Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 Review for Nintendo Wii

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 box art

System: Wii	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Eighting	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: D3 Publisher / TOMY Corp.	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Oct. 21, 2008	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1-4	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Teen	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

Since the weak attack is tied to a swift wave of the Wii-mote, and the strong attack is tied to the A button, combo moves are very easy to execute with this control scheme. Another benefit of using the Wii-mote and Nunchuk combo is that you can perform interactive motion-based specials. For instance, when executing Gaara's Sand Coffin attack, you are able to control the attack by lifting the Wii-mote at the start of the move and then bringing it down to slam your opponent.

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 screenshot

But as good as the controls in this title are, I really can't say as much for the graphics. The look of the game is nearly identical to last year, and it still largely resembles its last-gen predecessors. There are a lot of seaming and blurring issues that you'll see, especially across some of the larger stages. While this may have been permissible for last year's iteration, the old GameCube look is starting to wear thin, especially when third-party titles like Guitar Hero: World Tour and de Blob show us that the Wii can produce some nice-looking graphics.

One facet of Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 that has taken quite a tumble since last year's iteration is the voice acting. While last year's voice acting was superb, this year, all the characters sound bored, and there are many recycled lines that are over-used. The background music, however, still remains nicely sampled from the anime, so at least this title isn't terrible to listen to.

Although Clash of Ninja Revolution is certainly a playable game, its main fault lies in the fact that it hasn't really changed since last year's iteration or even since its GameCube days. Sure, there are some added characters this time around, but the gameplay, graphics, and format all feel the same as they always have, which is a real disappointment for the Naruto faithful who run out to grab this title every year. I would really love to see the Clash of Ninja franchise branch out the way the Ultimate Ninja series has in recent years, but so far, it looks like fans will just have to be content with this title being "just another" Clash of Ninja.

By Amanda L. Kondolojy
CCC Staff Contributor

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

2.5

Graphics
Visuals are just not up to par with the best Wii titles and have seaming and blurring issues.

4.0

Control
Different control schemes offer a nice amount of variety, and the motion control option works well.

3.4

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Anime-sampled level music is pretty good, but English voiceover is hit or miss.

3.0

Play Value
There is not much new ground covered here, and after playing through the lackluster story mode and unlocking all the different characters, you might find yourself a little bored.

3.4

Overall Rating - Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

All new, completely original game for North American fans.

Polished fighting engine with new game mechanics for 2008.

Tons more content than last year! More than 34 characters to choose from, many are new and original for the game. 12 multi-tiered, destructible stages, and new gameplay modes and options.

1-4 player multi-player: 1 Vs. 1, 2 Vs. 2, 3 Vs. 1 matches.

Uses all compatible Wii controllers.

Upgraded visuals; widescreen (16:9) and progressive scan support.