For four years running the developers at Eighting have released a Naruto fighting game to the masses. The first two were on the Nintendo GameCube and the other two on the Wii. These games have been extremely fun to play, but a pattern is starting to emerge that needs to be eradicated. The problem is that each of these games are practically mirrors of each other. While each version gets tweaked by updating the graphics, adding additional characters and stages, the core gameplay remains the same, with little if no changes. If players have loved the previous Naruto games, then they will feel right at home with Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2.

Here is a quick rundown of the series if you are unfamiliar with it. Naruto is a young boy who dreams of one day becoming the leader of the village, the Hokage. He has had a very hard childhood and is known for acting out (by pulling pranks), just to get attention from the village residents who have shunned him. Due to his recent actions, he is starting to get the attention he desperately wants and is growing up to being the ninja he has always dreamed of. If he stays true to this path he might be able to obtain his dream one day.

The gameplay for Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 is just as good as the previous games. Players can load up the game, select their favorite character from the Naruto universe and go at it. As with the previous games, this is a third-person fighter game, in the same vein as Smash Brothers which allows players to use special moves to knock out the other characters. Players will be able to play on with up to four characters (in any combination) to see who the best fighter is. The problem is that there is very little depth to the fighting game (with a limited number of special moves and attacks players can actually pull off), but it is a good stress reliever.

What gamers will enjoy is that they will be able to choose between five different control schemes, so they can find the right one just for them. The options are: Wii-Mote only, Wii-Mote and Nunchuk: Movement mode, Wii-Mote and Nunchuk: Button mode, Classic Controller, or GameCube controller. So everyone will be able to find a style that will suit their needs. The only problem is that this game doesn't make use of any motion based controls. This in itself is a shame, but hopefully be corrected in the next version.

The first time players load they game they will be astounded by its contents. There is a mission mode, survival mode, story mode, arcade, team and free-for-all battles and more. The mission mode alone contains over a couple hundred adventures to partake in! Then compound that with the roster being updated to 35 characters. Players will have a lot of things to do in this game for quite some time. Since there are so many characters, it is a good thing that the developers made sure that they are pretty well balanced, so no one fighter is more powerful than the other. This makes it better when playing against other humans so no one fights over getting the “better” character.

The graphics for Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 are really nice. What is good about this game is that the developers strived to get the same look and feel as the TV show so they used cel-shading technology to bring this game to life. The developers managed to get a lot of details from the show included here, such as the whiskers on Naruto’s face, various locations where the characters battled, and many other things. The special effects from the various Jutsu’s (special moves) are well done and look like the shows counterpartsm which makes players feel that they are actually living the show out.

Just like the previous games, the developers got the same voice actors from the TV series to lend their voices to this game. This is a good thing for people who have seen the show and can easily identify with all of the characters. Another thing that is suitable is that you will hear the characters trademark phrases when you are fighting. The sound effects and music are also taken directly from the show (and from previous games) so it makes the game more real to players.

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 is rated Teen.

Gameplay: 8.0
Just like the previous version, this series proves to be a blast to play. The controls are easy enough for anyone to jump in and start playing. Also the characters are all well balanced so no one fighter is better than another.

Graphics: 8.1
The visuals for Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 are really good. What makes them good is that they mimic how the TV show looks and it gives it a real cartoon feeling to it. The framerate is really fluid and makes the game even more fun to play.

Sound: 8.2
The dialog is taken straight from the dubbed show, which is a good thing because people will be able to recognize it immediately. The music and sound effects are good as well.

Difficulty: Easy
This game is really easy to get into and performing some fancy moves. You should have no trouble beating this game.

Concept: 5.0
Can anyone say repetition? It is a good thing to give fans more of the same thing, but this game is practically the same as the previous versions with new characters and stages to fight in.

Multiplayer: 8.2
The multiplayer portion of the game is where the game really shines, as it is always more fun playing with up to four human fighters then the computer AI.

Overall: 8.1
Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 is a great game that will give hours of enjoyment to anyone who is looking for a fighting game or likes the Naruto series.