Sure, it looks a little weird now with a lack of facial expressions on some characters and a few too many jaggy edges, but it was great for the time and holds up surprisingly well, especially in how it presents Konoha. Suddenly the open-world and side missions make sense.Īll of this is punctuated by a genuinely great graphical style that pops colour and does a fantastic job of replicating Naruto’s manga style. That’s right, Ubisoft, of all companies, developed Rise of a Ninja. It’s also where Ubisoft’s influence is most felt in the game’s development. No Naruto game since Rise and its sequel have done exploration better, and I stand very firmly on that. You can freely climb up the buildings, run and drift around the town and interact with its inhabitants. It’s also pretty cool that each Jutsu has both combat and puzzle uses, which makes the whole experience feel multifunctional.įor the few of you out there that do remember Rise of a Ninja, the thing you’ll most likely associate with it is the sandbox version of Konoha. It’s bizarre compared to how it’s been done since, but it’s a genuinely unique mechanic that feels fun to get used to. The game is all about Naruto learning and becoming a ninja, and each Jutsu has to be learnt by the player and inputted by holding a button and using the left and right sticks. Rather than being all about combat, you instead spend most of your time in Rise exploring areas and platforming, as well as getting used to the game’s unique Jutsu system.Īctually, let’s pause on that Jutsu system for a second, as it’s pretty representative of how unique Rise’s position is. The main reason for this is because of the game’s adventure style of gameplay, which is something we’ve also never really seen in a Naruto game since. Sure, there are moments of childishness and fart jokes, but that’s more a case for early English Naruto dubbing. You get a lot more of each character’s personalties here because the game takes the time for you to get to know them.
That’s the case across the board as well, and not just limited to Rise of a Ninja’s opening. Rise of a Ninja is still one of the only Naruto games that have you playing as him before he even learns his first Jutsu, and the opening section that shows his bond with Iruka is so essential to his character that I’m shocked it’s not been done in other games like it is here.
Rise of a Ninja follows Naruto up until he defeats Gaara in the anime, which may seem like an incredibly small piece of the Naruto universe overall, but it allows the game to dive deeper into some of the important moments that define his character.