Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2

by Namco

Product Features

• Leading manga franchise worldwide: Interest in the property is higher than ever where vibrant Naruto communities of North American fans flourish
• Tremendous 3D battles with over 40 characters: Engage in dramatic boss battles using special fighting techniques
• Play the game like living inside the manga world: Stunning graphics and real time animations show off 18 interactive and destructible levels
• Each mode will allow the players to live the action from the point of view of one of the three main characters, offering completely different experiences
• Take on the world with your finely honed skills. Includes an exclusive card system which allows players to show their ninja style

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B003BE6OZM
• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 5.4 x 7.5 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: October 19, 2010
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #720 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #15 in Video Games > Xbox 360 > Action > Fighting

Product Description

Platform: Xbox 360

From the Manufacturer

Use Jutsus, special moves and basic combat to beat friends and foes alike. View larger.

The tornado of fierce ninja action that is Naruto Shippuden returns to the PlayStation®3 and hits Xbox 360® for the first time!
NARUTO™ SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 brings the worldwide hit manga franchise to life in completely new ways. With refined fighting mechanics, a rich story mode with deep replay value, and the first online play ever in the Naruto franchise, the game is nothing less than the most electrifying fighting-adventure game ever.

Key Game Features

• Leading manga franchise worldwide – Interest in the property is higher than ever where vibrant Naruto communities of North American fans flourish
• Tremendous 3D battles with over 40 characters – Engage in dramatic boss battles using special fighting techniques
• Play the game like living inside the manga world – Stunning graphics and real time animations show off 18 interactive and destructible levels
• Deep three part Story mode than can be played over and over – Each mode will allow the players to live the action from the point of view of one of the three main characters, offering completely different experiences
• Playable online for the first time – Take on the world with your finely honed skills. Includes an exclusive card system which allows players to show their ninja style

Additional Screenshots:

Re-live epic battles in the series! View larger.

Naruto VS Sasuke. View larger.

Incredible Manga-style graphics. View larger.

Over 40 Playable Characters! View larger.

Product Description

The tornado of fierce ninja action that is Naruto Shippuden returns to the PlayStation 3 and hits Xbox 360 for the first time! Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 brings the worldwide hit manga franchise to life in completely new ways. With refined fighting mechanics, a rich story mode with deep replay value, and the first online play ever in the Naruto franchise, the game is nothing less than the most electrifying fighting-adventure game ever.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Leaps and bounds...., November 13, 2010

By 

Josh J - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (Video Game)

This game is a great indicator to how well naruto is actually coming along in video games. With each one i play they get more and more right making the games better and better. That isn't to say there isn't and flaws in the game, cause their are. Some of the characters are op or "overpowered" and dont really make the matches very fun. With an online game where people try to have fun and be competitive, balance is something that needs to be a top priority. This game does alright with balance, but as i said before there are a few characters that are just way to strong, and as a consequence are used extremely often in online matches to get an easy win.

The story is something that blew me away the most. How they capture it and make it interactive enough to where it doesnt feel like you are just watching the show, but keeping the depth of the story great enough to where you actually feel like you are making a difference and are part of the world is just amazing. I wont spoil the fight but there is one in particular where you change mid fight to a memory like state and the effects they use to capture it are just crazy. None of the story chapters take to long, and the boring stuff is kept to a minimal amount.

This game is not perfect, but it is leaps and bounds better than the last few, and if they take this and improve upon it in the next then we are in for one amazing series of games.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Storm 1 vs Storm 2...decisive battle!, January 26, 2011

By 

NC - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (Video Game)

While being a fan of the show I have very much stayed away from the games based on it. Most have tended to be either average or just downright bad in quality. Ninja Storm for the PS3 was the one exception I finally made. After buying a PS3 just to play Valkyria Chronicles, I decided to look up some other good PS3 only titles and Ninja Storm was one of them. It didn't disappoint, however, the whole concept of missions and the story was kinda like you were popping in clipshows to play while jumping around Konoha. You were very much limited to just the city. That aside, the fighting was much better than any other Naruto game I had seen or tested. Fights moved fluid and quick without much downtime. There also wasn't an insane learning curve.

Ninja Storm 2 continues this tradition of great fighting. Its not hard to become good with a character but its not like tradition fighting games where you can just spam the same moves over and over. Unless you have the difficulty set real low when fighting the AI.

The story is also fantastic since it is based on some of the best Shippuden story arcs since it began. However, I will warn you that if you are a big fan of the show, you'll be disappointed. A lot of scenes have been cut, some of them real good ones too. Overall I'd say Ninja Storm 2 is a summary of the events from Shippuden episode 1 to the end of the Pain arc. Out of all of that I'd say this game keeps about 10-20% of the scenes in tact. Don't get me wrong, the game is still a good romp through some of the best episodes of the series, but it could have been better. Mostly the lost star on the rating is for this reason. They also edited some scenes and changed some of how they really happened. Hinata's words she says in the Pain battle is a big example of how they cut and edited things.

Story aside, this time you can now go outside of Konoha. Which is great but...Konoha and the world now feels like you are playing in a manga book. You spend all your time on foot going from place to place and it all seems very small compared to how its portrayed in the series. The first Ninja Storm game did Konoha much better. Also missing is some of the funner side missions like jumping through the trees or running up them. Really the game could have had a quick travel system which involved this but sadly this is left out.

Other side missions can vary from either being quite fun to downright stupid. To give an example without spoiling it too much. If you have played Ninja Storm 1, you know the pain some of those hide n seek missions were with Konohamaru. In 2, there is a hide n seek mission but, literally you turn a corner and you can see him just standing with his back to you pretending to be a regular background person...except, theres no one else around him. Really it was the dumbest moment of the entire game. Thankfully thats all I found. As I said, most of the side missions are quite fun and if you don't get them all during the main storyline, don't worry. The game goes into a mission mode after you finish the storyline so you can run around the world anywhere you want and do missions.

This mission mode is a rather nice deal for achievement hunters. Mess up on a fight? No sweat, theres a guy who you can talk to that will allow you to replay them all. You can also form your own perfect 4 man team. This is a great feature vs just going to a menu and selecting missions from that, then going to a location in Konoha to do them. However, the menu will still serve a very important tool during the game so get used to what it provides early on.

Aside from that graphically the game isn't much beyond it's predecessor. Losing the city and the smaller feel to the world do bring down the appeal a little bit, but the world backgrounds are all rather nicely done. Most of which look like backgrounds made for the show itself. I will note that if you are expecting the Xbox version to have better FSAA support than the PS3, don't bother unless you run in lower resolutions. Running at 1650x1080 shows the same old jaggies as the first. This seems to disappear when you put it on a regular TV or lower res but its a shame cause the engine itself is not all that advanced. Xbox does have a better GPU than the PS3 so I was expecting it to be a little better like it usually is.

Rest of the game is well done. Voices and music are cut right from the series which is great...course that would be the Japanese ones. Anyone who watches the show or plays the game in the English dub...you need to be slapped. Just watching the opening movie before you can set the game to Japanese is unbearable enough. Just terrible compared to the Japanese voices. I'm not one to usually say that since there are some shows I do enjoy the English voices in...but Naruto isn't one of them.

In the end, this game is good, its fun, but it could be a lot better and bigger. Merging the strengths from the first game with the strengths from this would really make a phenomenal game. But I doubt we'll really see a Naruto game take off big time till they invest in making a Naruto MMO. If that ever happens, lets hope they take a lot from the Ninja Storm games. Mix that in with the complete Naruto world...it would be unstoppable.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best Naruto game yet!, March 4, 2011

By 

C. Flores "Chris Silva" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (Video Game)

***I'm going to say this now, there are spoilers. Read at your own risk.***

I will go ahead and say this: this is the best Naruto game that has been released on the Xbox 360. There is a lot to love about this game. I have played it for 18 hours, and I just now beat Itachi with Sasuke. For anyone who is curious, the game goes until the Sage Naruto/Pain fight(Episode 175). For any Naruto fan, it is essential that you try this game.

First, the visuals are incredible. I thought that the art design really captivated the look and feel of the show. Rather than just playing a game, it's like you're really in the show. That sounds cheesy, but it's true. There are beautiful colors for ultimate jutsu and attacks. The developers really outdid themselves this time. Unlike other Naruto games, this one has an amazing art style that really does do a magnificent job of pulling you in to it's universe.

Next, the fighting system is very deep. On your D-Pad, you assign ninja tools to help you in combat. Things like Paper Bombs, Electric Kunai, and Food Pills (temporary attack increase). My big complaint is that you can't use anything to boost your health during a fight; but that can easily be overlooked. The combos you can pull off are amazing, to say the least. If you mash "B" for 10 seconds, you'll get something pretty cool looking. However, if, in the middle of mashing "B", you press "Y" and then "B", you can charge your chakra to do a ninjutsu attack to change the outcome and/or combination on your attacks. The combos look pretty cool, yes; but after awhile, it feels like you're doing the same stuff over and over again. You can charge your chakra (Press "Y") and manipulate it in several days. For example, you can charge it and press "X" and you will throw a larger(or more, depending on who you use) shuriken than usual.

A great thing I like about the camera was how it changes views. It really is hard to explain. During the fight, everything can get really crazy, and the camera can change from behind you to a distant view. Watch some videos on YouTube to understand what I mean. Overall, the fighting system is truly amazing. It has its flaws, but it's the best in the series, and, in my opinion, one of the best fighting systems ever in a fighting game.

Next is the story. You play "Ultimate Adventure mode." I'll get this out of the way first: you must play through the game to unlock every character. Some may complain, but I like it. It's like I worked to get my favorite character. This is where the biggest flaw comes in to play. The exploring is so mind-numbingly boring. There is a terrible camera view while you explore villages, forests, and bridges. The thing is, there is way more walking than there is fighting. They should have kept the exploring technique from previous Naruto games(i.e.: "Rise of a Ninja" and "Broken Bond"). Like in the others, you get to free roam. You have the ability to run up buildings, jump from rooftops, do massive jumps, races, and other mini games. In UNS 2, all you have are fetch quests. Put in short, you run somewhere, talk to them, and report back to the other person. Done.

The exploring really is limited. You run in a limited space with numerous loading times in between(which, in my opinion, really slows the flow and pace of the game) areas. The thing is, "areas" are only about 5 seconds of walking through. So why are there loading times? It doesn't make sense. Although I can give it some credit. There is a semi-satisfying loot system. You explore crates, plants, trees, etc. You use the items found to create items at stores so you can buy it. Though it is pointless to have to find the materials and then have to buy it.

A cool feature is that you get to switch to different controlling characters. So when Sasuke pursues Itachi, you get an entire chapter to control Sasuke and go after Itachi. It was nice. Same goes for Jiraiya finding Pain. Also, the boss fights are incredible. They go into several different phases, so be prepared with tools and attack/defense boosters. I was unprepared, and had to fight at the last phase of a boss with half a bar of health. So make sure you have what you need. There are button pressing sequences during it as well. It is amazing and keeps you engaged. It varies from pressing a single button, mashing a button, and even to having to press four random buttons in a matter of seconds. It can really get your adrenaline pumping.

There are very emotional moments in the game, too. For those of you who always wanted a deep story in a Naruto game, this is it. It isn't dumbed down a notch just to save money. They put more effort into this game. What makes it better is that you can switch to the original Japanese voice cast. So now you don't have to hear the annoying voice of the English Naruto try and sound serious. Most of the lines are correct. They can't have all the talking though. Otherwise you're gonna have 20 minute cut scenes. My favorite emotional part was where Jiraiya dies. When he fights Pain, towards the end, you have to fight all six Pain's with a useless arm. You can't block or use any jutsu. You can kick with a blurry screen. It almost made me cry a little. You really get a look into what the character went through. Kudos to the team for that.

The story goes up to episode 175, the fight between Sage Naruto and Pain. It's pretty lengthy for a Naruto game. The other games generally only go through about 70 episodes. This is a giant step up. I've been playing for 18 hours, and I'm only on the Itachi fight. There is so much content here. And for anybody looking for sparring, there is the basics: 1P v COM, 1P v 2P, COM v COM, etc. This is the first to have online battle as well. Haven't played online, but whatever. I've heard it lags slightly, but that's not very bad.

Overall, this is an amazing game. It suffers from big, but few, flaws; but it manages to pull itself up and pull it together. I can honestly recommend this game to anyone. The story is told in the best way of any in the series so far; so the emotion is great. There is a simple, but amazing combat system here to be enjoyed. Anyone can enjoy this great game. Even though the "anime game" genre is usually shunned, you shouldn't miss out on this. A great experience for anyone to have.

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