Toronto Thumbs

Review
Naruto Shippūden: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX 3

Naruto Shippūden: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX 3 (GNT EX3) is the latest in the fighting franchise for Masashi Kishimoto’s number one knucklehead shinobi from Konoha (The Hidden Leaf Village).  Previous iterations have been reviewed here:

• Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 
• Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2
• Naruto Shippūden: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX 2

This latest version in the successful series from Takara Tomy is fun and engaging.  For those who are in the know, this chapter takes place after EX2.  If you are familiar with the Naruto storylines at all, you will be happy to know that this one takes you into the Hidan/Kakuzu arc.  There are enough new modes and characters to keep any rabid Naruto fan occupied.  Newbies might take a bit of time getting used to the fast-paced action, but if you’ve never played it before, it’s a good investment.

For starters, GNT EX3 has thirty-five playable characters (including Hidan, Kakuzu, Baki and others).  Of course, not all of them are available right away.  You have to work to unlock them.  Within the game there is a section called the Omake Store, where you can use points earned during the game to “buy” new characters.  This takes some time.   However, if you own GNT EX2, you get 710,000 credits to start, which will buy you a significant number of characters.  To make things slightly more challenging, you will have to buy some characters twice, as there are two major modes in the game.

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Posted in Reviews, Wii | No Comments »

Holiday Hints
Naruto Uncut Box Set 1

This DVD set starts the viewer on a journey into the world of Naruto.  While this is a non-gaming item, it’s certainly a great experience.

Years ago I had briefly viewed glimpses of Naruto while flipping through television channels, but I never really stayed long enough to see what was going on.  To be honest, I really can’t stand English-dubbed anime (with a few exceptions).  It was only when I picked up Naruto: Clash of Ninja for the Nintendo Gamecube that I really became interested.

The game was on sale for less than ten dollars, so I picked it up, not really expecting a lot of depth.  I was pretty surprised when I got it home.  The characters were overflowing with personality and the character designs were very interesting.

I ended up watching the Japanese version of the cartoon with English subtitles and the rest is history (you have seen that I have my own Naruto section here, haven’t you?).

If you love a good story, this anime is for you.  It’s the first thirteen episodes of the long-running show.  With the options to watch the English dub, or the English Subs, it’s sure to get you addicted!  BELIEVE IT!

Posted in Holiday Hints | No Comments »

Naruto: The Broken Bond
In Stores Tomorrow

It should come as no surprise to our readers that Toronto Thumbs is home to, among many things, a bunch of crazed and obsessed Naruto fans. Jorge has recently completed Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 for Wii and will soon be getting his hands on Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 for Nintendo DS while I will tackle Naruto: The Broken Bond for Xbox 360, which is in stores tomorrow.

Although the first Naruto outing on the Xbox received some critical bashing from cool dude video game bloggers, I quite enjoyed it because it followed the story of the anime so well and made it feel like I was playing a cartoon (but in a different way from Dragon’s Lair, which I actually do not enjoy). Bonus points to the developers for later including the Japanese language track as FREE DLC. I understand The Broken Bond includes the Japanese audio option right out of the box, which means I’ll be reading a lot of subtitles this week.

Dattebayo!

Posted in Awesome, DS, Wii, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »

Review
Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2

There are a lot of Naruto games. So many that there should be a separate section on Toronto Thumbs for them. Would this be a good thing?

Cha(nnaro)! Of course!

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 (known from now on as NCoNR2) is the latest in the North American releases for the popular fighting franchise for the Nintendo Wii. The sequel to NCoNR, this version presents new characters, new challenges and a lot of fun.

As always, the primary complaint about the Naruto: Clash of Ninja titles is that they don’t really change that much in their inevitable sequels. NCoNR2 breaks the mold by being an exclusive North American release, rather than a pale imitation of the Gekitou Ninja Taisen versions from the land of the rising sun.

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Posted in Reviews, Wii | 6 Comments »

True Gaming Friends
Unbeatable Edition

Today Bugsy and I attended Sony’s Holiday Preview Event in Toronto. We played many games together but one in particular stands out for me. That game is Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm. We played six battles and he beat me savagely in every one. Each time I thought I had one-upped him by pulling off a special technique, he somehow evaded it.

Bugsy is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to competitive video gaming. Even his somewhat debilitating cold could not stop him from not only beating me at Naruto, but beating THQ’s rep at WWE Raw VS Smackdown 09 and beating my time at the first stage of Sonic Unleashed.

Way to go, Bugsy, you’re unbeatable at video games… for now.

Posted in Events, PlayStation 3, True Gaming Friends | 6 Comments »

REVIEW
Naruto Shippūden: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX 2

Naruto Shippūden: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX 2 is a Japanese fighting game for the Wii based on the megahit manga/anime by Masashi Kishimoto. I posted a review a while back for Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution, the North American cousin of this Japanese version. Feel free to read that review, as it covers the basics of the franchise.

First of all, to play this game you will require a Japanese Wii (or Wii Freeloader), as it does not work in normal, unmodded North American Wiis. I play mine using Freeloader (as I am not a rich guy who can afford more than one Wii) and it works very well.

The basic premise is the same as the Clash of Ninja series: it follows the plot of the anime/manga. What sets it apart from the North American version is the fact that it is further along in the plot, and has more characters and gameplay tweaks.

GNT EX2 has 31 playable characters/character variants, compared to GNT EX’s 17 and CON Rev’s 23. On top of the existing stage transitions and Wii-mote-driven special attacks, some new goodies have been added: Stage Hazards and Hand Seals.

The Stage Hazards occur in certain levels, and can include falling rocks, exploding tags subtly placed on shelters as well as falling objects. This is an awesome addition, as it adds difficulty to levels and encourages the use of strategy rather than button mashing.

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Posted in Reviews, Wii | 2 Comments »

REVIEW: Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution

Published by D3 Publisher/Tomy Corporation for Wii.

Nothing beats the fun of a good fighting game. Kicking back with friends to beat the living tar out of each other for bragging rights is a great way to spend a weekend afternoon.

Long gone are the days of two-dimensional games like Street Fighter II and the original Mortal Kombat (although these games are still a lot of fun). When games like Virtua Fighter and Tekken entered the scene (prompting an extra dimension to be added to old Midway and Capcom faves), button mashing only got you so far. The 3D visuals were also awesome.

These days a lot of fighting games seem all about blood and guts (I suppose a lot of games in general seem to be about blood and guts), which is not necessarily a bad thing, provided that the added gore is simply an enhancement.

Unfortunately, I find that the bloody visuals become the selling point to most games. While this can be fun, it makes playing these games somewhat boring. Enter Naruto.

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Posted in Reviews, Wii | 3 Comments »