I was really interested in this game because it was probably the first Naruto game that was developed by a Western developer (as in not in Japan where Naruto was created).  After playing the game I was surprised that it was better than any Naruto game that was developed in Japan.  Read on to see the full review of the game.

Naruto: Rise of a Ninja is game based on an anime and manga series called Naruto in Japan.  The game (and series) is centered around a young ninja who wants to become the best ninja out there and become the leader of his village, but he faces a lot of discrimination from the villages because of his background.  The game starts exactly when the series starts and ends at a pretty good turning point in the series.  I was really interested in this game because it was probably the first Naruto game that was developed by a Western developer (as in not in Japan where Naruto was created).  After playing the game I was surprised that it was better than any Naruto game that was developed in Japan.

 Starting out the controls were very easy to get the hang of, and for an average gamer it should only take you about 5 to 10 mintues to get fully aquainted with the control scheme.  Because you play a ninja in the game you will be able to move pretty fast around the village in the game, and you will have two differnet type of speeds you can run at once you reach a certian point in the game, and for the most part it works really well.  As for doing the jutsu (Naruto's different abilities) in the game you hold down the left trigger button and point the control sticks in the correct direction.  This is a really creative way of emulation the hand signs they use in the series becuase moving the control sticks in differnt ways to use the jutsu's in th game weirdly feel like making hand signs.  The one part about the gameplay that I really didn't like was the tree action sequenses.  In this part of the game you had to jump tree to tree to reach another part of the game.  It worked to get you from place to place, but after the first couple of times you had to do them it got very repetitive and annoying to complete.  If they would have kept it down to two or three of these sequences in the game, I feel like it would have been more successful.

Graphics were amazing, Naruto's village really came to life in this game, and it really felt like you could have been there.  Visually the village had more of a realistic tone to it, whereas Naruto has more of an animated feel to him, but they both contrasted nicely to make the game a lot more enjoyable to play.  Although, the areas outside the village weren't as immersive, they still looked amzing.

Sound in the game was good, but the voice acting really took away from the game.  About half the voice actors from the anime series were absent, which really takes away from a game based on an anime, becuase most of the people who buy these games are fans of the series.  This may be a small complait to some, but as a fan of the series myself this really dissappointed me.

As a fighting game alone this game isn't that great, but the single player story mode is where this game shines.  So when it comes to multiplayer over Xbox LIVE, this game really struggles.  The fighting itself isn't as great as other Naruto games out there, but at least this game  has a multiplay mode which is more than I can say for basically every other Naruto game out there.

As of now, this is pretty much the only game choice for Naruto fans with an Xbox 360, but it is better than most of the Naruto games out on other consoles right now because of it's above average gameplay, great translation of the anime series, and addition of multiplayer to a series which hasn't seen that in the past.  For a Naruo fan this is a must buy, and for those curious about the series this is a great game to start with because it does stay true to the series.

Storyline: 9/10

Gameplay: 8/10

Graphics: 10/10

Sound: 6/10

Mulitplayer: 7/10

Life-span: 7/10

Overall Score: 7.8/10