Games based on anime licenses have experienced a surge in quality over the last few years, especially when compared to those that came out during the mid-to-late 90’s. The Naruto license, especially when one considers its Gamecube entries, fares as one of the better anime series-to-game translations yet. That said, it’s not impossible to bring anime to the GBA and make it enjoyable — just look at Shaman King: Master of Spirits and its sequel, which are both highly enjoyable games. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Naruto: Ninja Council 2. Between its shallow combat system and overly straightforward level design, there isn’t much here for gamers whether they’re fans of the show or not.
The main problem with Naruto seems to be a lack of identity. The gameplay is comprised through the use of several different elements, but none of them are developed enough to offer any kind of substance. Sure there are platforming sections, but double jumping isn’t really much of a feature these days. There’s a teleport maneuver, but it feels like it was more tacked on, and isn’t used for anything meaningful. There are some time limit levels, and even though they require a lot of running they do nothing to change the pace of the game since they’re littered with tons of "beat-all-the-enemies" moments where you have to hit the breaks and throw down.
"The main problem with Naruto seems to be a lack of identity."
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It’s no surprise that running isn’t this game’s strong suit though, because at its heart Naruto is a 2D brawler, albeit not a very good one. The fighting suffers from two major afflictions: a bare-bones combat engine and inconsistent controls. One of the main problems stems from the way characters walk. Pressing a direction and holding it causes them to walk slowly in that direction, and a double-tap will cause a run.
Aside from the fact that the moving quickly from side to side is sometimes unresponsive, the problem is that the slow walk is far too slow, leaving you open to attacks, and the run is slightly too fast, meaning it’s easy to run right into enemies and their attacks. It’s probably good that health is plentiful and the enemies are easily defeated, or the game would be frustratingly unplayable.
Of course, it begs the question of which is better: frustratingly unplayable or frighteningly basic and easy? There’s a button to attack, and a button to jump. Each of the three immediately selectable characters has three basic combos that use the same button combination to go along with basic punches and kicks (tied to the same button, mind you). Aside from blocking, that’s the depth of the combat system. There are special power-up attacks you can find in the stages that are infinitely more useful than the pre-programmed combos as well, but you can only carry three total at a time. The only enemies that offer any challenge are the bosses, but since blocking is unbreakable, all a player needs to do is block oncoming offense and attack when the enemy is open with regular single button A-A-A-tap combos.
"... there isn’t much here for gamers whether they’re fans of the show or not."
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Mercifully, Naruto is not a lengthy game, which is good since the NES quality music (think Total Recall, not Castlevania) really starts to grate on your nerves after a while. With only seven levels to complete, players should be able to casually stroll through the game in a few hours, and that’s being generous. After completing the game, a fourth character is unlocked, and while he’s superior to the default characters in every way, he fails to add any kind of depth to the gameplay.
Naruto: Ninja Council 2 fails to bring anything to the table for fans of the series, or anime junkies in general. With nearly no story to support the weight of boring gameplay, Naruto is a game almost every person would be better off passing by in favor of many of the other fantastic GBA brawlers.
