 Review By: Siou Choy |
Developer: | CyberConnect2 |
| Publisher: | Namco Bandai | |
| Genre: | Fighting | |
| ESRB: | Teen | |
| # Of Players: | 1-2 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Memory Card | |
| Buy Now: |   |
Naruto, the strangely popular anime inexplicably lauded by legions of fans worldwide has made yet another foray into the world of PS2 gaming with the cleverly titled Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3. Now this can be looked at two ways. For fans of the series, running around with their Naruto-like overly large heads and stubby bodies festooned with Naruto paraphernalia (I actually saw a Naruto jumpsuit, complete and official in size stubby, at the mall the other day), this is naturally akin to the second coming of Christ in import. On the other side of the fence, this whole phenomenon can be quite painful – like the earlier, seemingly endless Pokemon/Digimon fad, anything Naruto is pure torture for anyone beyond the emotional and intellectual level of an eight year old boy (the series' presumed target audience).
I can warn the curious and uninformed with no small level of conviction that there is absolutely no appeal or value in the world of Naruto, unless you find yourself overly enamored of uncontrollable, snot-nosed little wise-@$$es whose parents haven’t taken the time to set boundaries on their voracious greed, smart mouth, generally obnoxious behavior and utter disregard and lack of consideration or respect for anyone but their own sorry selves. In case you’re wondering where this comes from, I’ve just described the main character and his full range of personal characteristics en toto.
Seriously, there’s precious little else to the series, beyond his annoyed teachers/compatriots/foemen stopping at least once per episode to kiss his @$$ in audible cogitation. “Huh…I can’t believe he learned that so fast! I’ll have to watch out for him! He could surpass us all”, etc. etc. ad nausaeum, as if the current generation of overpraised, over-medicated underachievers actually needed even more praising. Seriously, when’s the last time you heard someone (yours truly excepted) saying how these brats need to be put in their place, before they really head for a fall (and mommy/the lawyer/the cops aren’t there to bail them out)? Talk about “no future” – we’ve got an entire generation that expects someone to follow them around wiping their butts for them on our hands…
Ho-kay. Now that my disgust with the main character and the message the series is sending is out of the way, let’s get down to the game itself (you knew we had to get there eventually). Hunting for positives, hunting for positives…ah! Found one. There are several modes of play in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3, so it’ll keep the interested gamer busy for quite a while.
Posted: 2008-05-26 11:17:10 PST