Chances are if you’ve never seen, heard of or had the opportunity to play any of the previous Naruto titles prior to landing on this review you’re likely to just turn the page and carry on reading the rest of the section. If, however, you’re still here, then we can assume that you’re probably a member of the loyal Naruto army who turn out in their droves to snap up the latest instalment in the long-running series of eye-popping, ass-kicking, chop-socky brawlers that mix the weird with the weirder and somehow manages to pull it off in it’s own way.
Picking up where the last one left off (number 14), Revolution’s biggest selling point is that it boasts a whopping 100 playable characters culled from all four corners of the Naruto universe, including a mecha iteration of the series’ titular character. Nestled alongside the swathe of fighters is the newly crafted Ninja World Tournament, which plonks you on an island overflowing with things to do, items to buy and people to beat the snot out of.
However, you won’t be facing off against a sole fighter in the arena this time around, instead Revolution hurls you into the ring with three opponents and tasks you with collecting special orbs before the timer reaches zero. “Orbs? Where doI get these orbs?” we hear you ask. By beating the crap out of everyone, of course, because in this weird world that’s where orbs come from. Given just how eye meltingly chaotic the battles are in previous games, you can imagine just how crazy it gets it with our fighters on the battlefield.
The trick is to manage the lock-on function (tethered to the right stick) and your surroundings. Master this and you’ll find yourself victorious on most occasions. Fans of the series’ usual story mode may be disappointed to find out that this has been somewhat eschewed in favour of Ninja Escapades: bite-sized adventures that mine the depths of the Manga source material.
While the online mode offers the usual robust modes for you to duke it out in, one of the niftiest features at play here is the ability to craft a clone that can be sent out into the online world to battle other players, returning after a set time with a myriad of customisation items and experience points for you to gobble up. Despite some niggles here and there, Revolution is a solid addition to the zany franchise, but what we really would like to see is for Cyber Connect 2 to ditch the oldies and embrace current-gen tech to really flex its muscles.
7/10
Picking up where the last one left off (number 14), Revolution’s biggest selling point is that it boasts a whopping 100 playable characters culled from all four corners of the Naruto universe, including a mecha iteration of the series’ titular character. Nestled alongside the swathe of fighters is the newly crafted Ninja World Tournament, which plonks you on an island overflowing with things to do, items to buy and people to beat the snot out of.
However, you won’t be facing off against a sole fighter in the arena this time around, instead Revolution hurls you into the ring with three opponents and tasks you with collecting special orbs before the timer reaches zero. “Orbs? Where doI get these orbs?” we hear you ask. By beating the crap out of everyone, of course, because in this weird world that’s where orbs come from. Given just how eye meltingly chaotic the battles are in previous games, you can imagine just how crazy it gets it with our fighters on the battlefield.
The trick is to manage the lock-on function (tethered to the right stick) and your surroundings. Master this and you’ll find yourself victorious on most occasions. Fans of the series’ usual story mode may be disappointed to find out that this has been somewhat eschewed in favour of Ninja Escapades: bite-sized adventures that mine the depths of the Manga source material.
While the online mode offers the usual robust modes for you to duke it out in, one of the niftiest features at play here is the ability to craft a clone that can be sent out into the online world to battle other players, returning after a set time with a myriad of customisation items and experience points for you to gobble up. Despite some niggles here and there, Revolution is a solid addition to the zany franchise, but what we really would like to see is for Cyber Connect 2 to ditch the oldies and embrace current-gen tech to really flex its muscles.
7/10