Ultimate Ninja Attack 4

The game features 4-player local multi-player battles

The game features 4-player local multi-player battles, as well as characters from the Itachi Pursuit Mission, including Sasuke and the members of Hebi.

It has to deliver on the Ultimate name by providing content that will appeal to fans of the popular anime series, and it has to make fighting as the titular blond ninja and his friends or foes enjoyable.

[Story]

The meat of the game is in a mode called the Master Road, which picks up with Ultimate returning to Hidden Leaf Village after an absence of two-and-a-half years. He barely has time to fight a few sparring matches before his friend Gaara is kidnapped by the evil Akatsuki organization. The story of the subsequent rescue attempt and what follows is spread out across the seven chapters that make up the Master Road.

This will all be familiar territory for Narutimate fans, but the story is told so incoherently and throws so many characters and clan names at you that players unacquainted with the source material will be lost. The occasional dramatic animation sequence livens things up, but the overwhelming majority of conversations take place between static character portraits that oddly stand side by side and stare out at you even while speaking to each other.

The players select one of their favorite characters out of the Ultimate story arc and battle on a series of dual-stage arenas. Although the game takes place on a 2D plane, players can teleport between the foreground and background at their leisure. Besides basic movement, jumps and wall runs, players can perform all their attacks simply by pressing the Circle button. Even special moves can be executed by hitting Triangle first, then Circle.

There is one area where this game doesn't disappoint. The visuals are beautiful, with detailed, well-animated characters and remarkably vivid environments. Little touches like rolling rivers, leaves blowing in the wind, and flickering light from flames go a long way toward making the surroundings for the action feel alive and authentic.