7.8 /10 1 Votes
8.4/10 IGN Distributor(s) Viz Media Initial release date 30 October 2007 Publisher Ubisoft | 7.5/10 GameSpot 78% GameFAQs Designer(s) Olivier Palmieri Engine Fox Platform Xbox 360 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nominations VGX Award for Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show Similar Ubisoft games, Fighting games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Naruto: Rise of a Ninja is a fighting role-playing video game for the Xbox 360, developed by Ubisoft Montreal, making it the first Naruto game to be developed by a non-Japanese company. The game is specifically based on the English dubbed version of the anime. The game was released in 2007. A sequel titled Naruto: The Broken Bond was released in fall a year later.
Contents
Gameplay
Narunto: Rise of a Ninja consists of two major gameplay modes: one-on-one fighting mode and a role-playing mode, where Konoha serves as a main hub to access various missions players can go on. The main story mode alternates between these two modes, and takes place from the beginning of the series to the end of the Invasion of Konoha arc (episodes 1-80 of the anime), with included sidequests. It features gameplay similar to that of a 3D platformer, like jumping acrobatically from rooftop to rooftop or racing through checkpoints, as well as having one-on-one brawls much like the Naruto: Clash of Ninja series. Like with most Naruto games, it features cel-shaded graphics. The game allows online versus multiplayer via Xbox Live, titled "The Forest of Death". By defeating other opponents, players rank up and eventually gain points to complete the exam. If the player is defeated, they must begin from the bottom of the table all over again, but the points are still kept. Offline play, and two-player versus mode are also available.
The game supports downloadable content; five new characters have been made available (Shikamaru, Choji, Jiraiya, the 3rd Hokage, and Temari). Downloadable content also adds two new arenas to play in, and also additional achievements for each character played in the Forest of Death.
Characters
Choji, Temari, the Third Hokage and Jiraiya came bundled in packs of two: Choji and Temari, Third Hokage and Jiraiya. Each bundle also came with two new maps/arenas. Shikamaru is free, but players must be registered to Ubisoft and link their Xbox Live to their Ubisoft account. The DLC is no longer available on the Xbox Marketplace.
Story
Based almost directly on the first three arcs of the anime, the story follows most of the missions of Naruto Uzumaki and Squad 7, including the battle with Haku and Zabuza and the travel through the Forest of Death for the Chunin Exam to the battle with Gaara of the Desert.
Development
Rise of a Ninja was released in 2007. Ubisoft has also released a free 60-mb download which includes a Japanese voice option, the ability to change the in-game voices to Japanese, while still keeping the English subtitles.
Reception
The game received "favorable" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.