ARTICLE

Naruto: Narutimett Hero 2

By Spencer . September 27, 2005 . 4:02am

aka Naruto: Narultimate Hero 2.

Naruto: Narutimett Hero 2 is Cyber Connect’s highly anticipated sequel of last years original fighter Naruto: Narutimett Hero. The first game blew gamers away with its slick presentation and its two plane fighting system. The graphics were also pretty stunning since they so accurately represented the manga. Yet, the first game didn’t have that many characters and didn’t have a great single player mode. Naruto: Narutimett Hero 2 fixes the problems with the first game and adds in some other extras.

Narutimett Hero 2 takes place further in the storyline than the first game. It begins during the final matches of the Chunnin exam and progresses through Naruto’s quest to find the legendary Sannin, Tsunade. Since the game is set deeper in the storyline, the game has many more characters. Returning from the first game of course are Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Neji, Hinata, Garra, Lee and Shikamaru. You’ll be able to play new characters like Kiba, Shino, Tenten, Kankuro, Temari, Choji and Ino just at the start of the game. All of the new characters have an original set of moves and combos. Just like in the first game your basic punch and kick attacks are all executed with the circle button. You can do basic three hit combos, that can be varied by pressing a direction button and circle. Some combos can even knock your character into the air where you can perform a dramatic hit and slam an opponent back to earth. On top of your basic attacks whatever character you choose can throw long range weapons with the square button. You can pick up more items to throw or use in the stages like the evil wind shuriken, a multi hit shuriken attack and a partner calling attack. New items include an explosive Kunai, a fire seal and a seal that makes your enemy drop their collected goodies. Items can be reveled by hitting objects like plants, crates and training dummies in the stages.

Of course none of this really discerns Naruto: Narutimett Hero 2 from any other sub par fighter. Narutimett Hero 2 does have some unique innovations. Just like in the first game players can fight on two different levels. You can switch levels by pressing up and X or down and X. Moving into the background or foreground changes the strategy of the game all together. While in a different plane you can throw kunai or needles at an enemy, you can search for items or set them up for a chakra attack when they teleport to the other side. Another difference from other fighters, which is from the series is that all characters have the "kawarmi no jutstu" ability to dodge an attack and appear behind an enemy. When the replacement technique is properly used by pressing block at the right time, you’ll evade an attack plus be in a good position to counter attack. However, what most people remember about the game is Cyber Connect’s clever use of each character’s personal techniques in the game. By pressing triangle you can charge your characters chakra energy up to three levels. Each level has a different attack. For instance Naruto’s first level allows him to use his Kage no Bushin (Shadow Clone) technique and his third level allows him to use his ultra powerful Rasengan (Spiral Wave Ball) attack. Many signature techniques are in the game such as Sasuke and Kakashi’s Chidori, Shikamaru’s Shadow Bind, the Third Hokage’s Death God summon, Itachi’s Tsukiyomi (Underworld Moon) and Jiraiya’s Toad Mouth Enclosure. When the justu animation begins you’re treated to a dramatic, true to the anime series rendition of the move. But you won’t have time to just to sit and watch. You’ll need to mash the button shown or jog the analog stick as quickly as you can. If you’re attacking, doing this will extend the animation and cause more damage. If you’re being attacked, doing this can potentially stop further frames of animation.

One thing that will undoubtedly disappoint fans of the series is that many characters don’t have original attacks. Instead of giving new characters like Ino and Shino a full set of chakra attacks they only have one and at most two signature moves. Ino still has three full chakra moves, but for the first two she summons other members of the team. Her first chakra move is Choji’s level three attack and her second attack is actually Shikamaru’s second move. Shino suffers from the same problem. He calls support from Kiba for his first super move and he calls Hinata for his second move. The returning characters suffer from a similar problem, don’t even have updated chakra attacks. Naruto still has the Kage no Bushin for his first attack and his frog summoning for his second attack. The only attack that was changed is his third attack from the Inner Kyubii to the Rasengan. Other characters like Sasuke, Kakashi and Sakura have it even worse. They don’t have any new moves, only slight graphical changes for their moves. These characters are all lucky, because at least they have chakra moves. Orichimaru, appropriately doesn’t have any chakra moves and his chakra can be used to power up his attacks. Then there is Shizune, ANBU Kakashi and Kabuto all of who don’t have any chakra attacks at all, which just seems weird.

Even though many of the graphics and moves have been reused from the first game, it can almost be forgiven with the huge amount of new content found in the game’s superb story mode. The story mode puts you in the shoes of Naruto and other villagers from Konoha. You start out as Naruto running late for his battle against Neji. Soon you’ll be in the midst of the war between the village of Sound, Sand and Fire. The game rotates between which characters you play so at times you’ll be playing Naruto, other times Kakashi, Jiraiya and even the third Hokage. Many times you’ll be playing a character that you haven’t unlocked yet, so you’ll have to learn fast. The game also gives different objectives for the fights, instead of just beat the other guy up. For instance in the battle between Orichimaru and the third Hokage asks players to beat Orichimaru by ending with the Death God summon attack. Even if you successfully crush Orichimaru you won’t be able to win the mission unless you use the third chakra attack. Another mission has Naruto dodge six attacks with the replacement technique from Sakura. These different goals keep players on their toes and keep things from getting boring.

After battles and throughout the game you’ll be treated to cut scenes telling the story of Naruto. The game follows the manga extremely well and it borrows the voice cast from the anime to make this one of the best presented fighting games ever. Cyber Connect has done an excellent job of translating still comic book pictures into a dramatic work of art. During tense movements leaves blow around and the music changes to a tense tone. You’ll want to play the story mode to progress through the story and unlock more characters. For instance beating the first scenario unlocks Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune and armless Orichimaru. On top of having excellent cut scenes you’ll also have the ability to walk around and explore Naruto’s world. The village is awesome to explore, you’ll be able to see the ramen shop where Naruto hangs around, the battle arena and even walk to the top of the village and gaze at the Hokage encarvings in the mountain. Other areas that you can explore include the village of sand and the bridge where Haku and Zabusa fought. Each of these areas are packed with people to talk to. Many of the wandering people are other characters from the series like Hinata’s father, Shikamaru’s father, Iruka Sensei and other playable characters. Sometimes talking to these characters will give you new challenges to face. Other times they’ll allow you to play mini games. Most of the mini games are based on small jokes in the series or training exercises that Naruto and his team did. One of the games has Naruto race up a tree avoiding branches for the best time. Another mini game has you mash a button to race against Rock Lee in a contest to see who can do the most one armed push ups.

Taking on tasks for characters around the village will give you a chance to get more experience points. Experience points can be used to customize your roster of characters. You can choose to increase their attack, defense, status recovery time and amount of chakra. If you really take the time to search and find other playable characters you can "learn" some of their special moves. For instance beating Tenten in a fight unlocks her down, down, circle ability that causes a whole bunch of items to appear. Fighting the third Hokage allows you to use his fire breath ability. These different abilities can be equipped in the status screen, which lets players make a custom fighter. Although you can’t change any characters chakra attacks, it still is cool to see Sasuke use Kabuto’s chakra scalpel technique.

Completing missions and mini games gives you money that you can spend on buying collectibles. There are hundreds of virtual items you can buy like action figures, trading cards, videos and even new songs for the game. If you’re into collecting stuff you’ll have plenty to keep you busy, beyond the story mode. If you’re not into collecting there is always the two player mode to keep gamers coming back for more. With so many characters to choose from you’ll be able to put an end to questions like could ANBU Kakashi beat Kiba or would Sakura actually beat Ino. Another new feature for the two player mode is you can select your partner for the partner attack. This can lead to some interesting strategies and changes in gameplay.

Naruto: Narutimett Hero 2 is a solid fighter with one of the best single player modes in a fighter to date. The game has plenty of characters to choose from and lots of items to collect. Almost everything in the game is sure to please fans of the series and even the most die hard gamers out there. Now if they just tweaked the fighting system a bit and reused less of what they already made, Narutimett Hero 2 would stand even closer to perfection.

Import Friendly? Literacy Level: 3

While you should be able to figure out how to fight on your own, the RPG mode can be a challenge to complete without knowing any Japanese.

US Bound?

The chance of this being released in the US is slim to none until the anime comes out in America first.

+ Pros: An excellent single player mode and many, many more characters than the first game.

- Cons: Cyber Connect reused graphics, songs and moves from the first title.

Overall: Naruto: Narutimett Hero 2 provides gamers with an innovative fighter and a magnificent RPG mode.

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