 Review By: David Pulgar |
Developer: | CyberConnect2 |
| Publisher: | Namco Bandai | |
| Genre: | Fighting | |
| ESRB: | Teen | |
| # Of Players: | 1-6 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Memory Stick Duo, Wi-Fi (Ad Hoc) | |
| Buy Now: |   |
Handheld ports of console games are always met with skepticism in the gaming community. No matter how much technology advances, handhelds will always have limitations when compared to their console brethren. Today, I look at Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes, the PSP adaptation of Bandai’s Naruto: Ultimate Ninja for the PlayStation 2. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes makes an excellent transition to the PSP. In fact, it’s probably one of the best handheld translations I’ve ever seen. Gamers will still find the same multi-tiered battle maps and cel-shaded graphics that are signature to the series. Most of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja’s features make it through to the PSP unscathed, and compromises made to bring the Ultimate Ninja series to the PSP are negligible.
From the mode select screen, gamers have several options to choose from in Ultimate Ninja Heroes. First, there’s Heroes Mode, a sequence of battles that follow the Naruto storyline. Here gamers choose to fight with one of several teams. These teams match the character groupings from the Naruto series. Team Guy consists of Lee, Neji and Ten Ten. Team Kakashi consists of Sakura, Naturo and Sasuke, etc. Gamers can also create their own custom teams. Battles play out in a fashion similar to Capcom Vs SNK. Players choose the order of their characters, and when one dies, the next one steps in to fight. If all your characters are defeated, gamers can either restart the chapter or continue at their last fight (assuming they saved).
Finishing one chapter unlocks the next. Players receive rewards for completing each chapter, like points or an unlocked character or a movie. Twenty characters are available to unlock in total, but for the sake of spoilers I won't say which ones. Sadly, unlocking characters is about all Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes has for motivation. Story is nonexistent and the trinkets you could buy from the shop and view at Naruto’s house in Ultimate Ninja are gone. To me, however, this was all an attempt to add dimension to a game that didn’t need it in the PS2 version. At its core, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes is a solid fighting game. No one expects fighting games to have a story, so I won’t fault Ultimate Ninja Heroes for sacrificing that element to focus on gameplay.
Other modes players will find in the menu are Vs CPU, multiplayer, Naruto’s House (to view the crappy movies and images you get from Heroes Mode), and two additional modes: Promotion Test and Parameter Power Up. Promotion Test mode challenges players with a series of single player battles that progress from ninja academy student to Hokage, advancing through different missions to earn players increasing ranks like genin, chunin, anbu, etc. Each battle has particular requirements tied to them. For example: one mission might require gamers to battle a computer opponent with enhanced speed or strength. When added to Ultimate Ninja Heroes’ capable AI, these won’t be missions that are completed easily. Like the Naruto games before it, as players will have to play smart. Button mashing doesn’t work in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes.
Points awarded to players in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes' game modes can be spent in the Parameter Power-Up area. Here it’s possible to increase each character’s statistics like attack, defense, speed, chakra usage, stamina and ninjutsu (weapon usage). Powered-up characters can be used in Vs CPU, Promotion Test and Wireless Multiplayer modes. It’s possible to earn the most points in Hero Mode by completing each level’s achievements. However, like the win conditions of Promotion Test mode, some of these requirements are difficult to fulfill. One particular achievement is to complete a level without losing any life at all – hardly easy. This can lead to endless frustration as you try to prevail against opponents more powerful then yourself. But as I said, in Heroes Mode, these achievements simply award gamers more points and are not a requirement. In Promotion Test, however, many of these requirements are necessary to complete a level. Good luck.
One thing I liked about Heroes Mode is the different skills each team can use throughout the course of a chapter. These skills can enhance a team’s stats for one round, regenerate health, impair an enemy’s abilities, etc. This is important because each chapter works like a survival game. Characters start with the same heath and chakra level they had in the previous battle. Being able to heal your characters is important, as is being able to power up certain statistics like attack, speed and defense. The computer-controlled opponents in Heroes Mode use abilities too, giving them enhanced statistics just before a battle. The difference is players have a limited amount of enhancements while the computer's are limitless (because each battle is against a new team). I know, it’s not fair, but challenges like this are expected in the Ultimate Ninja series.
With all this talk about mode types and battle handicaps, gamers might wonder why I’m not talking more about combat. Well, combat in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes remains almost unchanged from Naruto: Ultimate Ninja, and I discussed the combat system in detail in my review of that title. The only difference is the removal of Ultimate Ninja’s two-tiered super move system and the mini games within them. Now, only one press of the triangle button is required to activate super moves. Once executed, a movie corresponding to a character’s signature attack plays through, and then gamers are returned to the combat arena. Gone are the minigames for maximizing damage or canceling attacks. A small compromise, I think, that the developers had to make to port Ultimate Ninja to the PSP. All the other signature Ultimate Ninja elements remain intact, like destructible items, weapon power ups and post-super move status enhancements (like Kakashi’s sharingan that copies all your opponent’s special moves). Oh, and one thing I have to say about the super move animations – they’re beautiful. The mini cinematics really capture each character's signature attack. Maybe I was too busy mashing buttons on the PS2 to notice, but I believe Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes’ super move animations are much better than Naruto: Ultimate Ninja on the PS2.
Bottom Line:
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes is the perfect game for die-hard Naruto fans, or gamers with great interest in fighting games. It’s a perfect port from console to handheld system. However, if you’re going to get this game, be sure some friends around you have it as well. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes, like most other PSP games, does not support online multiplayer, the bread and butter of fighting games. Even though CPU characters can be tough to defeat, they become predictable after a while. Human opponents are naturally much more interesting, and will add hours of enjoyment to an already well-refined game.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
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| 7.5 |
Posted: 2007-12-06 19:57:34 PST