Is crazy to think that Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 came out almost two decades ago for consoles like that PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 was the sequel to the original game that came out back in 2008. Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 was developed by published by CyberConnect2 and was probably one of the few fighting titles from 2010 that gave Capcom’s Super Street Fighter IV a run for its money. While Capcom’s Super Street Fighter IV featured 2D gameplay with 3D graphics Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 was more of a arena fighting type game. Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 featured cel-shaded graphics which made the game itself look identical to the Naruto Shippuden anime series. Also, the gameplay was a ton of fun because it allowed players to rely more on strategies to take down their opponents opposed to solely relying on melee attacks.

Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 had at least 40 different base characters and a story mode that consisted of ten chapters. While the boss fights were a high point in the story mode for Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 most players were often frustrated by its repetition and its lack of animated cutscenes. The dialogue in the game felt heavy and uninspiring and the difficulty in adventure mode increases during certain battles. The quick time events in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 was a nice feature but it was something that was not really necessary. One of the biggest issues players had with Ultimate Ninja 2 involved pulling off substitution jitsu which many considered very challenging. The learning curve for Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 in some ways detracted from the game’s overall quality because it was difficult for casuals and beginners to master.

Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 also suffers from poor online multiplayer gameplay due to lack issues, poor matchmaking and connectivity problems. It should also be noted that Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 lacked robust offline game modes which could have added more depth to the game itself. Despite, its issues Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 was popular at the time because the Naruto Shippuden anime series started to get big after it started airing in America back in 2009. Even though, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 managed to sell more than one million copies worldwide it still pales in comparison to the sequels that we got in ’13 and ’16 in terms of quality. However, Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is still a game that Naruto fans still look back fondly on because of how big the anime series was at time. Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 could have been a much better game if CyberConnect2 expanded upon local multiplayer gameplay. While the Adventure Mode could have also been far better it was not quite as bad as most players made out to be. If CyberConnect2 was more creative with the presentation of the story mode in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 that could helped also. While Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is not generally considered the weakest entry in the series its also not on the same level as Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4