Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress Alternate title: Naruto: Narutimate Protable: Mujengo No Maki (Japanese) Platform: PSP Developers/Publishers: Bandai-Namco, Cyber Connect 2 Release Date: June 24, 2008 (USA) July 8, 2008 (Europe) When I got this game, I thought it was gonna be exactly like its Japanese version. The same jutsus (ninja art), cut scenes, layout, music and the same character moves setup. I. Was. Wrong. Don’t let this game fool you, it is not like the Japanese version two years ago. Plot: Orochimaru and Kabuto notice that the Hidden Leaf Village’s strength is dwindling at the moment and decide to strike; well, really only Orochimaru gets to make decisions, but he values Kabuto’s opinion. In the opening cut scene, they decide to use ‘it’. What’s it, you ask? ‘It’ is the Mugenjo, which is a really huge, floating castle (hence the title ‘Phantom Fortress’) that takes 8 people to summon it. It towers over the Leaf Village, and saps the vitality out of its inhabitants. Throughout the mode ‘the Mugenjo,’ players get to experience the tale through Naruto’s eyes. As he climbs up the 100 floors of the Mugenjo, he encounters this weird fog, which the manifests itself into ghosts of his friends and various villains from the manga/show. Eventually, Naruto meets the person/spirit controlling these ghosts, her name is the Dusk Princess. After a couple more flights of stairs, Naruto and his team soon theorize that the Dusk Princess is actually the same Princess Kasumi, the former mistress of the castle. They stop to ponder how she attained this power, but are soon attacked by the manifested ghosts again, and are forced to move upward. Whenever Naruto and his team removes a seal, a flashback of the castle is shown to them, and in one particular, Naruto sees that Orochimaru tricked Kasumi into thinking that the Leaf Village attacked her castle and killed everyone in there except her. Naruto, like his usual self, vows to change Kasuni back into the person she was and expose Orochimaru as a liar. Oh my gosh! Orochimaru a liar! (NOTE: sarcasm) I wont lose no matter what! So Naruto, then reveales to Kasumi that Orochimaru is a liar, and she then helps the team reach the 99th floor. With just one more floor to go, Kabuto, Orochimaru’s main man, appears, and he commands the ghosts to attack the team. Luckily, the team fends of the ghosts and Naruto with Kasumi, escape to the 100th and final floor. Here they meet up on the snake himself, Orochimaru, but behind him is the last seal, with Kasumi’s body, enclosed in a crystal. You fight twice, the first time with him seriously powered up (speed, defense, attack increased), and the second, you fight in kyuubi mode, with him being the same. After you easily beat him, an amazing cutscene appears , where Kasumi holds Naruto’s hand and transfers some chakra to him. Of course, the move he uses to save destroy the crystal is none other than, Rasengan! This rasengan is actually gold on the edges, but retains its blue core, as he strikes the crystal, Naruto goes kyuubi with his trademark screaming. Wow. So officially, the game is beaten. That’s what you think. After the credits, you unlock several characters, most notably, the rebel Sasuke Uchiha. But also, a new mode is unlocked: the Hidden Mugenjo. This game is too good, more challenges. Now, you get to descend to the basement where all the vitality from the village is being stored. Playing as Jirayia, you are accompanied by Tsunade and Shizune. As you descend the 30 floors, you again battle spirit manifestations. Upon reaching the 30th basement floor, you meet upon Orochimaru, again. This guy does die… yet. (if you read the manga, you know what I mean) So, it’s a Sannin battle royale again. After you defeat him in battle, another awesome cut scene appears where all three work together to attack Orochimaru, and with a final Rasengan from Jirayia, Orochimaru is spent. Of course, you unlock some more characters, Itachi Uchiha, the Third Hokage and Kisame Hosikagi. I wish I had a tongue like his...imagine the things i could do... Well, now that the story is over, is there anything else left to do? You bet there is. Heroes mode returns from Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes 1. Here you fight all four levels of gameplay and receive points for each battle won. Points can be exchanged for various items, and these can be viewed in Naruto’s house. Scores: Presentation: For a PSP game, I’d say it is one of the best presented games out there. Redone menus, character movement more clear, and instructions clearly are explained and depicted. Score: 8/10 Graphics: The graphics are spectacular, from the menu, to loading screen, to the battle screen, everything is very sharp, and detailed. The cut scenes look like movies sometimes, but the cell shading does take this ‘movie-like’ feeling away. Score: 9/10 Sound: I was disappointed with this because some of the menu sounds from the previous title were used. I expected to have new music, but otherwise, in the Mugenjo modes, there is some new, quality ‘Naruto’ music there. Score: 7/10. Gameplay: Well, if you played the last couple of Naruto Ultimate Ninja games, you know that the only way to attack is with the circle button, so no change there. But the special techniques (executed with triangle, then circle) are very crucial in winning matched, especially when playing on the hardest difficulty level. The AI is very mean, and wont hesitate to counter, and it will also attack you while you are on the ground. All in all, you still will play, just to get back at the AI. Score: 8/10 Lasting appeal: This is a PSP game you want to keep. You’ll have countless hours of gaming, and it’s especially useful when travelling. Portable fighting on the go! Score: 9/10 Total Score: Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: the Phantom Fortress gets 41 kicks out of 50. Dont ya wish your girlfriend was hot like me? Wait... no more sexy jutsu, just regular clones? Noooooooo! Closing Comments: Get it, if not download it. It’s worth the play. It is really a scaled down version of the PS2 version, but I’m a Naruto fan, so naturally, I was gonna play it. It’s great for people who just like fighting games. Plenty of fun, and takes about 15 hours for the average gamer, but im not average… Just remember if you get it/download it, take breaks because your hands WILL start to hurt after about 4-5 hours of straight playing. Works cited: IGN for 3 screenshots EDIT: made some minor grammatical changes
