Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4

Pros

• Fast action
• Tight controls
• Wall running feature
• Upgraded graphics

Cons

• May not make sense to those who aren't already Naruto fans
• Needs control configuration before its playable

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is a fast-paced fighting game that's based on Kishimoto Masashi's smash hit manga series. The game takes a great deal of inspiration from the later part of the series, so many of the characters have already grown up and allowed their ninja skills to reach a high level. This should be great news for gamers who really appreciate the story aspects of fighting games, since it follows the plot of the manga quite well.

To this end, the game makes sure to include numerous nods to the individual characters. For instance, all of the characters feature specialized win quotes that change based on who they've defeated. The introductory text also changes based on who you book a match for.

While this might make the game less interesting to those who might not have as much experience with the series, casual fans will still find plenty that they have plenty to love.

That being said, this isn't a traditional fighting game. The action is designed to resemble the breakneck speeds of fights in the manga and anime series, thus Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 relies far more on button mashing than you might expect. For gamers with quick reaction times, this is more of a benefit than it is a drawback because the game eases you into its unique manner of fights over time with a convenient tutorial system.

Players of the previous games in the series will notice major improvements to the graphics engine as well as the smoothness of the play itself. For instance, the designers decided to model wall running into this version. Considering that Uzumaki Naruto has a habit of running up and down walls, it only made sense to include it in the game.

This feature will free you to switch from fighting in the arena itself to actually duking it out on the walls. As you might expect, this makes some fights rather chaotic, but that's going to prove very attractive to those who have read the original story.

Gamers who've never even heard of Naruto should still be able to figure out the controls fairly easily. Some people will prefer to map the game directly to certain keys on their keyboard. By default, one of the attack buttons is mapped to the equals key and another is mapped to Q.

Just a few minutes spent tinkering around in the control configuration screen will help to assuage any problems you might have otherwise had with this. Many players will probably prefer to swap the directional controls to the WASD keys and then use Insert, Home, Delete and End to deliver punishing punches and kicks to their opposition.

Besides any control issues you might run into when you first run the game, you should find that Ultimate Ninja Storm is every bit as fluid as a game about skilled martial arts should be. Pulling off combos is often as easy as tapping two or three keys in quick succession.

One thing that might take some getting used to is the constant switching of dynamics that Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 subjects its players to. This is something that's common to almost all games in this genre, but it's going to be jarring to those who prefer traditional fighting games based around sprites. Those who've become acquainted with this style of play or don't mind learning will fall in love with it, however.

The designers were clearly going for an expert demographic here, which should help to drastically increase the replay value of the game. You're not going to soon master Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 and get bored with it. As soon as you've unlocked everything, you might even enjoy experimenting with alternate costumes and battle arena settings.

Members of the Anbu Black Ops organization and several other groups from the Naruto universe are well represented in the game, which should add interest to those who have long wanted to put together dream matches of their favorite characters. If you're the type who frequents battle forum sites and debates the relative strengths and weaknesses of different characters, then this might very well be the title for you.

Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 set out to please a hardcore group of fans, and when it comes to that goal it succeeds with S rank grading as Naruto's sensei might say. You'll keep coming back for more even after you've beaten the story mode and unlocked every last one of the many secret fighters the game has hidden away in its code.

Pros

• Fast action
• Tight controls
• Wall running feature
• Upgraded graphics

Cons

• May not make sense to those who aren't already Naruto fans
• Needs control configuration before its playable