Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is the first of what is the longest series of Naruto games. This was originally released all the way back in 2008 and it has become one of the most popular series of Naruto games of all time. The game saw its most recent release this generation, but how does this original game hold up?

From The Beginning

These days we are kind of spoiled with our stories in fighting games. Even the most recent game in the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series went all-in with its storytelling. For this first game, they were very basic and even basic by 2008 standards. You will play through some of the most memorable events of the anime, but there is no real drama to it all.

The story is told rather poorly if I am honest in that there is no proper voice acting and a severe lack of cinematics. One second you are in the forest and the next in the village with nothing to transition it. It is not horrible by any means, but it is severely lacking in contrast to what the series would offer, but hey it had to start somewhere.

Like An Anime, Touched For The Very First Time

One of the benefits of using cell-shaded graphics is that they can age like a fine wine. Even now after a decade, I would say that Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is a fantastic looking game. The characters, the locations and everything in between in this game has a high level of polish to it and looks like the show. The soundtrack is rocking and certainly jacks you up, but I do wish that it had a lot of voice acting to really get you more invested.

Simple, But Fun

Again, I must say that this is the first game in this series so you have to take that into consideration when talking about the gameplay. This is a fighting game and part of the charm of it for me is that it is a fighting game that anyone can jump in and play. It is a very simple game to get the basics of and you could probably even call it a button masher.

Each character’s special abilities are different and it is timing when and where to use these that is the key to victory. This for me is where the strategy comes into play, but to get the most fun out of this I do feel that you have to play with another person and not take it too seriously. Two Naruto fans just going at it will have a blast with this. I like how there are plenty of unlockables to obtain and this is awesome if you are a fan of the show. Plus, it gives you a reason to play through the story.

For a first try, I feel that they did a great job with Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm. They started the series out on the right foot and would improve on it as they moved forward. I played this recently with my son (the PlayStation 3 version) and we had a lot of fun. I think that this has aged far better as a multiplayer game than it has a single-player game. It is not bad, far from it, but I do feel its sequels improved on pretty much every aspect.

Final Score: 7/10

Pros:

• The game still looks fantastic
• Plenty of characters to play as
• It is the kind of game anyone can play
• Very easy to get the hang of
• Plenty of fun things to unlock and collect

Cons:

• It is a good game, but the sequels are better
• A serious lack of voice acting from the show