Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is here, but does it live up to its predecessor? Thankfully, yes it does, and then some. 2008's, Ultimate Ninja Storm was arguably the best Naruto game around, and this sequel easily outdoes the original in pretty much every way possible.

The visuals are still incredibly faithful to the anime and the sound design is superb. Both of these elements together make for a fantastic adaptation of the show itself. It's hard not to appreciate the attention to detail the developers have paid to this license. Characters and environments are seemingly ripped right from the anime and into the palm of your hands. Every character is incredibly animated and the backdrops are stunningly accurate to their 2D counterparts. Turn the volume up and you'll hear great sound effects, fantastic music, and voice acting that is done very nicely. Some may argue that the English voice actors are sub-par but I think that, for the most part, they delivered their lines with great emotion. Some sections of dialogue are decidedly goofy, but when the time comes for an important plot point, the actors really nailed their parts; and there is always an option to use the original Japanese voice actors, so everyone's happy.

Speaking of the plot... well, it's Naruto. You probably either love it or hate it, and if you're planning on getting this game, it's most likely the former. I personally know the story as well as you could expect a fan to, so the changes stood out to me. What also stood out was how little they had to change. If you've never read or watched Naruto before, this game actually does a fine job of piecing the story together, without getting too caught up in exposition. If you have read or watched it however, some things will probably be missed, but as a whole they did a great job telling the tale.

The gameplay in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is deceptively simple at first, but once you peel back its layers, great depth is revealed. On the surface, you only have one melee attack and one ranged attack, however there are many other elements that add to the complexity. The first of these is chakra. The use of chakra in addition to jumping, hitting, or throwing shuriken increases the effect drastically. Jumping becomes a quick dash to the opponent. Hitting the attack button conjures up a special move relative to the character. Throwing weapons gets amplified ten fold. You only have a limited amount of chakra, so in order to use these moves over and over again; you'll need to charge it in the middle of the fight. Obviously this leaves you vulnerable, but the rewards are considerable. Some characters even have a special transformation if they charge their chakra bar completely when they are on their last leg.

In addition to chakra, there are items you can use in battle. These range from exploding paper bombs to gasses that slow down the enemy. Using these at a crucial moment can turn the tide of a battle instantly. Finally, there are support characters. These characters are randomly assigned to you based on the story mission, or you get to choose them before an online battle. Activating a support character in battle will bring a variety of help. Some characters attack offensively while others defend you. Using them at the perfect time can lead to some really awesome moments, and can also swing the battle in your favor.

All of these features grant the fighting system a lot of depth and more importantly a lot of fun. However, fighting is not the only thing you'll be doing here. Unfortunately, your time with the adventure mode will come with some menial tasks such as collecting beads or handing out business licenses. While I didn't really enjoy these quests at all, they did lead to some cool scenery, so that's a plus. Just wandering through the incredible recreation of the Naruto universe is fun in and of itself. Luckily, most of those jobs can be skipped and then you can get to the amazing boss battles in this game. Seriously, those things are epic. I'm willing to forgive the fact that a lot of the stuff in these fights never actually happened, or happened somewhere else entirely, simply because of how awesome they are to play.

It also helps knowing that the game goes from the beginning of Shippuden all the way up to the Pain arc. The single player mode is exceptionally lengthy and absolutely worth playing through. Of course, you'll have to play through it in order to unlock all the characters, which some may be turned off by if they only want to jump online.

Speaking of which, the online mode itself is also very well done, like the rest of the game. You start off with zero points and as you win more and more fights your rank goes from beginner to Genin to Jounin, and so on. Titles can also be obtained by completing objectives on and offline, and you can also use the money you've earned in the single player to buy pictures, both of which can be displayed on your ninja info cards. Add in tons of unlockable movies, music, etc., and you've got an extremely solid package for fans of the series and newcomers alike. Oh, and you can play as Ten Ten... so... well never mind, that doesn't really help anything.

Visuals: 8.8
Audio: 8.8
Story: 8.2
Gameplay: 8.4
Entertainment Value: 8.6

Overall: 8.5

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