Video Game - Ultimate Ninja 4: Naruto Shippuden

For the first time ever, the number one Naruto Action Fighting game brings the new generation of NARUTO Saga.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 4, armed with a brand new combat system and massive storyline, the game delivers the largest roster of mature, faster, and stronger ninjas to master and a brand new world to discover.

March 27, 2009 - Fans of the Naruto anime were quite excited when the Naruto: Shippuden series began. Taking place years after the original series (which contained hundreds of episodes), Shippuden finally pushed the franchise's plot forward, presented older versions of the characters and overcame countless filler episodes that plagued the original anime with stagnant narration. It makes complete sense, then, that the Shippuden universe would be made into a game, which is exactly what developer CyberConnect2 did on the PlayStation 2. Titled Ultimate Ninja 4: Naruto Shippuden, the game follows the Shippuden story line and delivers the action in the form of the original Ultimate Ninja battle system that was especially popular on the PSP.

• New Characters set: Master ninjas that are more mature, faster and even stronger.
• Freely explore a new massive world
• Multiple challenges, missions and quests
• Face a new menace that is darker and more powerful than any other that has come before

Ultimate Ninja 4 came out a while ago in Japan and is finally here in the states, but unfortunately it came a little too late. You see, Naruto Ultimate Ninja: Storm -- CyberConnect2's PS3 project - arrived here first, even though it launched after Ultimate Ninja 4 in Japan. So for me, having to jump between Naruto Ultimate Ninja: Storm to Ultimate Ninja 4 was extremely painful.

I really enjoyed Naruto Ultimate Ninja: Storm, as the game was a tremendous step for CyberConnect2 both in terms of gameplay and visuals. Ultimate Ninja 4, on the other hand, is like jumping back in time and regressing to the older, less-enjoyable battle system. But of course, I'm sure there are plenty of gamers out there who haven't played Naruto Ultimate Ninja: Storm. Or, alternatively, they don't even own a PS3. In those cases, the game is a touch more relevant.

Following in its predecessors' footsteps, Ultimate Ninja 4 is a one-on-one, fighting game that occupies the Naruto universe, where ninja and ninja-related paraphernalia are commonplace. The battle system of Ultimate Ninja 4 lets two fighters clash in a variety of levels that each have two planes of combat. At any time, you can switch between the planes and fight in the background. Besides that plane-jumping element, you'll be sticking with the traditional mashing of the Circle button and performing various Jutsu techniques, which are like special moves.

Jutsu is very easy to pull off in the Ultimate Ninja series. All you generally need to do is tap up or down twice, followed by a quick press of the Circle button. You don't need to input any advanced directional commands or memorize long button sequences. This might be a bit too simple for fighting game fans, but it helps to get more casual gamers interested and there are plenty of timing-oriented mini-games embedded in the battle system to add to the challenge. For example, before you can pull off a character's Ultimate Jutsu, an extremely powerful special move, you'll need to input a series of buttons that show up in a small prompt on the corner of the screen. These sorts of gameplay elements help expand upon the game's otherwise mash-heavy systems.

If you're completely obsessed with the Shippuden series or you don't have a PS3, Ultimate Ninja 4 is still a fair Naruto game and has enough unlockables to keep you busy for a long time. But the battle system just doesn't feel right after you've played Naruto Ultimate Ninja: Storm, which is also a much better game for players not overly familiar with Naruto. But if you're not even a fan of the Naruto universe, I'd skip Ultimate Ninja 4 altogether.