Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm

[wile]

Evolving the head-to-head fighting action of the Ultimate Ninja series, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm allows players to battle in full 3D across massive environments. Players will unleash powerful jutsu attacks, perform acrobatic evasive maneuvers and even run up walls and over water as they pursue their opponent for ninja supremacy. Players will be able to customize their character's fighting style and recruit up to two support characters to put their own stamp on the action.

 

Allowing players to further immerse themselves in the world of Naruto, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm introduces all-new free-roaming exploration across the Hidden Leaf Village and the Forest of Death. Players can search every inch of these iconic environments to take on more than 100 unique missions, collect valuable scrolls and interact with additional characters from the Naruto animated series. Injecting additional variety to the game’s head-to head combat, these missions include races, special deliveries and large-scale battles against massive opponents.

 

 

 

 

Published by: Namco Bandai

Developed by: CyberConnect2

Release Date: October 2008

Genre: Action

 

Exclusively on PlayStation 3

Release Date: October 1, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

================

 

 

Some media just got released about the new Naruto PS3 Game. It actually looks a little better than Rise of a Ninja which is a damn good cell shaded game.

 

 

[Kazekage Gaara]

Thats going to be one heck of an awesome game

[wile]

[Hahaman]

yep certainly naruto rise of a ninja m playing on the 360 its awesome cant wait for this game

[Hahaman]

Evolving the head-to-head fighting action of the Ultimate Ninja series, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm allows players to battle in full 3D across massive environments. Players will unleash powerful jutsu attacks, perform acrobatic evasive maneuvers and even run up walls and over water as they pursue their opponent for ninja supremacy. Players will be able to customize their character's fighting style and recruit up to two support characters to put their own stamp on the action.

 

Allowing players to further immerse themselves in the world of Naruto, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm introduces all-new free-roaming exploration across the Hidden Leaf Village and the Forest of Death. Players can search every inch of these iconic environments to take on more than 100 unique missions, collect valuable scrolls and interact with additional characters from the Naruto animated series. Injecting additional variety to the game’s head-to head combat, these missions include races, special deliveries and large-scale battles against massive opponents.

 

 

 

 

Published by: Namco Bandai

Developed by: CyberConnect2

Release Date: October 2008

Genre: Action

 

Exclusively on PlayStation 3

Release Date: October 1, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hahaman]

OMG just in the right time when i buy my ps3 n i hope its the like naruto:rise of a ninja as it was awesome free roaming n graphics r looking even better this time

[Hahaman]

thanks hps

[K'dash]

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Trailer!!

 

 

OMFG!!!!! That video is all ingame!!!! Finally an awesome Naruto game!!! I will finally need to buy the PS3 for this game.. oh n for Kof Xii as well...

[K'dash]

Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Hands-On - PS3 Demo, Graphics, and Gameplay

 

If you've been keeping an eye on the video game landscape, you might have noticed more than a few games based on Naruto bursting onto the scene. You'd think main character Naruto Uzumaki had just performed his signature Shadow Clone Jutsu move and spawned a small army of lookalikes ready to do battle. The latest entry in the wall of Naruto games comes from Namco Bandai, which, along with developer CyberConnect2, is prepping Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm for the PlayStation 3. We had a chance to try out the upcoming demo of the game, which is set to be released in the coming weeks.

 

 

The demo features two playable characters to try, Naruto and his teacher Kakashi. Additionally, there are cameos from Naruto's rival Sasuke, his gal pal Sakura, and team leader Guy, all of whom appear as support characters you can call in during a fight. You'll be able to duke it out against the CPU or a friend on a smallish training stage that has you fighting on land and water. The demo focuses on Ninja Storm's combat system, which is simple but accessible, and uses four buttons. You'll attack with the circle button, jump with X, toss shuriken with square, and access your chakra to enhance your basic attacks. Overall, the system feels solid and responsive. Although there were aspects of the control system that reminded us of the recent Dragon Ball Z game, Ninja Storm has a unique feel to it that appears to offer more user-controlled options in battle.

 

The game's presentation sticks faithfully to the sights and sounds of its source material. The character models feature nuanced cel-shading that captures the look of the anime. The environments look clean and serve as a good framework for the action. The various attacks and animations for all of the characters offer a host of subtle touches that give the motion during combat a surprisingly elegant look. And the special effects and over-the-top animations during battle and for everyone's special attacks were impressive complements to the fluid action. The demo highlights one of the little audio touches that CyberConnect2 is putting in for fans: Japanese and English voice work for the characters. The use of the anime voice actors and assorted sound effects from the anime should please fans looking for authenticity.

 

 

Based on this small slice of the action in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, we're anxious to get our hands on the full game. The fighting system has a nice, tight feel to it that we're eager to explore. The game is confidently capturing the feel of the anime so far, which leaves us hungry to see more. The demo will be available in the coming weeks on the PlayStation Network. Look for more updates on Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm in the next few weeks at E3. The game is currently slated to ship later this year exclusively for the PlayStation 3.

 

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/naruto/...tml?sid=6193129

[Raditz]

The gameplay Vid looks awesome !, I'll definately get a copy as soon as they're out

[Somebody]

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Updated Impressions - Story Battles, Characters, Free Battle Mode

Namco Bandai shows off more of its upcoming action game based on the Naruto series.

 

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is another attempt to translate the popular anime into game form. Our previous time with the game so far has left us with a good impression. Publisher Namco Bandi recently showed us a bit more of Ultimate Ninja Storm to give us a better idea of what to expect from the promising action game.

 

The daredevil ninja known as Naruto is back in an all-new adventure.

They new elements we saw were the story mode and the game's various missions. The main single player modes will be the "ultimate mission" mode, which will include two sets of missions, five story arc-specific missions, and various side-missions which will have different difficulty levels. The story arc missions will hit a bunch of key moments in the series. Fans should be pleased to see these playable missions will include the Genin training, the Chunin Exam, the Leaf Destruction, the Tsunade Search, and the Chasing Sasuke story arcs. Three of the arcs will get some extra visual flair, courtesy of cinematics that will add some kick to the storytelling for three of the arcs.

 

If you've played the Xbox 360 Ubisoft Naruto game, you'll have a good idea of what expect from this new game in terms of structure. You'll take control of Naruto Uzemaki, ninja-in-training and demon receptacle extraordinaire. The centerpiece to the story and mission modes will be Naruto's home of Hidden Leaf Village, which is being recreated in rich detail for the game. You'll be able to roam the village and interact with the residents, some of whom will send you on missions. As you go through the game, you'll collect specific items will serve as the ingredients for dishes that will enhance your abilities once you take them to the local ramen shop. Naruto's abilities will be key to exploring the village, which is a dense area chock full of nooks and crannies. You'll gain a super jump ability, along with a special attack to let you knock down obstacles that will open up secret stashes of items to collect. While the moves look cool, the most important upgrading you'll be doing will be increasing your "chakra" gauge, which powers all your special moves. When you start the game it will be modestly sized, but as you go about your business, you'll be able to upgrade to a longer one.

 

In our time with the game, we watched a bit of city exploration, but focused on a story encounter that showed off the game's impressive art style and over-the-top action. In this particular scene, our boy Naruto had been taken out and was being defended by Tsunade. A short cinematic set up Tsunade and Jiraiya facing off against Orochimaru, who summons Manda, king of snakes. In response Jiraiya summons Gamabunta, the toad king, and Tsunade summons...slug queen Katsuyu.

 

Other characters from the anime series will make appearances in the game

While you'd think a battle between the three wouldn't end too well for anyone who isn't a snake king (since slugs and toads aren't known for their deadly nature), good triumphs eventually. The fight was an engaging mix of action and cinematics. The battle was broken into different chunks as Manda's attack pattern changed. The action was your usual mix of dodging and attacking with projectiles. However, there were also special attacks that flowed into cinematic sequences showing the game's crazy, over-the-top fighting maneuvers, which would either be hands-off sequences to watch, or hands-on sequences that required you to press buttons in a certain sequence. At its core, all the combat is pretty simple, but the presentation goes a long way towards making it a cool, flashy spectacle. Fans should also be happy to hear that the game will feature English and Japanese voice acting, along with subtitles, for the complete Naruto experience. Once Manda got a beatdown, a closing cinematic showed Orochimaru and Kabuto bugging out and leaving everyone to tend to Naruto.

 

In addition to watching the single-player story mode demo, we were also able to get our hands on the free battle mode. Namco let us mess around with four new characters, Kimimaro, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. Kankuro was a blast to play thanks to his aggressive use of puppets which, let's face it, we don't see enough of in fighting games. The action bordered on being too crazy in spots during combat, which made it a tough to keep track of what was going on at times. The total madness of some of the special attacks didn't help matters much, but they sure did look cool.

 

The look and sound of the game continue to shine thanks to the art direction and audio that stays faithful to the anime. The characters look and move just like their animated counterparts. The game's animation continues to impress us with its stylized motion which really captures the kinetic movement from the anime. We also have to call out the game's scale, which gives the action an expansive feel. The fight with Manda benefitted from this attention to detail--in fact, the battle was right out of the anime. The only rough spot that stood out right now is the sometimes-awkward camera angles during battle.

 

You can actually expect to see some pretty large-scale battles in the game.

Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm continues to impress us as we see more of the game. The story mode is coming along nicely and the additional side-missions should offer a decent helping of content outside of the meaty story mode. The visuals really nail the anime's look and the character animation is good and smooth. Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm is slated to ship this October for the PlayStation 3.

[Somebody]

Naruto: The Equal-Opportunity Ninja

Added by Brad Shoemaker

That Naruto series you kids love so much has one of the stranger licensing arrangements in the game industry. Rather than granting all the rights to one publisher and letting them run amok, like most licensers do, the Naruto people have split the rights up between different platforms. So you get one set of Naruto games on the Nintendo systems--those are put out by D3 in the US--and another, totally different series from Namco Bandai and developer CyberConnect2 on the PlayStation platforms. Both of those series have traditionally focused on fighting game-style action. Most recently, Ubisoft swooped in and picked up Xbox Naruto rights, which they turned into the first open-world Naruto game, Rise of a Ninja, late last year.

 

The game uses some fine-looking cel-shading.

Not to be outdone, CyberConnect 2's first PlayStation 3 Naruto game, Ultimate Ninja Storm, has a similar open-world element to it, which Namco Bandai showed off in a recent visit to the Giant Bomb dungeon. The Konoha in this game seems like more of a simple hub, where you simply talk to characters and pick up story and side missions. Those missions will then pop a loading screen that sends you off into other areas not physically connected to Konoha where you get your ninja-fighting business taken care of. That's in contrast to Ubi's game, where you pursued a lot of missions inside Konoha, and which had you manually traveling on foot to other objectives located in the wilderness outside the Leaf Village.

 

I have to imagine there's a semi-friendly rivalry going between Ubisoft and Namco Bandai with their respective Naruto games. Ubi is already back this year with a sequel, The Broken Bond, which picks up where the last game left off (somewhere around episode 80 of the anime). By contrast, Ultimate Ninja Storm apparently covers the same span of the series' story arc as both of Ubi's games. It must be weird for those teams, only being able to make their game on one platform, and getting to see what the other team does with the same material on a different, comparable piece of hardware.

 

One of the big features Namco is pushing with this game is epic, enormous boss fights, and by example they showed off an encounter with Orochimaru, who was riding on top of a big gnarly purple snake that had to be 100 feet tall, at least. The gameplay seems to be a little dumbed down by necessity in these sequences, since the camera angles go all over the place and you can't really take on a 20-story-tall snake in hand-to-hand combat anyway. (Because it has no hands! Ha! Ugh.) The fight mostly involved dodging projectiles, throwing projectiles, and hitting buttons through some God of War-style interactive cutscenes. But what it lacked in deep gameplay, it more than made up for with bombastic presentation. It looked more like prerendered video than actual gameplay, but it was all running in real-time.

 

BIG a*s BOSS FIGHT.

 

Ultimate Ninja Storm's fighting engine is more reminiscent of stuff like Power Stone than a traditional hardcore 2D fighter. The attack controls are simplified--one button for melee, one for projectile attacks, and so on--so it's easy to play, and the game does a good job of making a lot of cool stuff happen even when you're just flailing on the buttons. You also get to pick a couple of helpers before each match and even select which of their attacks to bring in with you, so the fights end up looking varied with six different characters flying all over the place all the time. The camera angle is a little strange, since it's placed behind and over the shoulder of one of the two fighters, but I got used to it after a couple of matches, and it just helped amp up the dynamic appearance of the fights. There's a demo out on the PlayStation Network that I believe focuses solely on the fighting, so go grab that and see for yourself if you can get down with this kind of simple/cinematic action.

 

Now, I'm no big fan of Naruto, the anime, but I played through Rise of a Ninja last year because 1) I'm a sucker for a reasonably well-designed open-world game, and 2) it was gorgeously cel-shaded. This year I think Ultimate Ninja Storm might look even better. If you're a graphics wh*re like myself, you have to appreciate the way these cartoon-styled games are pushing the graphical techniques and cinematic flair required to make them resemble their source material. There were times in that massive boss fight where Ultimate Ninja Storm looked for all the world like a high-def anime episode, not a video game. So I'll continue to be interested in this and other anime games on the 360 and PS3 completely irrespective of their subject matter, just to see how amazing they end up looking.

[IshmaelIsBack]

I absolutely loved the demo on PSN

 

It actually lets us fight as Naruto and kakashi as well

 

a brilliant 3D world with environment and body physics which match a fighting game as well as being anime based as well.

 

The demo was awesome and I play it even now after all these days.

 

The player takes control of the character using the left analog stick while every direction on the D-Pad is for small items such as shurikens , ramen ( for Naruto ) and so on.

 

There are 3 Life bars in Total ( somewhat similar to DBZ Budokai 3 on the Playstation 2 , I mean not just this but the overall gameplay )

 

There's an awakening mode ( Nine Tail Kyuubi for Naruto and Sharingan for Kakashi etc ) when you run short of life A.K.A. you have just less than one life bar.

 

Of course there are Ultimate Jutsu's , with Naruto having 2 of them actually , Rasengan ( when Kyuubi is Awakened ) and Shadow Wind Shuriken whereas Kakashi's moves will be a lot faster in his Awakening mode of Sharingan and his Ultimate Jutsu being Chidori without doubt.

 

Here are my videos of both of their Ultimate Jutsus in Awakening mode shot when I was playing

 

 

Chidori by Kakashi in Sharingan Mode

 

 

Rasengan of Naruto when the Nine Tail Fox is Awakened

[wile]

The demo is fantastic, but I wish they would bring online play in. My brother and I play the demo whenever we get the chance, it may feel like button mashing at first but the amount of stuff you can pull off is ridiculous.

 

Wile

[XephY]

If only wishes came true

I wish they'd put Shippuuden in as well :cry5:

[Hahaman]

can u roam around the world in this game like roan??

[IshmaelIsBack]

@ Xephy

 

I guess the story mode leads to Shippuden eventually and perhaps the old trio gets unlocked as playable characters

 

ANBU as well

[ΨΨ babloos ΨΨ]

ign review-8.4

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Review

Has Naruto finally mastered his Shadow Clone Jutsu?

 

My experiences with developer CyberConnect2 usually revolve around the now extremely iconic, yellow-haired ninja, Naruto. Making the leap from manga to anime and then to videogames, Naruto has made a serious impact on anime culture but usually his games leave something to be desired. Although CyberConnect2's previous Naruto titles have had a few problems, they were among the better Naruto games and were often very entertaining even for non-fans, all things considered. Now, Naruto makes his PS3 debut thanks to CyberConnect2's efforts in the form of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm -- the best Naruto game I've ever played and an all-around entertaining title to boot.

 

In case you're completely unfamiliar with Naruto, the franchise follows a mischievous, energetic ninja that possesses the spirit of the great Nine-Tailed Fox. Ultimate Ninja Storm is a, as I like to call it, "casual" fighting game that follows the first plot arcs of the anime series and gives players the chance to fight classic Naruto battles, play mini-games and roam the quaint streets of the Hidden Leaf Village.

 

The most obvious thing you'll notice about Ultimate Ninja Storm is the game's phenomenal visuals. While the environments are on the simpler side, the character animations are unreal. The fluidity, attention to detail and even camera angles are executed with such expertise and palpable, Naruto-passion that you can't help but fall in love with how the characters move and fight. I would almost go so far as to say that the characters' Ultimate Jutsu techniques are worth the price of admission, but luckily the entire package is fun, too.

 

Ultimate Ninja Storm is generally broken up into two modes: Ultimate Mission Mode and Free Battle Mode. Unless you're just playing against a friend, you'll be spending most of your time in Ultimate Mission Mode. The great thing about Ultimate Ninja Storm is that CyberConnect2 recognized that fighting games need something other than straight fighting to keep the longevity of the experience strong. Because Ultimate Ninja Storm isn't a highly technical fighter and has a casual engine, that added content goes a long way.

 

That content is delivered in the form of a robust collection of missions that are accessed from a large hub world -- a fully explorable Hidden Leaf Village. You can run and jump through the village as Naruto, purchase items and collect unlockables and then access missions by talking to different characters. Those missions range from standard fights, a few mini-games or even massive boss/giant battles.

 

The mini-games -- which involve a lot of tree jumping and dodging branches -- are good fun but I would have liked to see a bit more variety in them, like what we saw in CyberConnect2's previous titles. But everything else works great and having 100 missions to work through with bonus conditions included (to encourage multiple play-throughs) definitely adds up your total play time.

 

I've referred to Ultimate Ninja Storm as a "casual" fighting game several times now, so an explanation is in order. The primary game mechanic here is obviously one-on-one fighting with support characters that can come in for a quick jab or two, but Ultimate Ninja Storm doesn't play like a traditional franchise like Street Fighter. Almost every awesome-looking move can be pulled off by pounding away at the Circle button, and that simplicity is both the game's greatest strength and weakness. CyberConnect2 -- as has been the case before -- is interested in bringing the highly stylized, fast action of Naruto to players of all skill levels. Thus, all attacks are pulled off with the Circle button and only a few other button presses are needed in battle. You can power up your Chakra with Triangle, throw shurikens with Square and jump/dash with X. Also, you can block and dodge with L2/R2 and the aforementioned support characters can be called in with a quick tap of L1/R1.

 

Despite the fact that you can do so much with the Circle button, there's still a fair amount of strategy to be found in Ultimate Ninja Storm and you'll need a good bit of skill to push through more difficult battles. Skill comes into play mainly when you consider having to manage your Chakra meter, block and deflect incoming attacks and using the proper timing for Jutsu and Ultimate Jutsu. This actually leads to a nice balance of approachable combat with the potential for mastery. The straight-forward combat might turn hardcore gamers off, but I think there's enough depth in the system to keep most people entertained.

 

Ultimate Ninja Storm does have a few issues to note. There's a mandatory install that takes about 11 minutes or so. That in itself isn't bad, but the game has way too much loading for an install of that size. It's not unbearable by any means, but jumping in and out of the Hidden Leaf Village hub world should be quicker.

 

Also, I would have liked to see a few more cutscenes and a more fleshed out narrative. The actual cutscenes (as opposed to just text readouts) are few and far between, but when they do pop up they're fun to watch so I wish CyberConnect2 would have capitalized on that a touch more. My only serious complaint to level at gameplay, however, is that Substitution Jutsu seems quite finicky (this Jutsu involves hitting L2/R2 at the moment your opponent's strike connects, teleporting you behind him). No matter what timing I tried, my success with this Jutsu seemed very sporadic and that was frustrating -- especially when you're on the receiving end of a hyper-epic combo.

 

Closing Comments

 

Ultimate Ninja Storm is fun and the fast-paced battles look and feel very tight. I have to once again reiterate just how incredible this game looks. Say what you will about the gameplay, but watching these characters perform Ultimate Jutsu is certainly a sight to behold. Despite my few qualms with this game, I definitely recommend it to Naruto fans and I'll even extend that recommendation to non-fans who are itching for some stylized, ninja-heavy action.

[ΨΨ babloos ΨΨ]

7.5 Presentation

Loading times are on the longer side, but Ultimate Ninja Storm is a slick title with a fairly high level of polish. Could have used more story-telling devices, though.

 

9.0 Graphics

Not only is Ultimate Ninja Storm the best-looking Naruto game I've ever seen, but it just looks outstanding in general. Animation fluidity is unbelievable.

 

8.0 Sound

Dual language tracks are a nice option and music is fun to listen to. Occasional sound glitch when you end a battle with Ultimate Jutsu, but nothing game-breaking.

 

8.0 Gameplay

Straight-forward and simple. Enough timing-related gameplay to satisfy skilled gamers, but makes the breath-taking style of Naruto easily accessible.

 

8.0 Lasting Appeal

Tons of unlockables to collect, though sometimes world exploration and Secret Scroll gathering can be bothersome. Otherwise, Ultimate Ninja Storm is entertaining and will last a fair while.

 

8.4

Impressive OVERALL

(out of 10 / not an average)

[Somebody]

1up Review

 

UNS has its stunning moments, but its problems weigh down an otherwise enjoyable game. As an adventure game, UNS' pacing feels slow and forced, with the best parts (the bosses) at the end of a chapter. As a fighting game, UNS defies conventions by using an atypical third-person approach, but its execution feels a bit loose and sloppy. The beautiful visuals may attract a new audience outside of the Naruto brand -- but not many devout followers.

 

B-