In the world of fighting games, you have your consistent favorites: Tekken with its fierce game play and innovative fighting systems. Soul Calibur with an overall brilliance in weapons integration and story mode ingenuity. Mortal Combat with an ability to break new ground and Dead or Alive’s dedication to pleasing it’s die hard fans.

Fighting games unfortunately come in all shapes and sizes. With every MILF game comes a fugly second cousin that does more to turn off game consoles than rolling blackouts in Southern California . These titles usually originate from a popular Anime title. Games like: One Piece and Inuyasha have made doing reviews like this a chore; that’s why before I started playing Naruto Ultimate Ninja, I seriously had my misgivings.

As I dusted off my Playstation 2, I was reminded why I stopped playing it for over a year. Having to wait a full ten-seconds for the game to load is torture in this world of instant gratification. From Broadband to TiVo, waiting is no longer something I hoped endure. The game starts with the obnoxious Rise intro from the Americanized series. I have to admit it is growing on me and with the introduction of Orochimaru and other characters, watching the fast paced edits brings back memories of when the show was brand new. All of the Cartoon Network voices have been used for the game. The menu is straight forward and not light on options. Immediately I went for the practice mode so I can feel the control system and mechanics of game play.

Rock Lee was my first choice as I pitted him against Kakashi. Most of the moves consist of a combination of the circle and triangle button. It’s pretty elementary to use some of the characters most deadly moves. This could be a plus and minus for some game fans. For me, I was thrilled to see the Whirlwind Kick and Primary Lotus six minutes into playing the game for the first time. If you’re an ace at fighting games, it shouldn’t take you long to master the combat list. This will come in handy while you’re playing each character’s scenerio.

I haven’t had a lot of exposure to different fighting titles. I have to make the assumption that most fighting games have become less linear in their design. I’m not just referring to the 3D landscapes of Soul Calibur. I like being able to use the Chakara embedded in the souls of my feet to assist in an aerial helicopter kick. The transportation is also a great defensive technique that allows you to avoid a deadly blow from your opponent. To reiterate, the mechanics of this game is easier than a fourth grader’s math homework, yet it’s hard to gauge the difficulty level of various opponents. This is evident in the scenario mode of the game.

Playing as Sauske, it was a roll of the dice as you move from stage to stage. You start the game with just a sampling of characters: Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Sauske, Rock Lee, and Shikamaru. To most gamers, this is nothing new, its just part of expanding the longevity of the actual game. After you beat certain scenarios, you open new parts of the game. Being a huge fan of the show, I love seeing characters for the first time in this mode. The highlight came when Orochimaru reared he snake-like head and forked tongue into Sauske’s tormented life.

The graphics are streamlined and vibrant, as the creators have employed a celled texture, commonly used in Anime titles. The cut-away scenes are effective and just shy of the actual look and feel of the actual animation of the show. The added element of pressing the symbol pattern keeps each inserted clip fresh. Upon the successful completion of the pattern, you get to inflict more damage to your opponents. Score one for Naruto as he performs his Sexy Jutsu only to get bonked on the head by Iruka sensai.

After each match in the scenario mode, you earn Ryo. You can spend your Ryo in the store/gumball machine. Essentially, you’re just gambling your money to win a variety of mystery prizes. I can appreciate the way we are teaching our kids the rush and exhilaration of gambling at an early age, get them while their young. You wager anywhere from 100 to 1000+ Ryo. Soon you realize that spending 900 Ryo to get a voice recording is really expensive not mention annoying. Nevertheless, it makes going to the store more exciting and addictive. Now you might wonder why you would want a sound recording? This leads me to the next mode of the game.

The mission section of the game consists of a series of challenges themed to the Class ranked missions of the Anime series. As you gain more experience, you can tackle the S and D class missions. Starting fresh in the game, you can only play the practice mission, which consist of you fighting various characters in special stipulation matches. One mission includes you facing off against Lee in a thirty-second match where you have to win with more than 50% of your energy left. The missions are fun and challenge you to play better in different ways. You quickly learn the strengths and weaknesses of the characters you’re using and the ones your facing.

Another aspect of the missions include, trying to collect various items in the game. This is where the store and mission mode come together. With each try at the slot, you have a chance to collect an item that could be crucial to a mission. There are different tiered missions to complete so I can imagine playing this game for awhile just to see what happens.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja refueled my love for video games. What started off as a rental is quickly going to transform into a purchase. Between it’s game play, characters and fun factor, I give Naruto Ultimate Ninja for the PS2…

A-

Pros: The game utilizes all the most popular characters and offers many additional features for extended game play. The graphics are impressive and its relatively easy to learn and execute the moves.

Cons: It’s on the PS2 and you have to suffer through loading times. The computer’s difficulty is inconsistent and I caught one major grammatical error in a exchange between Naruto and Sauske in the scenario mode.