With the imminent release of Naruto for Nintendo's Wii and DS systems come October 23 and for the Xbox 360 on the 30th, the manga stands to totally invade the gaming world in North America.  Ubisoft's Naruto: Rise of a Ninja in particular, promises to be the best Naruto game ever, allowing gamers to revel in the Naruto experience from its very beginning.

What sets Naruto: Rise of a Ninja apart from other Naruto gaming incarnations is that it is the only one that actually goes back to the start of the entire series.  It is also the first Naruto game to mix up action-adventure gameplay, classic performing battles, head to head fighting and in-depth character development.  Gamespeak recently interviewed Sebastien Puel, game producer for Xbox's Naruto rendition.

“Our team is made of 90 people and 90 percent of them were fans of Naruto even before starting on the project,” Puel mentioned.  “Working with the Xbox 360, part of a new generation of consoles, has allowed us to fulfill a dream that we've all had since the game's conception.  For the first time ever, we've recreated the true Naruto universe..”

Puel also elaborated on their team's efforts to really bring the Naruto universe completely to life on Rise of a Ninja.  He cited how they paid particular attention to Naruto's struggle to gain acceptance and respect among the villagers of Konoha.

“We wanted to tell the real story of Naruto,” Puel revealed.  “In the beginning Naruto is hated by the people of Konoha, without knowing exactly why.  Progressively, Naruto comes to understand the reason for being rejected.  Through his actions in the village, he will eventually be acknowledged by the population and respected as a ninja.  That's really the basis of the game..”

Naruto: Rise of a Ninja will be available in the U.S. starting October 30, in Australia beginning November 1 and in Europe from November 2 for under $60.


-Rosario Santiago, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Ubisoft, CBS
(Image Courtesy of IGN)