Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution III

Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution III is the first Naruto game on the Wii that features characters from the Shippuden section of the Naruto Anime/Manga. The game contains more than 35 characters from this story arc and should definitely please most people with the selection of characters. Beyond the characters included the game storyline goes through the Akatsuki capturing Gaara arc of Shippuden which is essentially the first 30 or so episodes of Shippuden (or in the manga the volumes 28-31, Manga chapters 245-280). The game brings to life the story by (only includes English audio) incorporating the English voice actors from the show and either stating the exact same lines as we heard them in the anime, or slight modifications and alterations to the places where some of the conversations or fights took place. Actually all but one fight actually occurred. The story in the game is pretty faithful to the manga/anime so it should please people who like to play through the actual events as they took place.

The mechanics to this fighting game are, in my opinion, spot on in all but one respect. The difficulty of the game can be described as easy fights, then a really difficult fight, then a few challenging fights, then a really difficult fight, then a few challenging ones, and so. It seems that they paced out these difficult ones to ensure that a player is actually growing and learning the controls and is able to morph themselves into changing their playstyle for different conditions to win. For example a really early fight that is really difficult is mainly difficult because it is one character versus two characters (and if one character is tagged out they can recover their health) so the key here is that the game wants to make sure that the character is dodging attacks and/or taking advantage of doing many of the jutsus that character knows. The only other weird mechanic in this game, that was new to me (since I come from playing the Ultimate Ninja series of games) is that the substitution jutsu takes about 75% of the chakra bar. So unlike in the other games the substitution jutsus cant really be spammed or heavily relied upon.

The game supports four controls styles (gamecube controller, wiiremote, wiiremote and nunchuk, and classic controller). The controls are fortunately all listed in the tiny game manual and the ability to take part in a tutorial mode, will make sure that you learn to use your specific controller style. I prefer the gamecube controller for the sake of a more traditional experience, but the Wiiremote offers a bonus with some motion controls that can extra power to attacks.

Graphically, the game excels with the cutscenes that are directly from the anime with english dubbing and these can be viewed once unlocked. Battles take place fullscreen but the menu seems to be in a sort of boxed format. The battle experience and screen is clean, moves are fluid, and special jutsus are really flashy. It seems to take advantage of the Wii well and the 3D backgrounds with the 2D cel-shaded models of characters is a great style. The menu presentation could have been worked on as there are alot of jagged/white lines on the characters. Of course we cant really criticize it since we are only concerned with the fighting in the game.

Finally a few more things to note, there is online wi-fi play for those who are interested. Local multiplayer also includes support for up to four players on the field at once. This works well and I hope to see it implemented in future games. It can get hectic trying to keep track of a character and/or figuring out who to target (the target button will change the color of an onscreen arrow that indicates which direction you are facing and fighting). I loved the mode playing it with other people. One thing of caution, one can win by just button mashing, but truly the skilled will win consistently because of the implementation of doing guarding, dodging, and substitution jutsus.

Clash of Ninja Revolution III is definitely a great game in the Clash of Ninja Revolution series and I hope to see it continue deeper into the Shippuden arc of Naruto. It was my first Clash of Ninja Revolution game and was pretty easy to pick up and play within hours. It is actually pretty addictive since, at the time of writing this, Ive already spent more than 30 hours playing it. I dont really have any criticisms beyond the slight menu presentation aspect, but everything else is spot on. A definite buy for fighter fans.

Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution III (apart from being a mouthful to say) is the third CON game to appear on the Wii, and it is easily the strongest of the series so far. Considering the series began on the Gamecube with a paltry 8 fighters and maybe ten stages to its name, it's quite staggering to see how the products have grown, both in popularity and scale.

This isn't unwarranted, as CONR 3 has the makings of a solid fighter, a ton of fun for players who are fans of the Naruto franchise, or are simply looking for an addictive fighter to get into. The roster of characters is large and fighting styles differ from character to character, with each having their own special techniques, or "jutsu", to use on hapless enemies. There are plenty of different modes to try, ranging from single player campaigns and score attacks to two-player co-op and four player battle royales.

A word to the wise though: if you are playing by yourself and seeking to unlock secrets, get the story mode done first and FAST. There are fights in the story mode (near its end) that have been programmed so horribly that the computer opponents are difficult to the point of impossible to defeat. There is a great deal of luck required in these couple fights and it ruins the fun factor. On the up side, though, once you are done with it the first time (on default settings aka difficulty 2 and attack power 2) you never have to touch it again.

The game looks just like the anime/manga that inspired it, as characters are rendered in colorful cel-shaded graphics, a look extremely faithful to the franchise. And while online play leaves much to be desired (lag is large and in charge) it is the local multi-player modes that really make this game shine. With the system as easy to learn as it is, you'll soon find yourself trying to outsmart and predict how your opponents will move, which can make for some thrilling mind-games and battles. There are a few different control layouts for this game so you can use one that suits you best.

Overall, this game is a must have for those Wii owners looking for a strong fighter that ISN'T Super Smash Bros Brawl. And if you're a Naruto fan? Well, that's just mounds of icing on the cake. And a sweet cake it is.

Bought this about two weeks ago and it's off the hook. I've been waiting since the gamecube days to pick up a Naruto fighting game, but there have always been some described shortcomings in each. Finally we reach this game and still this trend is present. Though the game is loaded with characters and other unlockables, some aspects of this game are still lagging. Lag, actually in itself is one problem, which occurs without fail during online matches and occasionally when there's too many characters on the screen. Also the graphics don't seem to have improved much from game to game. In the scheme of things, these problems are minimal, but sit as a representation of what this game could have been. Perhaps the next installment will fix these problems, but for now, we do have this awesome game to enjoy. Don't get the wrong impression here, there is soooo much still to enjoy in this title and as the first reviewer said, it's extremely addictive. If you're an avid Naruto fan with a Wii, picking this game up is obviously a no-brainer. Even if you're just looking for a unique and exceptionally fun fighter, this is it.

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