I don’t normally deal with Japanese animated ninja kids who can destroy many acres of land with their magical powers and so on. My era was Transformers and Thundercats, not watching little yellow rodents firing electricity out of their bottoms and other pieces of madness from the land of the rising sun.

The other problem is that this is a site for mature gamers and when you do bear in mind that this is mainly set for the teenage market this does leave me in a predicament. Do I treat this as something written for the fan base that we have on the site that go for Forza, Gran Turismo and Call of Duty, or do I aim it towards those who would REALLY play this? I mean, there will be a fair few of us who have kids, right?

Well, the first thing is, I apologise for the fact that I cannot really give you an idea of the plot. It’s not that I can’t follow what I see on screen, but this game is based on the anime series of the same name, so it is more for the followers of that. From what I could grasp within the first 4 or 5 hours or so, we see Naruto coming back to the hidden leaf village after his last epic adventure. It has been 3 years since he left his home and he has now come back a stronger ninja with bigger powers to match.

Suddenly (well, you knew it was coming, didn’t you?) he hears of the kidnapping of the protector of the sand village, who is a boy of the same age and tough upbringing as our hero. He decides to front a group of highly skilled warriors in finding and rescuing him from the clutches if his evil foes.

The one thing I do love about games like these is the graphic style. I might not follow the anime that’s based closer to the children’s market (even though Naruto is aimed at that gap between Pokemon and that other style we shall not speak of in a family review) but I do watch the occasional anime, so when you see some stunning visuals taking over your screen like they do here, ESPECIALLY in the interactive cut scenes of the battles, you cannot fail to be hugely impressed by it all. The colourful screens and the almost hand painted backgrounds really add so much depth to Shippuden that you do begin to think the joypad is more like a remote control for the Blu Ray.

It all sounds right as well, with a mix of power guitars and the softer stringed instrument melodies giving you that feeling of watching the episodes (when you have a friend who watches them a lot and you hear it enough you begin to get an ear for it all (you need to get out more – Ed.)) and as usual with all things anime the English voice acting is a little bit cringe worthy. If I’m playing anything with a slight hint of Nippon, I ALWAYS pick the native tongue of its origin, which I feel makes for a better experience.

The game itself is split into 3 main categories. The story mode is the entirety of the Shippuden Ninja Storm 2 plot. The Free and Online Battles are where this becomes what it primarily is, a beat ’em up. What will throw a lot of people (and I can certainly tell you it screwed my head up quite nicely) is the fact that there is only one major punch button. Every other button on the pad represents the powering up and usage of Shukra, the mystic force that gives your ninja warrior his fancy moves. It does help to produce some wonderful cut scenes in-between fights, and with over 40 combatants at your disposal you certainly won’t run out of fresh legs.

A stern word of warning though, this is definitely an eye opener for the traditionalist. I personally like fighting games, but I do get on better with the more renowned and, yes, more traditional ones, like your Street Fighters and Tekkens. I like buttons for each limb and super moves that require a deft touch rather than the mere press of a button. For all that I‘m into what I know, I can be persuaded to try something new, and I can also see how this works. If you look a little closer you can see a slight hint of a brawling classic in there, Capcom’s beautifully made Power Stone, which is nice to see. It is a popular genre, and those who either liked the first Ninja Storm or indeed the Dragonball Z brawlers will no doubt feel right at home.

If I had to pick at something I would have to look to a rather strange source. That would be a previous Naruto title, and one which I really liked (although I’m a bit old to be sharing that with the class (fat chance of keeping it a secret now, mate – Ed.)) The Broken Bond gave me a pleasurable mix of fighting and puzzle action and there was never really a point where you felt like you were just running around in circles doing the same thing repeatedly. Unfortunately this cannot be said of Ninja Storm 2. I think I must have spent more time running around than I would have ever liked to have done and even with the best interest in the world, boredom would start to creep in. Some of the missions in Ninja Storm were not the most exciting either to be honest and didn’t really feel like they were progressing the story a hell of a lot (give shops their trading licences???), but when the story did get a head of steam it was really nice to see, with some cut scenes taking you along for the ride. Just a shame that it can’t keep it going.

It’s hard to decide what to do with this one. I thought it looked nice and delivered on both audio and visual what you would expect from a Japanese anime game, but the drawn out story mixed with an alien control system for those set in their ways can perhaps deter people from this. It isn’t going to be a classic, but if you can get your head around how it works and find yourself liking this kind of subject matter then you may well begin to see beyond the frailties.

If you want to grab something for your kids then it becomes a little bit complicated. It’s a 12 rating so it isn’t really for the young children, especially when one of the characters is named the pervy sage (not to be confused with some risqué seasoning found on a TV chef’s kitchen worktop.

If Naruto styled gaming isn‘t quite your thing, and you still wanted to get your fix of RPG and fighting game then I would look to two on Namco’s other titles that do their jobs well, Tekken 6 and Eternal Sonata. I cannot fault how Ninja Storm 2 is executed, as it does what it sets out to do very well through some stunning animated visuals, authentic audio and some bizarre yet simplistic controls, but for older folks like us we would need to be looking towards other family members to see if this was up their street, as I don‘t think this is really something we‘d know a lot about unless it was a Mastermind specialist subject. It‘s good at what it needs to be and hits the target audience like one of those earth shattering punches it replicates, but for all those teenage kicks (and punches) you get, perhaps the more mature gamer will look on and wonder what Paul Pheonix and Mitsurugi are up to.

Written by:- Billy Withers

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Featuring the 1st boss battle of the game against Kakashi, you will be able to play with Naruto and Sakura as a support character. Avoid the terrible attacks from Kakashi and use your chackra wisely to clear his test and steal the bells from him.

Developed by acclaimed studio CyberConnect2, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is a tour de force of Naruto thrills and spills, and the first game based on the global hit Naruto Shippuden manga and anime to appear on both consoles. Impressively faithfully to the universe of the anime, the game takes players through the Naruto Shippuden story arc with new battle systems enhancing the gameplay.  Players must choose the right companions to fight alongside for a greater chance of winning, and together unleash explosive Team Special Techniques to lay waste to opponents.  The brand new online mode, a first for the Ultimate Ninja series, takes the full force of the fight to opponents around the world.

The content-packed Collector Edition and standard retail version are scheduled for launch across Europe and the PAL territories on October 15^th 2010 for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

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If you haven’t then shame on you!  Go and read it quickly so you know where this trailer is coming from here.  Read it now?  Good.  The you can finally take a look at what we saw first thing Wednesday morning.

Excited yet?  I thought so.  We certainly were and be rest assured that we will bring you all the news as it comes in.

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Developed by acclaimed Japanese studio CyberConnect2, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is a tour de force of Naruto thrills and spills. Impressively faithfully to the universe of the anime, the game takes players through the Naruto Shippuden story arc with new battle systems enhancing the gameplay.  Players must choose the right companions to fight alongside for a greater chance of winning, and together unleash explosive Team Special Techniques to lay waste to opponents.

Players will meet a host of criminal Akatsuki characters in the game, and in an astonishing story twist even see Sasuke wearing an Akatsuki costume.  With the original Japanese voiceover, an almost endless number of unlockables and power ups to discover, a host of brand new environments to explore, two-player offline multiplayer, amazing visuals faithful to the anime, NARUTO Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is an unmissable tornado of fierce ninja action.

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