Namco Bandai Brings the Ultimate Ninja to PlayStation 2 – “Naruto”

by Louis Bedigian

“We play into the characters' personalities from the anime series.” 

So I’m at Taco Gong the other day, and guess what happens? I was just about to order my usual – two Chaloobas, a large pop, and a bottle of that pink stuff for the trouble afterwards.

Literally seconds prior, I noticed this giant, billboard-sized sign covering the back wall. It said, “Try our all-new, super-tasty, ultra-addictive burrito: the Naruto.”

It’s big, bold, and comes packed with delicious unlockables for your taste buds to uncover.

Chef Brian Glazebrook, AKA Localization Manager at Namco Bandai, was on hand to fire up the grill. He began to refine this delectable beauty the second it landed on our shores. Yes hungry gamers, it’s an import – straight from the Land of the Rising Sun. This is not to be confused with the Chalooba, which is an import from the Land of the Running Bum. 

The First Bite

First and foremost, Brian told us that Naruto would be very easy to pick up and eat…uh…I mean play. “There’s a jump button, a block button,” he said, going over the list. “[You get] a main attack button. And then you have an item / ranged attack button.” The item / ranged attack button has two functions. One is your basic, infinite projectile attack. It’s weak, but you’ll never run out. The second is any item you snatch from the battlefield, which can be used to launch a more powerful assault. Choose wisely: the more powerful items are very limited.

Not Your Average Burrito

Brian wanted everyone to know that this is not the same game released for GameCube. To be honest I wasn’t even aware that there was another Naruto game out there, which is good for Namco Bandai, who doesn’t want their game to be confused with the other Naruto. Both are completely unrelated. Brian concluded: “The GameCube version was released by a different publisher. Their game and our game are completely separate titles.”

Finger-Lickin’ Unlockables

Brian Glazebrook: “One of the cool things, especially for fans of the series, [is that there are] a ton of unlockables. Every battle, regardless of the game mode, you earn money. With this money you can go to the store. There’s a range of how much money you can put in. You can put the minimum amount and you may get something out of it, or you can increase your money and increase your chances of getting something cool. Soundtracks or trading cards, which are images from the actual show.” 

Yo Quero Naruto Answers

How many attack buttons are being implemented? Example: Tekken uses four attack buttons (right punch, right kick, left punch, and left kick).

Brian Glazebrook: There is mainly one attack button, and it is directional-based [use it in conjunction with the D-pad to execute moves].

Are there any boss battles, or anything comparable?

BG: In this game, not necessarily. I think the easiest way to explain it, is that each character has their own archrival. Each character has their own mission objective – some want to prove a point, some want to get others, etc.

I heard that the game is supposed to be playable on two different environmental planes. What does that mean?

BG: Think of it as the King of Fighters series, where you’ve got the foreground and background, but on a much, much larger scale. 

Can you dodge the projectile attacks then?

BG: Some of them, yes.

What are the four game modes?

BG: Naruto Mode, which is the story mode. Mission Mode, where you move your character ranks [by completing missions]. Free Battle Mode is your typical arcade mode. The fourth is a practice mode.

There are 14 playable characters, some of which are locked. When playing the Naruto Mode, do you pick one character and have to defeat the other 13 to win?

BG: Not quite. The story [Naruto] mode is relatively short. What we did is give each of the characters their own scenario. Once you’ve cleared the story mode with one character, you’ll unlock another. When you play as that unlocked character and beat the story mode, then that character will become available in all the other modes.

You don’t have to beat every character each time. There are only about six or seven battles [per character].

How involved will the conclusion be to each of these characters’ story?

BG: Yes. Some of the movies act as a cliffhanger. We play into the characters’ personalities from the anime series. 

Can you confirm, are these anime or real-time sequences? Or something else entirely?

BG: It’s not real-time. These aren’t actual in-game models. It’s of a combination of anime and manga. The [characters’] mouths move, and then there’s some motion going on, but it’s not wholly anime-style.

Will Naruto be playable at E3?

BG: Yes.

Thanks to everyone at Namco Bandai and Kohnke Communications for having a wonderful conference call.