Review: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Legacy — A solid collection

Naruto is one of the largest anime franchises out there, and has been for years. That inevitably leads to a lot of games, and sometimes those games somehow turn out to be good. The Naruto series has been pretty lucky for the most part when it comes to that, with the Ultimate Ninja Storm titles getting well received by die-hard fans and newcomers alike.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Legacy is a compilation made for the fans who absolutely need their Naruto fix, though. It contains all of the Ultimate Ninja Storm games, all the DLC, and remastered versions of the first three titles. There’s a lot of content to find in here, and most of it holds up well today. The Ultimate Ninja Storm series has used excellent looking cel shaded visuals from the very beginning, mimicking the visuals of its source material. The entire franchise has some great art design as well, which also helps in this area.

The Ninja Storm titles are full 3D fighting games that allow you to play as a lot of the various characters from the Naruto series. We mean it when we say “a lot”, too. The original game started off with 25 playable characters, which is already good, but the sequel nearly doubled that… and then the third game nearly doubled that.

The gameplay itself is both fast and fun. It’s a very different type of fighting game from what you’re likely used to, with one of the best reasons to play being that you really do feel like a ninja. As you run around familiar areas from the series and begin dishing out all sorts of crazy attacks form your character’s arsenal, that’s all that will be on your mind the first time you play. Yeah, I’m a ninja. Oh, that and some worries about just how much you’re getting beat up. You’ll likely lose the first time you play a match, but learning isn’t a difficult task.

There’s a variety of ways to play and practice. All of your standard fighting game modes are here, including a story mode that will take you through all you need to know in the Naruto saga. An expansion for Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 (which is included with Legacy) even lets you play through some of the recent Boruto storyline.

[shunno-quote align=right]You really do feel like a ninja.[/shunno-quote]

While Ultimate Ninja Storm Legacy does contain Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 (which was already out on Xbox One, it just launched last year) the focus is really on the older titles. Fans of the franchise who have stuck to Xbox from the very start ended up missing out on the original game, which is playable on an Xbox console for the very first time thanks to Legacy.

It’s worth noting that the original game isn’t some hidden gem that’s secretly superior to all of the other games, but it’s still a good game nonetheless, and Xbox only Naruto fans will still probably have a good time when giving it a go. It’s also worth noting that each of these titles can be purchased individually as well, meaning that someone who has played Ninja Storm 2/3/4 can buy the original to complete their collection.

[shunno-quote align=left]This is the first time Xbox fans can play the original game.[/shunno-quote]

As for performance, almost everything is fine. The original Ultimate Ninja Storm did feel choppy, but that appears to be something tied to the animations rather than the actual performance of the game. I didn’t experience it with any of the other games included in Legacy.

All in all, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Legacy includes great games that Naruto fans will love to death. Fans of the franchise are guaranteed to love it, and newcomers will likely enjoy the gameplay at the very least. If you’re even just slightly interested in the series, picking up one of the titles individually might be a good idea to see if you’ll enjoy the rest.

8/10

Xbox One