October 19, 2009

Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3's Mike Jones Talks Upgrades, Game Modes and Wi-Fi Multiplayer
By Louis Bedigian

“One of the new things we're really excited for with this game is our new ninja power system.”

The Naruto property has spread positively to many genres, but none of its ventures have been more successful than the Naruto fighting games. Clash of the Ninja Revolution has proved to be a colossal hit on Wii, delivering some of the most addictive multiplayer combat of the generation. It's the kind of series that any fighting fan can get into, regardless of his or her love for the Naruto anime.

That, and a plethora of new content/upgrades, is what makes the third Clash of Ninja Revolution so intriguing. "It's the first Naruto Shippuden game for Wii; kind of an arena/flagship fighting game," said Senior Producer, Mike Jones. "It's kind of an interesting hybrid of Smash Bros. and Tekken, so the gameplay inputs are really simple, [with] arena battle elements like you might see in Tekken or Dead or Alive.

"One of the new things we're really excited for with this game is our new ninja power system. In previous games there was this Crisis Mode where, when you get down to 30 or 20% of your health, you'd get a new super move or a transformation ability or something like that. We've taken that gameplay foundation and built upon it, leveraging the fiction and make all of the characters have unique passive abilities."

Those abilities include the option to execute one of Kakashi's special moves without using a chakra, and Gaara who can guard without taking any damage, block previously unblockable attacks, or counter attack while blocking (provided that you're willing to give up 50% of your chakra).

Jones adds, "[These are] elements that leverage the fiction of the Naruto universe and make the characters more unique and interesting. [They] add an interesting dimension to the gameplay. A match might be going in one direction, and once you're in Ninja Power mode, it could totally turn the tide of the battle whether or not you know what those abilities are and how to take advantage of them and how to defend against them. Because all of a sudden my opponent's attacks are poisoning me now. To be aware of those is part of the strategy of the game now.

"There are over 35 characters, and each character has three to five different attributes. Learning all that stuff, and applying all that stuff in a fighting game scenario becomes quite the undertaking, especially if you're a fighting game fanatic like me. That's a lot of stuff to get into."

Given the importance of being able to throw an opponent, the developers thought it was time to reexamine the way this move is executed and the results that follow. "In the past, you'd push a button near your opponent and they'd do a universal flip throw," Jones reminds us. "The flip-throw tossed them up in the air, and you could dash up and combo, and then air-throw them or [perform] a jutsu or something like that. Now, in addition to their universal flip through, which now every character has, there are custom throws that you can use by pushing down plus the throw button while standing next to your opponent. When doing this, two kinds of throws can happen. Some characters will do a throw that guarantees a large chunk of damage. Other characters will do less damage but set up their opponent in a certain way, for a slam throw or something like that."

Check out the new Story Mode trailer.

Jones was excited to talk about the game modes, which include more than the usual survival, versus and story mode offerings of most other fighting games. In addition, Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 includes a survival mode, Time Attack (defeat as many enemies as possible before the time runs out, Score Attack (earn the top score over the course of 10 battles), Kumite Mode (a seemingly unlimited stream of Rogue Ninja attacks that are only cushioned by the release of health-replenishing treats), and Mission Mode (as many as 10 missions are offered per character; each must be completed under special conditions).

The most exciting of them all, however, is the one that every Naruto fan has been waiting for: Wi-Fi Battle Mode, in which two players can compete online in the head-to-head and Two Man Squad battles. "It's something we've been wanting to do for a while," Jones says. "It's going to have ranked matches, friend matches, rival matches and random matches against anyone that's online. It will have leader boards to show the leaders and keep track of your win/loss stats. Not only that but you can look at your friend's [data] and [compare yours to his] rival ratio and win/loss ratio.

"As far as [how the online mode feels], we think it feels really good. It's on Wii, which has some disadvantages. But as far as a Wii game it feels really good. But you'll have to be the judge of it when you get your hands on it. I'm not going to tell you it's the best thing in the world. I'm not going to tell you it feels like Smash Bros. But our developer knows exactly what its doing, making sure we're not having too much latency, making sure we're not losing too many frames. We think it feels really solid."

Inspired by Marvel vs. Capcom, Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 will contain assist attacks for the tag battle mode.

Of course, the best part of the game may be the element most players won't even think about. "Something that's a little less perceptible, you could say ambiguous, is kind of how the game feels. What I mean by that is the gravity; how it feels when you get hit by an attack, how it feels when you block an attack, how sidesteps feel, how back-steps feel. It's something that has changed significantly since [our build at E3]. It used to be very easy to sidestep out of an attack stream. Just attack an enemy back when they're approaching you, which kind of killed the flow of the match. The game felt very fragmented. You wouldn't get more than a couple hits in before someone could sidestep or teleport.

"As far [as all of those things are concerned], a lot of special care has been taken to fine-tune them in the past few months. We're hoping it feels really good and really solid when you get your hands on the final version."

Share | Digg This | Glink It

---