Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4
Score: 70% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Tomy Ltd. Developer: Tomy Ltd. Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 - 4 (Multi-Card) Genre: Action
Graphics & Sound: If you've played the previous Naruto: Ninja Council games, then you know pretty much what to expect from Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4, with the exception of a round of upgraded graphics and a story focusing on the start of the Naruto Shippuden storyline, of course. Not only were the characters' sprites and level backgrounds for Ninja Council 4 made to fit the new storyline (which takes place about three years after the previous Naruto games), but the level of detail being added to the various images has also gone up, so not only do you get Naruto in his new black and orange jumpsuit, but he looks better than he did before. In fact, pretty much every character has gone up in detail, which is great for characters like Rock Lee and Might Guy who look very similar to begin with. The side-scrolling environments have also seen a bit of improvement with cleaner looking stages and backgrounds for you to run around in. Unfortunately, much like the previous games, the different locations (mostly the Leaf Village and the desert) start to look similar and can get repetitive quickly. The game's audio seems to simply hit par with very little voiceovers (typically just grunts and calls made during combat) and cut scenes that merely use the static-images with text approach to convey the story. While the background music tends to have a distinct Naruto feel to it, it never really pulled me into the game and felt like it was super necessary for the overall presentation of Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4.
Gameplay: Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4 starts with Naruto returning to the village after training for several years on the road, and it isn't long before he is sent out once again on a crucial mission. Gaara, now the leader of The Village Hidden in the Sand, has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki. This game spans this entire early arc taking you to the end of the Gaara Rescue sequence where you get to meet a few new bad (and good) guys, including a couple of Akatsuki members. There seem to be two major issues with Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4. One is that the game is pretty short. Story Mode can be completed in five or six hours tops, and while players might be able to stretch that out by only playing in car trips or on buses, any lengthy gaming sessions will allow him or her to take a major chunk out of the story and the game will be over before they know it. But there is some replay value since each mission lets you choose from your list of unlocked characters and any Rio (money) earned during that mission is given to that character alone. This is important because money is used to buy upgraded attacks for the characters. Additional replay value comes from trying to unlock everything from the dozen or so playable characters in the game. The other issue stems from the limited number of gameplay modes. If it wasn't for the replayability of Story Mode, the only other real option the player has is to find some friends for a bit of multiplayer action (local and multi-card only, so you can only play with the people you know who happen to have this game). If the game offered just a little more, like challenges or survival modes, then that would makes things a little better.
Difficulty: Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4 isn't really that tough of a game. Younger players who haven't been following the line for the past few games might have some trouble getting a handle on the gameplay, but the overall game is straightforward and boss battles never really pose any kind of thereat. The main source of frustration comes in getting a grip on the game's controls, especially when trying to pull off some moves that can only be considered slightly above basic (like jumping and attacking at the same time). The game's various missions have you running around a 2D level where you pretty much have free reign. The areas aren't massive, and if you simply want to run through them to get to the next section, it won't take much effort to plow through your enemies and make it to the end. But each level does tend to give players a bit of room to explore and earn more Rio or points, and in those instances, players might find the game a bit more of a challenge.
Game Mechanics: Each of the minor complaints mentioned above could simply be attributed to Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4 sticking close to its predecessors and doing what fans of the line have liked. Nothing new has really been added with this latest installment, but it has nearly all of the earmarks of the previous titles that fans liked. This includes using the touch pad for performing the characters' more powerful attacks, which, unfortunately is something I have an issue with. For the most part, this feature is executed flawlessly. When you want to perform a Rasengan or Lightning Blade, you simply tap the button for that move with your thumb. The bottom screen then moves into a mini-game that helps to simulate the actions the characters perform when pulling off these moves. For instance, when getting ready to perform the swirling energy ball that is the Rasengan, you must use your stylus to draw circles really fast on the screen. This is like spinning the Chakra really fast. Other moves have you sliding your stylus left and right or up and down as fast as you can until a meter is filled. The problem is you have to use your stylus. While playing normally, all you need are your thumbs. You use them with the face buttons to walk, jump, attack, wall-climb, pretty much everything, even activating the Jutsus. When you get into mini-games, your fingers just don't cut it and you have to pick up your stylus to perform the action. The only way I could really see doing this was to have the stylus out of the DS and on the table next to me at all times ready to be picked up quickly whenever I decided to perform one of these attacks. Quite frankly, it doesn't work all too well if you are in a car or someplace else where you can't simply put the stick down next to you. There are other control issues that come mainly from which moves are assigned to which face-buttons, but for the most part, those can be worked simply by playing the game a lot, and I didn't find those issues nearly as frustrating as the one involving having to pick up and put down my stylus all the time. In the end, Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4 is more of the same. If you've liked the previous Ninja Council games, then there is no reason why you won't like this one. I just wish it had a bit more meat to it and that the developers would figure out a different way to handle activating the Jutsus.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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