Naruto: Shippuden Legends: Akatsuki Rising
The more subtitles these games get the less fun they are to play
Tags: Naruto Shippuden Legends: Akatsuki Rising Categories: PSP Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Nov 9th, 2009
Naruto has become the new Dragon Ball Z. The sort of franchise that seems to churn out video games and never reaches the bottom of the barrel. Its as if the franchise has no limit on the fans’ patience, but it certainly tests mine. Waaaay back when I started this gig, one of the first games I reviewed was Naruto: Clash of the Ninja 2. The Smash Bros-esque control scheme, and unique character design was more than enough to keep me entertained.However, after lackluster RPG’s, and multiple Madden-like iterations of the exact same game, I just don’t care anymore. The anime series had moved so far beyond the games, that the two barely had anything in common. Apparently Namco figured that out as well, moving this iteration into the Shippuden franchise.
Catching the birth of the second major arc right from the beginning the game has plenty of exposition to pad repetitive missions. Though pay attention to the exposition because the license is all this game has going for it, that meager storytelling saves this from the depths of generic gameplay unseen since the Game Boy era.
The biggest problem this game faces is that the levels design is bland and so are the enemies. You spend a lot of time simply mashing button through filler. After you get through the filler, you get to more filler. The over the shoulder camera needs some work too, the PSP doesn’t do well with the traditional style of 3D camera. It either requires an arcane set of controls to mimic the console style camera control. If you just lose the control and tie it to the way the character faces, the controls end up feeling really stiff.
I would be more forgiving if this wasn’t the exact same game they’ve been releasing for all the Sony systems every three months for the last two and half years. Adding new skins doesn’t do anything to improve a tired game. Adventures need to be engaging and the action needs to be related at least tangentially to the story. This game strives to do neither, simply plunking you in generic battles between extended text and still cut scenes. Even Nartuo fans can pass on this, you’ve played it before. Spend your money on DVD’s or Manga. If you haven’t played the older games, one of the actual fighting titles at least has some replay value.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
| + Naruto fans may have not yet tired of Naruto games | 4.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Generic game play and missions - Stiff Controls - Entirely too many similar games in the franchise |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Naruto is a fun little anime, but the games have not kept up the quality that some of the early titles have. Like Dragon Ball Z, these games seems to trend toward the Madden effect for anime geeks. | |
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Tags: Naruto Shippuden Legends: Akatsuki Rising
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Nov 9th, 2009 and is filed under PSP Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
