Ninja Destiny takes the first stab at providing a quality 3D fighter for the DS, but is mechanical machismo enough to deliver a solid fighting experience?
Game Revolution reports:
''Naruto: Ninja Destiny, the latest offering in the endless Naruto game series seems like nothing more than an attempt to exploit people's love for the anime. All you otaku out there that must have every product related to your most beloved cartoons are nothing but prey to big companies who peddle their wares to you at whatever price they see fit, and this is no exception.
I grew up in an era where the only anime one could procure was of a certain quality. Before Pokemon opened up the eyes of corporations to fact that there is a shit-ton of cash waiting to be made off licensed products, the only Japanese animation most Americans were aware of was Akira or Robotech. And it was great. Over a decade later shows like Pokemon, Dragon Ball and Naruto have flooded the market with every product you can imagine in an attempt gain control over an army of otakus.''
PALGN writes: "There have been a mixed bag of Naruto titles over the last few years. While they have ranged from good to downright poor, one particular series that has always stood out was Naruto: Clash of Ninja, which is considered by most fans to be the best of the Naruto fighters. Naruto: Ninja Destiny attempts to take the Clash of Ninja formula and put it into a handheld game, but the end result is basic fighter with minimal replay value.
Ninja Destiny's story takes place during the final stages of the Chunin Exams, and has players take part in all the battles that occur in the TV series right up until the point where Tsunade accepts the title of Fifth Hokage. The game tells the story painfully through slabs of text, which not only contain occasional grammar errors, but also do a rough job of describing the actions and motives of characters. For example, Naruto seeks revenge against Neji for the way he taunted and ultimately defeated Hinata during the preliminary exams, but the game more or less skips this point and has the pair bait each other before their fight. It just doesn't capture the strong points of the show, and will leave fans with a bitter taste in their mouth."
UGO writes: "Oh Naruto: Ninja Destiny. Why must you be so shallow? With so few quality (non-import) fighting games available for the Nintendo DS, it's a shame to see such a well-designed, smooth-running engine mashed into a game which doesn't even give series newcomers the basic courtesy of narrative context. C'est la anime. Dream Factory's Naruto: Ninja Destiny delivers some entertaining 2.5D fighting... for about 30 minutes. After that, the realization sets in that most everything you want to do with the core gameplay is either missing or hobbled in some way.
Confusion Reigns in Naruto: Ninja Destiny
If you're walking into Naruto: Ninja Destiny hoping to get something out of it, then you'd better have a good knowledge of the series. With no plot or character rundown to be found either on the case or in the manual, the first visible indication that these characters have more in common than their cel-shading is a text-based prologue which introduces the game's story mode."
