(Videogame) Shonen Jump Naruto Shippuden Clash of Ninja Revolution III

Shonen Jump Naruto Shippuden Clash of Ninja Revolution III is a classic fighter for the Wii based on the popular manga/anime, Naruto. I didn't have high hopes for this title, just because I find that games based on series' that focus primarily on games are usually better than ones that are branching out from a different media. This is usually because a series that is inside it's own media relies on that media to keep itself alive, whereas a series that is branching out knows it's consumers will be purchasing it in part because of it's title alone. Taking that into account, it sometimes becomes lucrative for these branch-series' to focus on the quantity of games they produce, instead of quality.

But even taking this into account, this particular game was marketed as “The Best Fighter On Wii” which simply begs to be challenged. To my surprise, while I'm not sure I'm going crown it as the best, I don't think it was out of line to make itself out as a contender for that title.

It doesn't make a good first impression. The title is clownishly huge and the graphics are sub-par. Before you can get into the game, you're treated to a giant Sakura who will state a brief explanation for every option on-screen. Because she does this instantaneously for every option you hover over, and because you select options by scrolling up and down, get used to her spouting nonsensical sentence-fragments every time you want to select something, “Figh- Ba- Choo- Prep-”. That, along with her inability to stand still, habit of trying unsuccessfully to look you in the eye, and attempt at “cute” body language by lunging her face at your secondary option screen and shadow boxing at you when you make a selection creates a VERY frightening uncanny valley effect.

And these are all pretty rookie mistakes for such a well-established series to still be making.

The music is above-par, but it was directly ripped from the anime. Not that I have a problem with that. It's actually a technique I would recommend for most branch-titles of this nature, but it doesn't imply any talent on part of the game-makers, so it doesn't help it's first impression at all.

BUT! It's when you get into the gameplay that it starts coming into it's own. The fight-system is not too reminiscent of the original series. It focuses, for the most part, on up-close martial art-styled, reflex-based combat, which is different from the chess-like, absurdly complex battle system of it's original series, which would probably be better suited for a turn-based RPG or strategy game.

This is a little disappointing, but it's probably the reason it's so good. It's like it focused on being a good fighter primarily, and then stylized it with Naruto afterwards.

The tier balancing is good, which is rare these days. It's easy to pick-up-and-play, making it a good game for when friends come over, if you can admit you own it in the first place. The gameplay for most of the characters is fairly universal, so that once you get a feel for the game, you can handle each character, although everyone is still given enough individuality to feel unique, and even with the similar handling, the esthetics for each character's fighting style is fairly true to the original series.

Apparently one of the reasons it's so well-balanced is because of everyone being able to do a substitution, which basically means they disappear and reappear elsewhere. This nullifies exploits that would in other games create chain techniques not originally intended to be a part of the gameplay. It also means that the game makers did take a cue from the original series in terms of fight-mechanics, and benefited from it, which feels nice.

These reasons alone make it one of the most solid fighters for the Wii, open to both casual and advanced play.

But don't worry, I've saved the worst for last.

Definitely it's weakest point is character selection. You know they're playing the formula to a fault when Baki gets included. You know, that guy whose only implication to a fighting style was his saying “Nothing stops a blade of wind,” before the screen cuts away? Yup, they'll have everyone from the Rookie Nine, Team Gai, Sand Siblings, and their senseis, no matter how unimportant or unpopular they are. Yup, there's Asuma, Kurenei, Tenten...

...Wait, where's Ino?

Oh, come on. She might not be top priority, but it seems mean to include absolutely everyone from the standard formula, including those four people mentioned above, and then exclude only her. Tenten even made it into the starting roster.

But it gets more absurd than that, the least of which being their inclusion of Anko, a character that had medium to low importance when she was at her most influential, and who, at the time of this game's release, had been absent from the series for seven years.

And then you have Yugao, a character that was featured for, what, two pages of the original series?

Then there's Towa and Komachi, otherwise known as Anbu Boy and Anbu Girl. Two entirely made up characters who have no personalities outside being members of Anbu. Their existence is made slightly more excusable when you see that their movesets are reminiscent of Zabuza and Haku, characters that were featured repeatedly in games previous to this one, but who stopped appearing, likely because their relevance to the current series was becoming more and more stretched, what with them having died at the end of the first major arc. This makes it seem like Towa and Komachi's existence is almost homage to two old characters that the game makers just couldn't get away with including anymore.

But at this point in time, it really doesn't feel like they've been out of the series much longer than Anko and Yugao, both of those characters having been seen last in the second major arc when this game was released. And as the main antagonists of the first arc, I'd say Zabuza and Haku have more relevance.

Then you've got Kagura and Bando, two completely made up characters that were invented for the purposes of a made up storyline for the game previous to this one. Bando even uses guns, which the creator of the original series said he would never do.

And finally there's Anbu Kakashi, the only clone character of the game. There's no reason Kakashi would have had a different moveset when he was in Anbu, and his participation in the organization has only ever been referenced, never seen.

Now I want you to reflect on each of these characters: Asuma, Kurenei, Tenten, Baki, Anko, Yugao, Towa, Komachi, Bando, Kagura and Anbu Kakashi, and think to yourself, “Each of these characters took a slot that could have been used by someone else.” Now, do you really think they made the wisest decisions possible?

The makers also had a weird fixation with the Anbu. Towa and Komachi are Anbu, Anbu Kakashi is obviously Anbu, Yugao is Anbu, and Kagura wears an Anbu mask, but I can't remember her story from the last game so I can't confirm her status. And every time Yamato fights someone from Anbu, he feels a need to remind everyone of his own previous status among them.

Also, the two characters the game decided to resurrect from the archives were purple-haired females...

The nicest thing I can say about all this is that, writing fanfiction, inventing OC's (original characters), and displaying an obsessive interest in a relatively obscure aspect of the series shows they are pretty standard Naruto fans (Or Narutards, if you will), and it's a good thing for a game maker to love the material they're working with These guys are so obsessed, in fact, that they even exploit a dropped plot device from the original series, an observation I thought I was the only one to have noticed.

Overall, I'd say that the good qualities of this game, bred through the game makers love for the series, outdoes the unfortunately self-indulgent actions typical of a Naruto fan.