Naruto: Clash of Ninja

Naruto: Clash of Ninja, released in Japan as Naruto: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! (激闘忍者大戦!), is a series of 3D cel-shaded fighting games based on the manga and anime series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto. They are developed by Eighting and published by D3 Publisher and Tomy. The series began with four GameCube games, with the first two available internationally and the last two released exclusively in Japan, before splitting into two parallel Wii-exclusive follow-up series: the Gekitō Ninja Taisen EX tetralogy released exclusively in Japan and its international counterpart, the Clash of Ninja: Revolution trilogy. The two Wii series share the same gameplay mechanics, but differ with respect to content and characters, with the international Revolution series being based on a localized version of the Naruto anime series.[1] The first half of the original series and the entire Revolution trilogy are available in North America and Europe, (although the first Clash of Ninja wasn't released in the latter) the first two Revolution games are available in Australasia and all games in the series except the Revolution trilogy are available in Japan.

Each installment of the series has had numerous methods of play with varying types of modes. New games have introduced additional modes that appear in subsequent games. The player directly controls a character taken from the Naruto series, and uses their unique abilities to battle and defeat an opponent. New games in the series include more of the Naruto plotline in a story mode, and it tends to stay true to the source material. As a result, the character selection generally increases with each installment due to the inclusion of more of the Naruto plotline, with some exceptions. With the final Revolution game and the entire EX series incorporating Naruto: Shippūden, the second part of the Naruto series, many of the characters have been substantially redesigned, and the selection correspondingly limited. Reactions to early installments were mixed, while later titles have been received more positively, with many praising the simple and easy-to-learn fighting system[2] while others lambasting the fighting system, and the lack of significant unlockable content.

Gameplay

In each game of the series, the player controls one of many characters directly based on their counterparts in the Naruto anime and manga. As in practically all fighting games, the player then pits their character against another character controlled by the game's AI or by another player, depending on the mode that the player is in. The objective of each game is to reduce the opponent's health to zero using basic attacks and special techniques unique to each character that are derived from the source material. For instance, Naruto Uzumaki can use his signature Shadow Clone Jutsu, (影分身の術) and Rock Lee utilizes many of his Strong Fist style techniques.[3] Characters have available a chakra bar, which depletes upon the execution of a special technique. Each game in the series also possesses numerous modes that offer different styles of play. The game's story mode follows the plot from the anime and manga, with a versus mode pitting two players against each other also included. Each game in the series adds new modes, as well as incorporating new features into the game. Early games feature unlocking characters by using a Shop and obtaining money in fights. Most of the games feature an 'Omake' bonus section which contains music, sound effects, and character models. All games in both Wii series take advantage of the Wii Remote's versatility and motion controls, as well as the console's backwards compatibility, to provide multiple control schemes, allowing players to perform gestures to execute certain attacks with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, or use traditional pad controls with the Wii Remote held sideways, the Classic Controller or the GameCube controller.[4]

Naruto: Clash of Ninja/Gekitō Ninja Taisen! (GameCube series)

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution (Non-Japanese/International Wii ports and series)

Naruto Shippūden: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX (Japan-exclusive Wii series)

Playable characters

The characters in the Clash of Ninja series are directly based upon characters taken from the Naruto anime. Each game introduces a new set of characters, with their appearance and abilities derived directly from the source material. As ''Naruto Shippūden: Gekito Ninja Taisen! EX and its sequels take place during Naruto: Shippūden'', the characters' appearance is significantly different. As such, many characters before Shippūden differ drastically from their older counterparts.

Notes:

• 1. This marks an in-game transformation of said character.
• 2. This marks a character playable in both post and pre-timeskip forms.
• 3. Sharingan (写輪眼) is always active.

Reception

Clash of Ninja has received mixed reactions from critics. Metacritic, a website that compiles scores from numerous video game publications, gave Clash of Ninja a 72/100.[40] IGN lauded the game's battle system as "very balanced, amazingly quick, and still a lot of fun."[2] In addition, IGN commented on Clash of Ninja ' s "impressive visuals" and "strong audio."[2] Conversely, GameSpot provided a more negative review, deriding the game's different modes as "seriously boring and predictable," as well as criticizing the lack of significant differences in the playing style of the game's characters. G4's X-Play gave Clash of Ninja two out of five stars, lambasting the fighting engine as "ridiculously basic," and "shallow."[41] It also criticized the lack of a story or use of cutscenes or extras.[41] GameSpy also commented on this, noting that "considering the charm of the source material, [the game] is really a disappointment."

See also

• Naruto
• List of Naruto video games