dattebayo

Sometimes I feel alone in my inability to grasp anything surrounding the Naruto craze.  Of course I'm out of touch with the children whom primarily consume anything and everything related to the show, but what I (foolishly) didn't expect was a similar embracement by my friends.  Through they're well into their mid twenties, age fails to stop them from minor antics (such as Halloween/cosplay outfits) to relatively severe admiration (such as wearing Naruto head bands in public places).  While I share an intense appreciation for all things ninja, their behavior and interest toward Naruto was completely lost on me.  I didn't get it.  At all.

Prepare for Battle!

Before the anime crowd on this site crucifies me for my admitted complete lack of understanding, I did have reasonable, albeit brief, amount of fun with the previous Ultimate Ninja Heroes title on PS2.  That was an experience in itself; having never played it before and not bothering with the seemingly pointless manual, I decided to hone my skills in training mode before taking on the cpu.  Oops, sorry, a training mode failed to exist, so I took it upon myself to jump right into a match.  About a minute in I determined something quite peculiar; there seemed to be only one attack button.

I know, okay, I know.  How in the hell could a fighting game, even a 2D fighting game, get by on one attack button?  Well, the answer is, surprisingly, quite well.  Combining or preceding the attack button with directions opens up a modest assortment of different moves and throws, usually rounding out to about seven or eight unique moves for each character.  These are complimented by the option to continue these moves after knocking an opponent in the air, where you can successively string more combos together to, quite satisfyingly, punish your opponent. 

Dashing, hopping in and out of the foreground, and projectile management add another degree of depth, but the real hook comes in the form of chakra.  Glowing balls are casually ejected from your opponent as you pummel them into oblivion and, assuming he doesn't reabsorb them quickly, they're yours for the taking.  Once you've collected enough, you can unleash a super attack that, as one would expect, is both visually arresting and contextually satisfying; the other guy takes always takes a glorious pounding.

While a traditional cpu versus mode is offered, the team based Heroes Mode extends the general fighting idea with the addition of a couple quick RPG-like modifiers, called skills, such as additional stamina or faster chakra recovery.  This approach is complimented by occasional goals during the match, such as destroying objects in the field or winning with a throw, which help break the monotony of the fairly simplistic gameplay.  Upon completing goals, you're awarded points that can later be spent on a handful of unlockables, such as art or hidden characters.  At the end of the day, Heroes Mode isn’t too different than a standard versus mode, but the team and goal based approach isn't a bad dangling carrot.

Wait, are you reviewing the first game, or this one?

Both, sort of.  Released just nine months ago, not a whole lot has changed for the sequel.  Every mode and mechanic from the first game has been carried over to Phantom Fortress, save a couple change ups in the move and technique department.  Some new characters are also present, but the meat in this sequel is found through the newly added Mugenjo Mode.  A legitimate narrative (which I didn't understand a bit of) has been constructed around a hundred room dungeon for you to make your way through.  Each room provides a new challenge, the bulk of which is usually battles, but a handful of minigames can also be optioned with scrolls.  Some of the more Simon-like activities I could keep up with, but I was totally lost on the one with questions related to the Naruto mythos.  Still, a hundred rooms is a lot to do, even if it gets fairly repetitive.

A friend of mine walked in the room as I was slogging through Mugenjo Mode and, almost immediately, demanded that I change the audio track to its original Japanese recording.  Though I didn't think it would make much difference, I obliged.  Long story short; great decision - the English audio track is well produced, but after about three lines of dialogue I had my fill of Naruto's permanent child-boy scream.  The visual side of the presentation, while right in line with the previous title, is still one of the better looking games on PSP.  The art direction is consistent with the show (or what I've seen of the show), and the reciprocating graphics look gorgeous.  Is the PSP capable of a better visual output?  Probably, but one could do a lot worse than Phantom Fortress.

BELIEVE IT!!!

Essentially, Naruto's beauty is in its simplicity.  One button attacks and some flashy supers aren't going to put it in the same league as some of Capcom's or Arc's more dedicated 2D's,  but that's perfectly acceptable for the target audience.  It's supposed to be a fun, simple game for kids fans of the anime to vicariously pummel the poop out of each other with their animated idols.  While there are shades of depth and nuance in the combat, it doesn't walk the line between casual and hardcore as gracefully as, say,  Super Smash Brothers, instead feeling more akin to something like Power Stone.