Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 the latest game in Ultimate Ninja series, and is the first of the series to be multiplatform. For those who are unfamiliar with Naruto Shippuden (that’s probably most people), the series started with a Japanese manga comic series about a young, blond ninja who aspires to one day be Hokage of Hidden Leaf Village – essentially the village’s powerful ninja leader. The success of the comic lead to a 220 episode anime cartoon series of Naruto, and eventually a second series called Naruto Shippuden. In Japan, Naruto is big business, and outside of Japan Naruto has built up a sizeable cult following, particularly in North America. The success of the franchise has led to a number of spin-off products, including nearly 50 computer games. However, don’t worry if you aren’t familiar with the franchise, a bit of research and patience will set you on the right track in no time.

The story behind Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is very confusing if you’re new to the series, but once you familiarise yourself with a few key concepts it’s pretty easy to follow. Naruto is a teenage ninja who had a difficult childhood but is fundamentally a good kid who one day wants to become Hokage. When Naruto was very young his father was Hokage, until he died saving the Hidden Leaf Village from a massively powerful demon known as the Nine-Tailed Fox. In order to defeat the demon, Naruto’s father was forced to seal the demon inside Naruto, leaving him pretty messed up but also able to draw on massive reserves of ninja energy called chakra. This chakra is what gives a ninja its supernatural powers, and hence Naruto is capable of some incredible feats. Unfortunately, having the demon sealed inside him has also made the local villagers suspicious of him, and he had a troubled upbringing without a father in a village full of people who mistrusted him. At the start of the game Naruto is a lowly Genin, which is the lowest position for a ninja of his type, and most of his friends have already graduated to the next level known as Chunin. Gradually he hopes to win around the people by becoming the village’s defender and leader, as the next Hokage of Hidden Leaf Village.

The gameplay in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is unlike almost any other fighting game of this current generation. Not only is the fighting performed in a full 3D plane (not simply sidestepping but full on running in 360 degrees) but the bulk of the Story Mode gameplay actually takes place in free-roam around Hidden Leaf Village and the surrounding areas. Unlike the cumbersome ‘Campaign’ mode of Tekken 6, the Story Mode in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 never feels simply tacked on, and is actually the game’s greatest asset. Although this is a ‘fighting game’, in reality it is more like an adventure game interspersed with 1-on-1/tag team combat.

At the beginning of the game you are plonked into the middle of Hidden Leaf Village and given a slick introduction to the basics of the free roam gameplay. Before you can start work proper you need to perform a few helpful tasks around the village and you also need to get to the training ground outside the village and defeat your teacher, Jiraiya, who also happens to be a self-professed voyeur – something that Naruto takes delight in ribbing him about, often referring to him as the ‘pervy sage’. Once you’ve completed your early tasks you are then given formal quests from Tsunade, who runs the show in Hidden Leaf Village. Though she has the appearance of an attractive young woman, she is actually in her fifties and manages to mask her age with a ninja Transformation Technique. Nevertheless, Naruto manages to poke fun at her by referring to her as ‘Grandma’ throughout the game.

As you progress through the game, you collect all kinds of trinkets and potions which can give you upgrades or boosts, and every now and then you will need to play a section of the story as another character. As you play through like this you will unlock a variety of new characters, biographies and secrets which you can use in other game modes. Although the main ‘Story Mode’ is where the bulk of the gameplay takes place, you can also play ’Free Battle Mode’ which is much more like a standard fighting game. Even in Free Battle Mode however, the combat in Ultimate Ninja Storm is very different to what most people expect from a fighting game. Instead of having a multitude of buttons corresponding to various forms of attack, there is only one main attack, and this is achieved by pressing Circle. It’s not as straightforward as you might imagine however, as pressing in a specific direction while pressing Circle will change the nature of your attack, and you can chain up some impressive combos by just varying this. You can also power up your attacks by pressing Triangle, allowing you to use some of your chakra to make the attack more powerful. What starts out as a very simple technique quickly becomes quite complex as you master new techniques and moves. Although this unusual style of combat makes Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 a little disconcerting to begin with, it really is very easy to pick up and it becomes really good fun simply working out new combos for Naruto to use. Like all good modern fighting games, Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 also features an online mode, where you can go online to fight other players in either ranked matches or just with friends.

The free-roam gameplay in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is generally built around beautifully drawn 2D backgrounds that you move around in – it’s not actually that dissimilar to Final Fantasy VII’s static backdrops. However, most of the scenes in the village are bursting with detail and it’s really a bit of a misnomer to refer to them as ‘static’ in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 – lights swing from their posts, trees sway and birds fly in and out of ‘saving posts’. The graphical style is very much like anime, and if it weren’t for the slight aliasing around the edges of the characters you’d think you really were watching a highly produced anime film. If you’re a fan of this style of animation you’ll find a lot to like about the visuals, which in their own way are among the best of this current generation. The fights too are very highly stylized and are rendered in full 3D arenas, with fluid and slick movements coupled with wonderful big splashes of colour and design.

To accompany the breathtaking visuals is an equally wonderful soundtrack which, although slightly repetitive after a while, is a real pleasure to listen to and compliments the overall style of the game perfectly. The sound effects are generally bang on, especially in the often frenetic fight scenes. The dialogue in the game is represented with full voice acting for the cutscenes and subtitles for general gameplay. You are given the option of keeping the original Japanese voices with or without subtitles, or you can simply choose to have the English dub, which doesn’t line up with the mouth movements very well but is nonetheless fun and well-done in its own silly way. Purists will probably want to stick with the Japanese voices however, as they provide the most consistent and suitable soundtrack to the game.

If you’re a fan of the Naruto series then it’s really a no-brainer: you have to buy this game, but then you probably already know that. If you’re a fan of Japanese animation or culture and want to experience something new then again, you will really enjoy this game. Even if you’ve never really come across anything like this before but you have an open mind and the patience to read up on the story so you can follow what’s happening, then there’s a very good chance that you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what the game has in store. If you can bear with the unusual fighting style, quirky humour and non-Western feel to the game, then the style, visuals, gameplay, music and storyline in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 all come together to make a unique, inspirational and engaging game that will have you hooked for a very long time.

This article was reprinted with the permission of PlayStation Future.