As published on thenorthernlight.org
Unlike most “Naruto” video games, “Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles” plays more like an RPG than a fighting game. Instead of picking characters from the show to battle, players are put in the titular role of Naruto, and must perform certain missions and beat nameless enemies in random battles to gain Virtue Points. These points can then be used to purchase new items or upgrades of Naruto’s abilities, which are laid out on a variety of Skill Boards with limited room and different shapes. Different abilities fit together in different ways and it’s like a jigsaw puzzle that determines what powers Naruto will have. It’s an interesting system that forces players to choose how they want Naruto to grow, instead of a set skill path or simply being able to upgrade everything.
Sadly, the battles are lacking.
The generic enemies are too easy to beat, and the difficulty ramps up sharply when asked to fight tougher characters from the show. Even worse, the battles and missions take place on a map that Naruto travels around on – but only one location on the map is a save point. This means that if a player gets defeated anytime during a mission, even a multi-stage one, all progress up to that point is lost and the player will have to start all over again. This is especially frustrating when the cut scenes are not skipable, so defeated players will have to watch them again and again until they succeed.
There are good things about the game; the upgrade system is good, special moves are easy to pull off, mini games offer a change of pace and rewards, and guest characters can be used to tag-team when in a bind. For a single player, “Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles” offers much more depth than a standard fighting game, but a lot of little hiccups keep it from being what it could’ve been.
“Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles”
3 stars (out of 5)
U.S. release: Namco/Bandai
For PlayStation 2
Genres: Action, fighting, adventure
Release date: Nov. 15, 2006
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