Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2

Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2
(ナルト-激闘忍者大戦! 2, Naruto: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 2)
Video game info
Playable on	GameCube
Series	Naruto: Clash of Ninja
Previous	Naruto: Clash of Ninja
Next	Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution
Release Date
Japanese	December 4, 2003
English	September 26, 2006
Debut
Jutsu Earth Release: Shadow Clone Eight Trigrams Sect Palm Wave Five Elements Seal Mist Servant Technique Puppet Smoke Bombs Young Spirited Embrace of Youth
Tools Karasu

Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2, known as Naruto: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 2 in Japan and Naruto: Clash of Ninja European Version in Europe, is the second instalment of the Gekitō Ninja Taisen (Clash of Ninja) series.

Gameplay

Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2 offers several different game modes such as Arcade mode, VS mode, and Story mode. You can unlock new features such as new characters, stages, and modes by accomplishing certain tasks in the game. Once accomplished, an item will appear in Anko's shop and the player may buy with money earned from fighting. The roster is also notably more updated from Clash of Ninja, where it is more notably praised.

A large notable series mainstay in this instalment is the feature to not only fight one on one, but now 4-way brawls have been added, with characters being able to switch their targets mid-fight, and enabling multiplayer with up to 4 players on field at the same time. Also new are air throws, where certain character are able to throw their foes in midair, though even these can be escaped from like normal throws on ground.

The game follows the plot of the series, in story mode, starting from Naruto's graduation from the Academy to the end of the Chūnin Exams. There are also several fights which may be purchased from Anko that go into detail about things not fully explained in the series.

Another mode featured is "Oboro (Haze) Mode", where the player enters a normal 4-way brawl but they instead engage with haze clones that progressively re-spawn in increasing numbers as more are defeated, making the goal to defeat as many as possible before being overwhelmed.

Playable Characters

• Naruto Uzumaki (Playable in a Nine-Tails form)
• Sasuke Uchiha (Playable with Sharingan)
• Sakura Haruno
• Kakashi Hatake (Playable with Sharingan)
• Iruka Umino
• Rock Lee
• Haku
• Zabuza Momochi
• Hinata Hyūga
• Kiba Inuzuka
• Neji Hyūga
• Might Guy
• Shikamaru Nara
• Ino Yamanaka
• Gaara
• Kankurō
• Orochimaru
• Akamaru
• Karasu
• Mizuki

Reception

Reviews and awards

Publication	Score	Awards
IGN	8.2 of 10	Best Fighting Game of 2006 (for GameCube)
GameZone	7.4 of 10	N/A
GameSpy	3.5 of 5	N/A
X-Play	3 of 5	N/A

Critical reaction ranges from average ratings to fairly high and respectable ones. G4's X-Play gave Clash of Ninja a three out of five, claiming that while the game has "slick cel-shaded graphics and strong animation," the game's characters are all somewhat similar and lacks in the two-player department. Mark Bozon at IGN gave this game an 8.2 out of ten, and said that the game is quite easy to get involved in, even for those unfamiliar to the Naruto series. He also praises the game for its easy-to-learn combos and character roster.

Trivia

• An extra 10,000 coins can be earned if there is a saved file of Naruto: Clash of Ninja on the player's memory card.
• There is a limited edition Naruto trading card in every marked box of Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2. It's a hydrofoil Mission featuring Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke with Gamakichi, a slug, and a snake respectively. The card does not come in Player's Choice editions.
• The GameCube Clash of Ninja series was ended after Clash of Ninja 2 in America, primarily because of the Nintendo Wii console launching close to Clash of Ninja 2's release date. As such, this is the last game in the American Clash of Ninja to be a translated version of a Japanese game; with the Revolution series that has continued for the three years since, new games have been created for the Wii, featuring characters and stages that were not in the subsequent non-localised GameCube counterparts.
  • The Third Hokage and the Sound Five from Gekitō Ninja Taisen 3 and 4 currently have yet to make an American Clash of Ninja début.
• Later on near the end of 2006 Clash of Ninja 2 was released in a combo pack with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
• Naruto gains a brand now neutral weak attack combo animation (having a clone perform an upward launching kick for him instead of doing two of them in a row himself) and a new downward strong attack (hops and punches the ground for a clone to uppercut from below instead of disappearing and uppercutting himself) as of this game in the series. The original non-clone attacks are still carried over to his Nine-Tailed forms.
• Lee by the time before Gekitō Ninja Taisen 3 was the only character to have a down special.
  • Sakura, Iruka and Mizuki are also the only characters with an automatic Body Replacement Technique for their back strong attack upon counter activation, and also ones that cost no chakra.
• Akamaru and Karasu are the only two characters who don't have a special, this was fixed in Naruto: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 3 and 4.
• Censorship is seem to be found in this game with some of the voice acting. As many lines of dialogue that were found in the anime were altered in the translation for a younger audience. As words like "Kill" or "Death" are replaced with "Destroy" or "Defeat". Despite the fact that Clash of Ninja 2 has a Teen Rating in the United States.
• Both Japanese and English versions respectively have Hiruzen Sarutobi as the announcer.
• Both the Chidori and the Lightning Cutter in this series (before the Shippūden games) actually possess guard points/auto-guard, allowing Sasuke and Kakashi to literally run through attacks while blocking through them. However, Sasuke's version is much faster than Kakashi's and will not drop the autoguard as soon.
• Orochimaru's Five Elements Seal as his neutral special in this series inflicts no actual damage; the only way to K.O. opponents with it is either with the initial blow, the tongue slam, or by powering up the motion of the attack itself for a small bit of extra damage (in the Wii-sub series only).