Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution review

Still fast and exciting, but this fighter's lost its edge

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Fun

  • +

    accessible fighting

  • +

    Clean

  • +

    smooth graphics

  • +

    Great Chakra moves

Cons

  • -

    Motion controls

  • -

    Essentially the same

  • -

    again

  • -

    No real improvement

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Oct 23, 2007

Remember last year when the GameCube was dying and the only games coming around were Cars, Teen Titans and Nicktoons slop? There were two shiny gems in that sea of lumpy coal, and they both happened to be Clash of Ninja games released just six months apart. Their button-mashy (yet surprisingly deep) fighting styles made both games popular even among non-Naruto fans. Now we're looking at the third to hit US shores in just over a year and it's basically the same as the other two.

Now, that's not immediately a bad thing. The first two were excellent titles that captured the energy and atmosphere of the series - we're not aware of any other fighting games that rely so heavily on teleportation, counter attacks and world-breaking finishing moves, so they definitely have that going for them. It's just, well, the same thing again. Some new characters, yes, but by and large this is a Madden-style roster update. Naruto '08, if you will.

Even many of the battlegrounds are re-used. Hell, even some of the music, sound effects and combo animations are the same. If you could do it in Clash 2, odds are you can do it here. Four-player fights? Yep. Demon fox Naruto? Yep. Mission mode/story mode/challenge mode? Yes, yes and more yes.

But let's be completely fair - there are new features, they're just not that big of a deal. Rocks and crates now dot the arenas, so you can hide behind them and ambush an unaware enemy. You can actually punch someone out of the arena and follow them to the next battlefield, Dead or Alive style. Arm-wavy minigames let you use the remote to act out your favorite shuriken-throwing fantasies. Those same tilty-whirly controls also let you swing madly to attack in the main game, but trust us, you will want to use a GameCube or Classic Controller.

More info

GenreFighting
DescriptionThe new stuff isn't all that great and what's here has been done twice before. That said, this is still one of the best Wii fighting games available.
Platform"Wii"
US censor rating"Teen"
UK censor rating""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
More
Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE.