Naruto, in case you've been living under a rock for the last year or so, is one of the most popular series in Japan. This story of a young ninja with a demon trapped inside of his body started off as a manga in Weekly Shonen Jump but the title quickly became a phenomenon. In short order it spawned an anime series, toys, action figures, clothing and accessories, a tradable card game, and naturally, video games. Now that the anime is being aired on US TV, (and available on DVD in edited form [review]. What a few months though, and the original Japanese version is scheduled to be released.) Naruto merchandise is starting to show up on this side of the Pacific including video games. The first Naruto game for a hand held system is Naruto: Ninja Council for Game Boy Advance. This sideways scrolling fighting game has some initial charm, but the repetitive nature of the levels and the small number of attacks makes this game feel pretty pedestrian.

Gameplay:

In this game you're Naruto, of course, fighting your way through a series of training battles. In each short level you can use a specific ninja skill that comes in useful, and you can collect a different ranged weapons, throwing stars (shuriken), needles (senbon ), and knives (kunai). In addition to these, you can be trashin' the bozos with punches and kicks, both initialed by the B button. The B button also works for special ninja techniques. Hold it down long enough to power up the attack but don't let go at the wrong moment or the only thing you'll do is fart. Push the A button to jump, and you pretty much have the game.

Though the controls are responsive, there's just not enough variety to the game to make it challenging or fun. There isn't much skill involved to winning battles, just speed at pushing the B button. In the levels themselves it's actually hard to die unless you fall into one of the rare pits. The cannon fodder that fill the levels are easily dispatched without thinking. At the end of each level is a boss, and some of these do put up a good fight, but this is a case of too few and too far between. Beating the game unlocks another character who has different ninja techniques. *yawn*

The game is very short too. With limitless restarts you can defeat the story mode in an hour or two. There's also a free mode, which allows you to replay any level that you've previously completed. With the levels being so easy and short, there really isn't much point to it though.

While there is a certain amount of fun to be had from this game, it really doesn't take much in the way of brains to beat it. If there were puzzles in the levels that had to be solved before you could move on or if the intra-level fights were more interesting, this would have been a better game. The lack of a two player mode is also a big disadvantage. That's one of the best parts of fighting games; wiping the floor with one of your friends. As it is, it's good for a couple of hours of mindless button smashing, and that's about it.

Graphics:

The graphics are nothing special. The Naruto sprite is a little on the small side, and the background graphics give some levels a cluttered feeling with too many items sitting around. This wasn't a big problem though. The spikes and other traps that litter the levels are easy to see though. Overall an average looking GBA game.

Audio:

Like the graphics, the audio portion of the game was just average. The background music sounded a little tinny and wasn't as exciting as the music in the anime show, but it didn't grind on your nerves like some GBA music does. The audio clips sounded fine, though Naruto's yelling of "Believe it!" was played a bit too often for my tastes. While the aural portion of the game isn't anything to write home about, it's not bad.

Conclusion:

I have to admit I was expecting a bit more. This game feels like it was rushed into production to fill the demand for all things Naruto. The graphics and sound were just average, and the game itself was a throw-back to NES sideways scrollers. Lacking even the hidden powerups that Super Mario Brothers had and no with move combinations to master, this game was too basic and simple. Walk to the right, press B a few time, walk to the right some more. A few of the bosses were challenging, but that's about it. If you're looking to kill an hour or two and want to add another notch to your belt, this might be worth a rental. Otherwise Skip it.