Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2: Another Revolution Company: D3 Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 is the sequel to one of the few Naruto games originally developed as a US exclusive, and the developers at TOMY took their experience from the first Wii game, talked to tournament players to find out what was missing and have added onto Revolution to make it an even more promising release. Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 will feature an original story that takes place between Tsunade's rise to Hokage and Naruto leaving the village to train with Jiraiya, essentially during the TV shows "filler" period. While the developers at TOMY couldn't talk much about the actual content of the story, they promise it will be a fun experience and include four new playable characters unique to this story. The game will also support three new characters to the Clash of Ninja series, two of which have not been in any Naruto game before. Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 will add several playable characters that were in older Clash of Ninja games, but not in the first Revolution title. These characters include Choji, Kiba, One-Tailed Naruto, Cursed Seal Sasuke and Anko. Along with these characters, the developers have doubled the number of fighting stages (all of which are two-tier arenas) with their own unique music and experiences. Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 also offers a new feature that allows you to use simulate hand signs with the Wii's motion sensitivity to increase your fighter's chakra while in the heat of a battle. At any point (as long as you are using the Wii-mote and Nunchuck controller scheme), the player will be able to hold down both triggers and perform specific motions. If done correctly, you can build up your chakra, transform or increase your attacks; the catch is that you will be vulnerable to attack while performing hand signs. This feature, combined with the game's more "cinematic" jutsu, should really help to convey the Naruto feel. Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 will not only have a single-player story mode, but it will also be the first Naruto game to support four-player brawl-style combat. The multi-player modes include four player free-for-all, two-on-two and one-on-one modes. Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 will not support any online multiplayer modes, because the developers wanted to focus more on bettering the core gameplay mechanics instead of adding a feature like online play. The previous game's other modes also return including Time Attack, Score Attack and Survival, but a new mode, Kumite, has been added and it claims to be a variation of Survival Mode. And as an added bonus, the 2D cutout images used to convey the story points in the single-player campaign from the last game have been replaced with full 3D cinematic sequences. One of the aspects of their development of Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 that TOMY emphasized during the conversation was the amount of research they did when talking to experienced tournament players. With their input, the developers learned of new ways to balance Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 based on the speed of certain characters and other smaller issues that should help to balance out the game. Look for this game to come out this October and it will support widescreen and 480p. -J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer Related Links: Official Naruto Nintendo Games Site Other games developed by TOMY Ltd. Our review of Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution for the Wii