We store cookies, you can get more info from our privacy policy.
GC

Naruto Community Day

by Ty Shughart - January 28, 2006, 11:29 am EST
Total comments: 17

Hands-on with Naruto: Clash of Ninja and Naruto: Ninja Council!

Naruto: Clash of Ninja and Naruto: Ninja Council are being co-published by Tomy and D3Publisher, who were nice enough to invite us out to Naruto Community Day! This includes hands-on with the first English releases of Naruto games, interviews and Q&A, and delicious ramen.

Naruto: Clash of Ninja releases on March 7 (MSRP $39.99) and features eight core characters from the TV show; Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Lee, Iruka, Kakashi, Haku, and Zabuza, plus "Sharingan" Kakashi and "Kyuubi" Naruto as secret versions. This is in fact the same game as the first Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen released in Japan; a head-to-head fighting game with great gameplay.


In English!

Naruto: Ninja Council releases simultaneously (MSRP $29.99) and is a side-scrolling action game developed by ARC System Works (known for their Guilty Gear series). Previously released in Japan as Naruto: Ninjutsu Zenkai! Saikyou Ninja Daikesshu, features graphics and gameplay somewhat similar to Gunstar Super Heroes (awesome). Playable characters are Naruto and Sasuke (and an unlockable third character) and plenty of other characters challenge them as bosses and mini-bosses, dialogue (and comedy!) included.

There are plenty more Naruto games to come (including Clash of Ninja 2 this fall) as long as sales are good (that doesn't include Jump Superstars, being a veritable licensing nightmare, sadly). So why not skip right to Clash of Ninja 3 or 4 right away? The answer, of course, is marketing; as characters are introduced in the TV show here in America, the games have to be released to match (and that means it's going to take about 130 episodes to reveal all of the characters that appear in Naruto 4).


Gaze upon the U.S. box art!

Talkback

KDR_11kJanuary 28, 2006

Didn't GNT1 have severe balancing issues?

S-U-P-E-RTy Shughart, Staff AlumnusJanuary 28, 2006

I dunno, probably. It felt like Zabuza and Rock Lee for top tier (even though he can't open gates yet), S. Kakashi for second, ?? for Haku and K. Naruto... if Sasuke was supposed to be really good in this one, I didn't see it (his teleport kick was still getting owned). It still felt like GNT3 - (more like a demo disc for it omglol) but it didn't seem like I was able to replacement jutsu after landing like you can in the later GNTs. I don't think anybody had secondary super moves in this game yet, either.

Anyway, characters are obviously and easily tierable as far as I could tell from a couple hours, but it's definitely not broken all to hell like ZatchBell or something. I will probably tell my friends to get/try Naruto 1 so maybe they'll get into the import scene after trying it, or at least know what they're doing if they come over and play 4 with me.

I wonder if I should review the English Clash of Ninja when it comes out?

As for Zosha's reviews, the numbers seem right on, but her comments about the gameplay seem button-smashing-nublet-ish to me. Also, hilarious that the game is like three years old already.

Tuxedo.BondJanuary 28, 2006

Does it have Japanese audio as well? That's the one thing I want to know.

S-U-P-E-RTy Shughart, Staff AlumnusJanuary 28, 2006

Nope, rerecorded starring the US voice cast.

Fun factoid they dropped on me: Rock Lee's voice actor recorded all the lines for the game before he even did any for the show

KDR_11kJanuary 29, 2006

It's just that I think the review for 3 said it removed some infinite combos present in previous versions. Or were those only introduced in the second one?

Bill AurionJanuary 29, 2006

Quote

Originally posted by: S-U-P-E-R
Nope, rerecorded starring the US voice cast.

Game ruined... >=|

PaleMike Gamin, Contributing EditorJanuary 29, 2006

Quote

Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
Quote

Originally posted by: S-U-P-E-R
Nope, rerecorded starring the US voice cast.

Game ruined... >=|

Haha, whatever.

NotRimmerJanuary 29, 2006

Quote

Originally posted by: S-U-P-E-R
I dunno, probably. It felt like Zabuza and Rock Lee for top tier (even though he can't open gates yet), S. Kakashi for second, ?? for Haku and K. Naruto... if Sasuke was supposed to be really good in this one, I didn't see it (his teleport kick was still getting owned). It still felt like GNT3 - (more like a demo disc for it omglol) but it didn't seem like I was able to replacement jutsu after landing like you can in the later GNTs. I don't think anybody had secondary super moves in this game yet, either.

Anyway, characters are obviously and easily tierable as far as I could tell from a couple hours, but it's definitely not broken all to hell like ZatchBell or something. I will probably tell my friends to get/try Naruto 1 so maybe they'll get into the import scene after trying it, or at least know what they're doing if they come over and play 4 with me.

I wonder if I should review the English Clash of Ninja when it comes out?

As for Zosha's reviews, the numbers seem right on, but her comments about the gameplay seem button-smashing-nublet-ish to me. Also, hilarious that the game is like three years old already.


This is my favorite part of her review:

If you’re looking to import a serious 3D fighting game though, you’re best off grabbing Soul Calibur II instead

lol

Infernal MonkeyJanuary 29, 2006

I have no interest in Naruto but that GBA game sounds pretty awesome. j5bmutantbaby.gif

BloodworthDaniel Bloodworth, Staff AlumnusJanuary 29, 2006

Again, I want to make it perfectly clear that I was barely familiar with Naruto when I bought GNT3. I thought the game was awesome without knowledge of the show and started watching the show about a month or two later thanks to a little peer pressure.

p1ckFebruary 03, 2006

So the Naruto GC won't have any option to turn for the Japanese voices? If not, then I won't be purchasing this title. I only wish they import price for GNT 4 wasn't so much. I'd like to get my hands on that.

PaleMike Gamin, Contributing EditorFebruary 03, 2006

--ignore me--

not worth the can of worms.

S-U-P-E-RTy Shughart, Staff AlumnusFebruary 03, 2006

I don't know if the option is there or not... I can probably find out, though.

p1ckFebruary 03, 2006

Thanks dude. I'd appreciate it a lot.

ThePermFebruary 03, 2006

it better be there...!!!!!

KDR_11kFebruary 03, 2006

Expensive to import??? Dude, it's cheaper than retail!

p1ckFebruary 05, 2006

Any luck on finding out whether or not the Naruto GC has the option to turn on Japanese voiceovers?

Got a news tip? Send it in!
Advertisement
Advertisement