Naruto: Rise of a Ninja is based on the popular Japanese comic book of the same name. From the comic, a cartoon eventually emerged, which was just as popular. Both the comic and the show have a loyal following, and it was just a matter of time before the subject matter was used as the focus of a video game. In fact, there have been many Naruto games on several different platforms, ranging from the Nintendo DS to the PlayStation 2. However, most of those titles were either simple platformers or stylish fighting games. And while they did follow the story that was laid in place by the comic, none of them really allow you to relive the comic in the same way that Naruto: Rise of a Ninja does.

Naruto's story begins with a vicious creature called the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. The Demon Fox was out of control, rampaging the countryside, and it took the combined forces of the Village Hidden in the Leaves to contain the beast. However, it was too powerful to destroy, so it was imprisoned in the belly of an infant. That infant was Naruto Uzumaki. Many people were killed during the attacks of the Demon Fox, including Naruto's parents. Flash forward to around a decade, and Naruto has grown into a boy who is trying to become a ninja. But the stigmata of having the beast locked within him causes most of the village to shun him as an outcast. For those unfamiliar with the source material, most of that probably sounded pretty foreign, and to be sure, it is. In fact, Naruto is a world unto itself, not unlike a role-playing game. There is a terminology that goes along with it. Throwing stars are called kunai. Ninja magic is called a jutsu. And the life force that powers the magic is called chakura. But a punch is still a punch, and ramen noodles are still ramen noodles, which also happen to be the main life-replenishing item in the game.

While the stylized fighting looks good, the rest of the graphics are pretty unremarkable.

The sandbox world allows for a good amount of freedom. In fact, there might be a bit too much freedom as it can be difficult to know what to do next. Often times, finding the next actual story-related mission is a chore. While the side missions are okay, they quickly become tiresome. But when you can't figure out what to do, you can get villagers to help you out, which brings forth an interesting gameplay mechanic. At the start of the game, everyone hates you because of that nasty Demon Fox trapped within you. However, the more side quests that you complete, the more people like you. You can actually tell if someone likes you or not just by approaching them. If an unhappy purple face appears, they don't like you and won't help you. However, if someone has a yellow smiley face, you can hit the X button and they will help you in whatever quest you are currently doing, usually by pointing you in the right direction.

The fighting in the game is basic, but fun. It starts out incredibly simple, with just a single combo or two that you can use. As the game progresses, you earn experience that can be spent on combos or powering up your skills. Naruto will quickly evolve from a one hit wonder to a fighting force in no time. The fighting is further spiced up with magic scrolls. Knock your opponent back far enough and you'll have time to perform a jutsu, or ninja magic. When a jutsu is activated, it will trip an interactive cutscene. If you time your button presses well, the jutsu will be successful. Missing a button press will cause the jutsu to do only partial damage, or none, depending on how many quick-time buttons were pressed. A successful jutsu not only rewards the player with a quality cutscene, but it also applies heavy damage to the opponent, often times ending the fight in a knockout.

At around the midpoint of the game, Naruto will learn how to use and control the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox within him during fights. At this point, the creature will no longer be a hindrance to you, as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox will transform Naruto into a literal beast. During this transformation, Naruto deals out more damage and cannot be injured. Unfortunately, his time spent in the Demon Fox mode is short-lived, and he quickly transforms back. These transformations really spruce up the fighting and add some depth and strategy, as you can choose when to use go into the powerful mode.

If you played Crackdown and you miss the feeling of collecting agility orbs, this game is for you. There are coins to be collected in every nook and cranny of the game. Many of them cannot be reached until Naruto's ninja abilities have been enhanced. Gaining a double jump, or being able to dash up walls opens up entire new areas to explore. The platforming is fairly basic, as the game is much more focused on exploration and dueling, but it serves as a framing device for the versus battles. The exploration primarily takes place in the large town in the game where most of the coins are located, as well as all of the side missions. While it can be fun at first to find new paths and areas, it does get old, especially compared to the much more compelling main storyline.

One weakness of Rise of a Ninja is its length. It can be breezed through in about 5 or 6 hours if no side missions are taken on. Considering that most of the non-required tasks are fetch quests, races, or events that have you backtracking through maps you've already gone through, they can get old fairly quickly. However, for the dedicated or completists, the additional gameplay will tack on about 5 more hours to the experience. It should also be noted that fans of the comic and cartoon may be disappointed that the story which takes place in the game really only entails the first few storylines from the series. It doesn't even cover half the story that has occurred in the Naruto shows and comics, so many of the better characters will not make an appearance in this game, leaving room for the inevitable sequel.

Rise of a Ninja captures the feel of the Naruto universe better than other games before it.

The graphics are decent. If this was a last generation game, it would be mind blowing, but on the current hardware, it just looks average. The sum total of things on-screen is quite impressive though. The town feels real and is bustling with people to speak with and get missions from. The cel-shaded look of everything stays true to the show's roots as well. However, if you take Naruto's model from this title and compare it with the model used in a GameCube Naruto game, they pretty much look the same. Except now, that model has been placed in a fully realized world with impressive environments.

Sound is also on the strong side, depending on your taste in voice acting. There is a group out there who despise English voice acting in any Japanese animation. If you fit into that group, you will not like the sound in this game. All of the dialog is spoken by the voice actors from the show, and that's an impressive amount of audio because there is a ton of speech. The rest of the music and sound effects are also lifted straight from the show and implemented into the game quite well. Even the cutscenes are taken from the show, often showing the major story elements with clips here and there from the cartoon, and they all look and sound good.

Naruto: Rise of a Ninja is a polished game that stays true to the source material. Naruto fans will really enjoy exploring the world that has been lovingly created within this game. However, as far as the Naruto universe is concerned, this game is shallow. It could have dozens of extra missions based on events that are much more current. To its credit, the fighting engine could stand alone as its own game, and that will extend the playtime considerably for some. Rise of a Ninja is decent for what it is, in that it's a solid first attempt at the Naruto franchise on a modern console. While it is unlikely to get the uninitiated to start viewing the show, it will likely please those who enjoy the anime.