen is relegated to being useless. In Naruto: Ninja Destiny the touchscreen is used to activate a variety of powerups, which you are randomly dealt with at the beginning of each fight; these powerups are there for you to either use or not use depending on how you want to approach things (use them to make life easier or don’t to keep things challenging). Powerups range in usefulness from giving you a little health to a lot of health, giving you some extra chakra without having to work for it, improving attack and defense, and other such fight helping goodies. On the default setting you shouldn’t need to use the powerups at all, but when you crank the difficulty up you best get familiar with these powerups and fast.

Unlike the Japanese release, the game is much, much smoother and the framerate never failed or stuttered and stopped once; however, that doesn’t mean the action was perfect from beginning to end, as there are still some kinks. For instance, when you perform a substitution jutsu, you’re supposed to appear behind the opponent and out of the reach of damage, but depending on the combo the NPC is going through, it is still possible for them to hit you despite the fact that they are looking and attacking where you used to be and not where you are now. The gameplay is also a little unbalanced, as the personal jutsus are just as overpowered here as they are in other fighters, so it’s possible to takeaway about 75% of someone’s health in literally two or three seconds.

When it comes to the fighting roster, you’ll start out with seven different characters, but you’ll be able to gain almost double that amount by performing certain feats and unlocking them through gameplay. The roster should be pretty familiar and common for Naruto fighting fans by now, but there is at least one character you’ll be able to unlock that I can’t ever recall being unlockable in any other Naruto game before now.

Despite all the single-player modes to keep you busy, the game also features wireless, two-player, multi-card battling. All of the fighting gameplay from the single-player is available here as well, letting you perform the same moves, use the same characters, and so on and so on. So pick your favorite character, pick your favorite stage, and get to fighting with some buddies.

All in all, though the story mode won’t take you too long to complete, you’ll spend a fair amount of time going through the arcade mode to unlock all the fighters in the game, and once you’re done with that, you can always find a friend to fight to keep things going.

GRAPHICS
Okay, now we’re getting to the iffy part, where it’s hard to rip Naruto: Ninja Destiny a new one for what it is when you consider what it is trying to be. For starters, since this is the first Naruto 3D fighter on the system, the game looks great considering the fact that they are pushing the limits of the small DS to be able to actually function and run an honest to goodness 3D fighter, and the framerate is amazingly fast considering that. If you aren’t taking those facts into consideration, however, Naruto: Ninja Destiny is downright ugly at times, as the complex system doesn’t allow the developers to easily shape and mold the characters to make them as distinguishable as they are in other Naruto fighters. For instance, most of the characters look like amorphous human shapes given a little paint here and there, as it’s all but impossible to make out anything more than a shape or color when characters are bustling around and attacking each other. Still, despite that fact, the game does look good when you place it in perspective.

AUDIO
The audio is probably one of the biggest problems in the game, because while it does feature some really great MIDI background music to rock out to during a fight, the sound of attacks repeat way too often. However, the greatest audio flaw comes in the voice acting, which is surprising considering the actors are so great at their job. Don’t get us wrong, the voice actors still do a great job, but the sound mixers or someone made all the dialogue too low so it’s basically impossible to hear without headphones, and there is absolutely no vocal cues in the needed places, such as when the characters perform their special jutsus. When Naruto does his Rasengan, I expect Naruto to shout out, “Rasengan!” at the top of his lungs like he does in the series. Really, it’s just disappointing that the voiceovers weren’t incorporated into the game as well as they could’ve been.

IN CONCLUSION
Naruto: Ninja Destiny is a series that seems destined to have some growing pains, because while the fighting system is pretty solid, it could be done better, and before Tomy even thinks of doing a Naruto: Ninja Destiny 2, they really need to work on improving the graphics so that they are sharper and more detailed, and learn to properly use the audio cues. Despite some fairly big flaws, you still have to admire the game for what it is attempting to be, and in the end the game is still fun, and ultimately that is what matters the most when it comes to this game.

Rating:
Our Scoring System

login or register to post comments