Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 and Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 Updates
By Louis Bedigian

We get the latest from TOMY on the Wii and DS sequels. New screenshots inside.

In just a little over a month, Naruto will make his video game return to Nintendo Wii (Clash of Ninja Revolution 2) and Nintendo DS (Path of the Ninja 2). GameZone has covered both games extensively this year, bringing you the latest news and interviews with the developers, as well as the first hands-on demos direct from E3.

Despite this, TOMY insisted that there were a few more tidbits to uncover, primarily in the area of Clash of Ninja Revolution 2's storyline. In this sequel, players will get a closer look at the mysterious Anbu, whose saga brings forth two brand-new characters. "Since we were going with the Anbu theme, we also wanted to create some original characters to go with the original storyline," said Nobby Matsuo, producer at TOMY. "We ended up adding two other characters, Towa and Komachi," both of which are insane and wear animal masks. "I believe they take it from the Chinese zodiac. So we have a cat, a monkey... So the masks are original but are still based on reference material."

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2

Despite their similarities, the development team agreed that players must be able to differentiate between these two characters, and not just by the different masks that they wear. "If you look at 'em in the screenshots they look like they are pretty much the same. [But they differ] in playing characteristics. Towa's [fighting style] is more hand-to-hand; we wanted to give him unique abilities that made him stand out. Towa's special ability is using tattoos and writing Chakra with them and creating Chakra-based weapons with that. With Komachi, we had her [perform] more of a ranged attack [style]. She has these dagger-like hairpins in her hair that she can manipulate and control."

While the newcomers may get all the attention, Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 will also feature an existing Anbu character: Yugao. "They don't talk about her name, we don't know her background, so we're going to do a lot of digging around," Nobby continues, discussing the challenge of bringing a little-known character to the game. But given her prominent stance in the Anbu saga, he says, the developers couldn't pass up the chance to include her. "She was in only maybe one or two episodes of the show, but she was one of the most prominent figures of the Anbu series, [so] we've added her to the game. We're [building] her from the ground up, come up with a concept, what her special moves are, what her strategies are gonna be, and whatnot. She's definitely an exciting character but one with limited resources." Limited resources or not, Nobby says she will be one of the fastest characters in the game, which should be good news to players hoping for a speed boost, no matter how slight.

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2

"All the new characters have weapons, which is kind of uncharacteristic for the Naruto series," Nobby adds. "They all will take advantage of [whatever weapon they possess]."

The final mode list includes tag battle, survival, mission and story. Their contents are what you'd expect plus a couple of goodies: during tag matches, players will gain access to special attacks that are not available when battling solo. "There are characters that have specific tie-ins, like if you have Hyuga family, Neji and Hinata, will have a combined attack," Nobby reveals. "If there's a relationship there, they'll do a unique special attack [together]. Each character has generic one, so they can pretty much pair up with anyone and [perform] a generic team attack. But if you have the right combination you'll get a different cinematic sequence."

Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2

After getting the latest on Clash of Ninja Revolution 2, Glenn Stotz (product specialist at TOMY) provided a few last details on the DS sequel to Path of the Ninja.

"Saturday is bonus hour," he says, speaking about the Wi-Fi mode, which allows you to compete with other players. "So if you're playing between 10am and 4pm, Pacific Standard Time, you'll gain bonus points. [Normally you receive] three points if you win, one point if you lose. But during bonus hour you get an extra two points [in either case]. Points work toward unlocking characters, items and different unlockable features.

Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2

"We also have collectible cards in the game. So if you're playing Wi-Fi mode in California against someone in New York and you beat them, you'll collect the New York state card. If you're playing against someone in Canada and you beat them, you'll collect the Canada card. There are region cards of all 50 states, Canada and Mexico. You can trade these region cards with your friends."

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