Known as Naruto Narutimate Hero 2 in Japan

Mechanically, this game is more or less the same as its predecessor. Some actions feel smoother, the combo jutsu are moved to 88O instead, making them more accessible to use, more characters and stages are added and movesets are tweaked. Some Ultimate Jutsu return and some are replaced with new ones, and new mini-games are added during them.

The main improvement this game makes, however, is adding a full fledged story mode, where the player can run around a hub world and experience events of the manga/show, as well as a non-canon story afterwards. The player can also complete side quests and play mini-games where Naruto runs up trees or does push ups, with the reward often being learning other characters' jutsu, which can be equipped onto most characters in versus mode. So if you ever wanted to see Choji do a Chidori, now you can!

As a kid who had just started watching the show, being gifted a blank DVD-R with just the word "Ninja" written crudely on the plastic with a permanent marker, excited to see it was indeed Naruto greeting me on the language select screen when booting up my hardmodded PS2, I popped off. I'm an ESL, so I often did not understand the fight requirements, and I was too scared to even click the "save" button, not knowing what it does, so I replayed the beginning a lot before I finally tried that. I did end up beating the game back then, spent countless hours on it too.
I ended up playing through the whole thing and unlocking every character this time around. The gameplay definitely isn't amazing, especially when compared to the later ones, but it's enjoyable. The story mode follows the events from the end of the Chuunin Exam until the end of the Search for Tsunade arc, and then after the credits roll (credits theme is a BANGER) follows up with a non-canon story where Orochimaru uses his signature technique, the Gedō Mark™, to try and destroy the Hidden Leaf Village. It's quite silly and the Gedō Mark has become an inside joke with my friend. The fights against the CPU can get surprisingly challenging too, especially towards the end. It's actually fucked up, one of the last fights requires you to use Naruto's level 3 Ultimate Jutsu (Rasengan) for the kill, but the mini-game for that is spinning the stick and the AI is way too good at that.

By playing mini games and completing quests you can unlock silly characters like Taijutsu Naruto (he's wearing Rock Lee's clothes) and Byakugan Hinata. There's also apparently a character from the movie exclusive to the Japanese version? I'll probably check that at some point and update this review.

Overall an enjoyable little game, especially considering how nostalgic I am for it.

Reviewed on Mar 16, 2023


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