Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles

Cavia makes leaps and bounds towards making a legitimately good anime licensed title.

There is nothing severely wrong with the game, but there are more entertaining ways to spend a buck.

While past games in the series were almost unbelievably loaded with different fighting moves to learn, N:UC is almost Spartan by comparison.

While the jump to a more unique style of game is a nice step forward for the Naruto license, bad design choices and by-the-numbers action keep the game from being that much better than previous titles in the franchise. It’s still fan service, if above average fan service, and doesn’t offer anything that will bring new players into the fold.

If you do know your Kakashis from your Irukas, add a couple of points to the score and think about picking this up. For everyone else, games like Kingdom Hearts 2 and Ninja Gaiden offer far more substantial and rewarding adventures in a similar vein. Everyone's a winner, basically. Hurrah.

Interesting license and competent combat, all made redundant by mindless repetition. [July 2007, p.67]

This feels as if it was rushed out for Christmas, and if they would have waited until there was more material from the show, it could have been worth the effort.

Fans of the series can take pleasure in the fact that this is one of those rare home console Naruto games that isn't a fighter. Instead what we get is a decent 3D brawler with an emphasis on different kinds of missions. However even the most hardcore of fans may find themselves wanting a little bit more. The combat in Uzumaki Chronicles is quite simplistic. When it comes to fanservice, the game doesn't disappoint. All the voice actors from the show reprise their roles here and the game is packed with familiar faces. It even features it's own original stories. The main plot takes a while to rear it's head. The early missions of the game take on little side-stories on their own. Unfortunately, they make most of the anime's filler look amazing by comparison. We get to suffer through a lot of Naruto's banal observations (I almost forgot what an idiot the kid could be). The main plot itself is better, but has no discernible place in the show's timeline, so it's safe to say these events are non-canon. At least we aren't reliving the same stories from the show that have been told to death in Naruto video games by this point. The gameplay side of things is pretty solid, but has issues of it's own. The game is set up where you accept missions like the characters do in the show. Much like early Final Fantasy games, you'll be slowed down by random encounters while automatically traversing the game's map. These minor annoyances mainly serve as a way to get more "Virtue," droppable experience needed to level up Naruto. The level up system and skill equipping system that has you mapping abilities down on limited holders add a little more depth to the experience. They don't elevate the game's combat to anything more than just a button-masher, but they at least allow you to feel like you're getting more powerful. The game's biggest problem is in the combat. While it's nice to get a break from the one-on-one fights we're so used to experiencing in Naruto games, eventually the simplicity and lack of enemy variety do start to wane on things. The real life comes from the boss battles, some of which can be a decent challenge. Another issue the game has is with it's defense missions. Every now and then you'll be tasked with defending a cart of escort a prisoner while being subjected to multiple enemy attacks. An easy task at first that quickly becomes frustrating as the game progresses. It's hard for just one ninja to protect his objective when being subjected to attacks from all sides. Shadow Clone justu or not, you can't exactly be everywhere at once. Uzumaki Chronicles is a solid, if simplistic game for Naruto fans. Particularly those who are dying to see something else from this series than just another fighting game. For non-fans it will prove too dull to entertain. So for those of you know your Uchihas from their Hugas, give it a shot. However if a trip to Konohagakure has never been you're thing (or if you think I'm just making up words at this point) then this is probably better off as a pass. Only fans need apply.

**** a die hard fan of Naruto, i didn't find myself enjoying this as i thought i would... the game gets boring way too quickly & repetitive. it didn't quite entertain me and felt more like a chore i had to complete at a certain point. it's mostly about the game mechanics, the battles are too slow paced compared to other naruto games, filled with boring unbearable missions which are all worse than the anime's fillers. i don't even know if i should still play it or drop it... even as a fan i couldn't enjoy this.