Sage Mode A-Go-Go! (Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 [PS3])

Following in the wake of the massively successful Naruto Ninja Storm for the PS3, NUNS 2 come rushing in with full-force. The story picks up at the beginning of the Shippuden half of the Naruto Saga, with Naruto returning from his two-and-half year training session with Jiraiya and extends into the Five Kage Summit arc, ending with Naruto and Pain's battle among the remnants of Konohagakure.

NUNS2 is available for the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

The battle system for the most part is still intact, with some new tweaks and adjustments (some more useful that others). The first addition most veterans of Naruto games will notice will be the absence of QTE sequences during ultimate ninjutsu attacks. A blessing and a curse, this helps speed up combat significantly and makes battles seem as if they are lifted directly from the anime series; on the flip side, it means that the only way to defend against ultimate jutsus is to block it in time. It's not so bad normally, until you play that one dick friend who picks someone with a long-range U.N. and spams that constantly. Then it gets old REALLY quick.

Not all of the changes are terrible, though. There is a new team gauge, which fills up the more you use team assists. Once full, teammates will assist by blocking ultimate jutsu attacks, creating a shield for you while you charge chakra or tossing in some extra shuriken when you attempt a chakra-infused shuriken assault. Another nifty trick that the team gauge provides is an all-new team ultimate jutsu attack. Pretty much everyone takes turns beating the crap out of your opponent, then the main character performs their ultimate jutsu attack. Overkill much?



Your support team can also be set to one of three different modes: attack, defense and balanced. Attack mode will allow your ally to continue combos that send your opponent flying. Defense mode will proc the chakra charge cover, and the balance will proc the projectile attacks. When you start off the game, each character has one support style, but as you progress through the story mode, you can increase your relationship with each character. This in turn unlocks the other two support modes. It's kinda annoying, but all that hard work pays off in the end. Eventually.

Naruto and Pain get ready to do it to it.

The game boasts an impressive list of characters. 44 in all, you can play as every member of the Akatsuki, almost all of Naruto's peers and rivals, the Sannin and many others (including a special visitor from the Tekken universe). Honestly this was the driving force behind me checking this title out. The last Naruto game I seriously go into was Ultimate Ninja 2 for the PS2, which frankly sucked balls, character wise.



The online play modes have been tweaked to allow for better match making, but I didn't really mess around with that feature. The new story mode layout is OK, except for the fact that there is no quick travel system. I mean would it really kill CyberConnect2 to put in a warp feature? Trekking around got really old in chapter 2. Other than that, story mode is OK. Some of the trophies are kinda lame (save up 999,999 ryo; fuck that!), but are relatively easy to obtain if you play through the story mode. It will take about thirty hours to unlock and complete everything, which ain't terrible. Nice way to spend a weekend.

All in all, I give NUNS2 a 7/10. It's just a fighter, but a good one. Not the best, be certainly not the worst. Now if you will excuse me, Golden Sun is calling.