Home » Reviews » Review: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations
Reviews

Review: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations

I think it’s fair to say that Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations (Naruto: G from now on) is one of the most Japanese sounding titles I’ve heard. I think it may only be rivalled by The Happy Smile Super Challenge Family Wish Show but I’ll let you be the judge of that.  Thankfully Naruto: G only has it’s silly name in common, and playing it in no way resembles the torture inflicted on Japanese game shows, real or fictional.

Naruto: G is the latest in the series of games based on the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden manga and anime. I’m a Naruto noob so I played this game without any preconceptions or “fanboy” expectations, though I did get an opinion from one of my hardcore Naruto mates but, more on that later.  I’d always viewed Naruto as a sort of pretender to the Dragon Ball crown. You know, the long non-sensical speeches made whilst charging up some amazing fighting power to make up for the lack of any story, crown. Turns out I was wrong, partly.

 Being a Naruto virgin, I opted to play through the “Young Naruto” story first up to get a sense for the fighting style and also to get an understanding of the story. I was immediately presented with a fully animated cut scene depicting Naruto defacing a rock wall. From there I spent around 2 hours being bombarded with nonsensical, over the top, bombastic and colourful fights and mini cutscenes involving ninjas, friends, enemies, a giant frog and a fox made of fire. And I loved every second of it. I was engaged in the action and the story from the very beginning and although quite a lot of it went over my head I picked up the main points.  That being said, all the time whilst playing I had the feeling I would enjoy myself even more if I had some prior knowledge.

Essentially, Naruto: G is a 3D arena fighter. In single player, you select one of 15 gradually unlocked story lines and play as a variety of characters within that story.  You use one button for physical attacks, one for projectiles, one for jumping and one for charging up your Chakra. The various combos you can pull off are easily achieved by simple directional inputs whilst continuously pressing the attack button.  This may sound dull initially, but in practise there is surprising depth in the fighting. Combining physical attacks, projectiles and chakra based super combos becomes an a delicate balancing act. Coupled with evading and blocking and the fighting really comes into it’s own.

There can be a tendency for battles to break down into a button mashing festival, but it rarely helps, especially against the toughest human and AI opponents. The battles take place in 3D arenas, but are very sparse and really add nothing to the fights other than a location. In single player the camera performs admirably however, in local multiplayer it becomes somewhat problematic. The camera focuses on one player almost exclusively, which gives the second player a real disadvantage in some cases, if they are far away or attempting to dodge etc.

There is a huge number of unlockables to collect, including 72 characters, cut scenes, collectible cards and tools to use during battle.  These items are all available in the in-game shop and are purchased with the in game currency you earn from battle. The better you do the more you earn. Simple.  Online multiplayer is robust, featuring ranked and casual matches and 4 or 8 player tournaments. Be warned though, the players online are very, very good and I only managed to win one round.

All in all, I went in to Naruto: G with zero expectations and came away pleasantly surprised. I was introduced to a new anime, which is actually quite poignant and emotional at times, and I have a new fighter to home my skills. I only had very minor gripes, one being the difficulty spikes during story mode. I played on hard and didn’t lose a single round until towards the end the enemies were suddenly much much tougher than anything I previously faced. I felt like the game hadn’t prepared me properly, although it may have also been my lack of knowledge of the game and story. The other major issue I had was the refillable bars for Chakra and evading. You are allowed only a few dodge moves and then must wait until the bar refills, however I found that it killed the momentum of battles as both fighters stood around waiting until the bar refilled. The same goes for Chakra. Both bars refill slowly over time, but the Chakra bar can be refilled by holding the Chakra button. It can be used strategically, but generally characters are standing opposite on another grunting and charging up their power. Hmm, there’s that Dragon Ball idea again.

Obviously any one who is a fan of the Naruto manga, anime or previous games will enjoy this game but I would also suggest that any casual fighter fans give it a go too. It won’t disappoint.


This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.

About the author

DeltaPhoenix08