Naruto Shippuden: Naruto vs. Sasuke
Score: 89% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Atlus Developer: Tomy Ltd. Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1; 2 - 4 (Multi-Card) Genre: Action
Graphics & Sound: Naruto Shippuden: Naruto vs. Sasuke is Naruto: Ninja Council 5 in all but name. As a result, long-time followers of the Naruto handheld licenses should already have a strong feeling about this game. While the line hasn't been ground-breaking, it has been enjoyable and, for the most part, a good representation of various storylines in the Naruto world. As for Naruto vs. Sasuke, it picks up after the successful completion of the Gaara rescue mission (as seen in Ninja Council 4), and has Naruto and Sakura getting a new teammate in Sai (replacing Sasuke) and a new squad leader in Yamato (replacing Kakashi while he recovers). In general, all of the character sprites do a good job representing their anime counterparts, and while they don't take up a whole lot of screen real estate, it is still very obvious which characters you are playing as and/or fighting against. Like the past games, the backgrounds do a decent job of setting the stage. While there aren't a lot of iconic images in the game to firmly place the levels, when there is something to show, it is shown prominently. Most of the time though, you will be running through generic city streets, grassy plains and wooded areas. Sound is okay. As you would expect, there are no voiceovers, but the game's music and sound effects get the job done; however, Naruto vs. Sasuke is easily just as playable with the sound off as it is on.
Gameplay: Naruto Shippuden: Naruto vs. Sasuke is a side-scrolling hack-n-slash game that takes you through the second story arc of the Shippuden series. As the name implies, it involves the events that lead up to Naruto and Sasuke's reunion at Orochimaru's hideout. Like the past games of it's ilk, Naruto vs. Sasuke isn't very deep. You will run through fairly linear levels (though there is some vertical exploration for those seeking extra coins) until you reach a boss battle where you and your teammates will take part in one of the major battles from the show. Like Ninja Council 4, your character isn't alone. You can build a team consisting of both a support character and two swappable characters that can switch places with your current character on the fly. Any of these characters can be used in conjunction with your current character to perform special attacks that dole out even more damage. What was removed is the need to perform extra tasks in order to pull off jutsu. Major attacks like Naruto's Rasengan are just a thumb or stylus tap away. Naruto vs. Sasuke also feels bigger. I don't believe this is merely a result of longer levels and more content, but it seems to be a result of the character sprites appearing smaller on the screen, and there being an added verticality to the levels themselves. While the previous games pretty much had you sticking to one path, this game lets you explore a bit in the rooftops and underground. Granted, the levels are still very linear and you can only get past them by reaching a single point in the level, but the added dimension really seems to add a lot to the experience. Naruto Shippuden: Naruto vs. Sasuke also offers a bit of multiplayer support in a Battle Mode where the participating players attack each other in the hopes of being the last one standing when the bell rings and the fight is over. While interesting, this feature feels more or less tacked on.
Difficulty: Naruto Shippuden: Naruto vs. Sasuke has some hard parts, but mostly in the boss battles and the fact that there isn't a save point just before they start off. Like the previous Naruto: Ninja Council you will go into the boss fights with whatever health and chakra you have left after a few consecutive levels of hack-n-slash action. If and when you don't survive the boss battle, you are sent back to the beginning of the level to try it all again. While this helps to give the game an old-school feel, the fact that the levels leading up to bosses are fairly easy and the boss fights themselves are usually a pain, means that things can get pretty frustrating at times. Unlike the past games, there seems to be some real heft in Naruto vs. Sasuke's gameplay time. Even considering the repeated playthroughs of levels in order to get past bosses, this game takes a significantly longer amount of time than the last few Ninja Council titles. Before, a few extended play sessions would take out a majority of the game, but here, I noticed a bit more length in both the levels themselves and the amount of the show's content being portrayed.
Game Mechanics: Naruto Shippuden: Naruto vs. Sasuke feels a lot like the previous DS Naruto: Ninja Council title. The two most noticble differences that seem to change a lot of the game's feel are the ability to just use a jutsu instead of drawing something on the screen or blowing into the mic and the fact that the levels seem to be have a bit more content to them. Before, when you wanted to use a jutsu, you would have to draw a sign on the touch screen or perform an action that mimicked what the characters had to do in the show. In doing so, you would get pulled out of the game and were forced to play a mini-game that feels very different from the rest of the experience. By removing that, these attacks feel more in line with the rest of the game and I didn't feel quite as removed from the experience when I performed them. The other change, the layout of the levels, also helps to set this game apart from its predecessors in that you don't feel nearly as confined to the path you need to travel. Granted, you are still very restricted, but the ability to run along the rooftops for a while, or even go underground, just feels like there is more game there to experience. Of course, being the completist that I am, even if I fully explore one path, I still have to go back and check out the others in case there is something I missed along the way. Naruto vs. Sasuke is a pretty solid side-scrolling action title that any fan of the existing series of games should want to pick up and play. While you don't need to have played the previous games to know what is going on in the story, it helps to at least know the general events leading up to this arc before delving into the game. It will explain what it needs to, but nothing more than that. As a result, it's not really a good game for new Naruto fans to jump into.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Related Links: Game Vortex’s Naruto Coverage
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