Taken To Naruto School

As much as I make fun of Naruto-mania, I still contend that some of the best fighting games of this decade have sprung forth from the series, particularly the import-only Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen 4 for the GameCube, so when my bleary, glasses-craving eyes (my glasses were lost in a taxi Wednesday night) saw the versus mode of Naruto: Rise of the Ninja for the 360 running on a large flat panel in the main exhibit hall at E3, I had to stop and give it a try. Manning the controls was a pretty blonde PR woman, or at least I know she was pretty now having seen the picture I took. I like to save the eyestrain headache for when I am looking at actual games. She invited me to play a few rounds, and I did so, expecting to wow her with my mad Naruto skills. I beat her one out of three rounds the first match, and only then because she stopped to give me some pointers while I kept attacking. Two more matches went by, two more losses for me. Either she was a big Naruto fan or - I let my eyes focus on what she was wearing... More »

Naruto Mojo Rising

Naruto continues to be the anime sensation that is sweeping our nation and I really don't understand why. Then again I didn't like the format the first time round when it was called Dragon Ball Z, so maybe I'm not the target audience. If you are the target audience, then you'll enjoy seven new screenshots for Naruto: Rise of the Ninja for the Xbox 360, the game that looks to incorporate RPG, action, platforming and of course fighting elements into one game, which while it sounds like a nifty idea, it also sounds like a big potential mess. Naruto fans will buy it anyway, of course. I think those metal swirly headbands do something to their brains. More »