We’ve reviewed plenty of the Naruto games on this very site, and it’s all because I’m horribly addicted to it. There is something about watching this young cursed boy triumph over his ill-fated beginnings and end up having so many friends and conquering so many larger than life evils. On his first outing on the Xbox 360, Naruto fans are looking to get one of the most immersive experiences yet. Xbox 360 fans – the wait looks like it was well worth it.

The game will center around Naruto (since he is the star attraction of the show anyways) as he seeks to prove his worth in the Village Hidden in the Leaves and strives to become hokage one day (the village leader in other words). However, Naruto isn’t always the most popular boy in the village, as he must work to show he is a top ninja and not some bottom feeder like everyone seems to think he is. It is here where quests will come into play, such as agreeing to deliver food in order to make people happier and accept you. The noodle delivering side quests plays like a version of Crazy Taxi in a way, complete with glowing arrows to tell you which direction to go. And you’ll certainly need to know where to head, as this now fully realized village is the largest it has ever been in one of the Naruto games.

Fans of the series will be happy to see the usual 2D Village Hidden in the Leaves rendered in full 3D, where you’ll be able to run around the whole place, taking alleys, jumping on rooftops, and sliding down wires stretched high above the tops of the buildings. As Ubisoft showed the game off, there was a sense of joy in watching as Naruto was guided around the village, and then suddenly he was at the ramen shop he always visits, and wouldn’t you know it but every detail was exact and it looked just like it does in the television series. Ubisoft’s reps then guided Naruto around some more, and there he was at the school, and up above, overlooking everything, was the giant mountain covered with the faces of all the hokage that have ever been; it was a bit awe inspiring to stand there and look up upon those giant faces, knowing their legacy by watching the series.

During the village tour, we also got to see Naruto use a few of his jutsus he’ll have available to him in the game, and for fans they should be familiar, as Naruto can walk straight up walls (though only ones with pre-placed footprints in position) and can even walk on top of water, because otherwise he’ll sink and flash to the nearest shore where he started from. The wall walking is reminiscent of the tree walking Kakashi taught Naruto, and the water walking was taught to Naruto by Jiraiya in later episodes.

Besides strolling about the village doing the odd jobs for villagers to improve your standing, you’ll also be exploring the world outside the village as well. In the scene shown to us, Naruto’s teacher Kakashi gives him the challenge of running to a waterfall and climbing up it, and it was here where the game blazed at a lightning fast speed and really looked smooth, as Naruto hopped from running land strip to running land strip, hopping across the gushing rapids of the waterfall (that were spectacular to see as they crashed on the rocks). During this segment you had a time limit to beat, which came into play as landing in the water would cause you to lose time. Another time waster in this portion of the game came in the form of wire traps, thrown about and meant to briefly explode, ensnare, and keep Naruto still for a few seconds instead of moving forward.

More than anything else, Naruto is known for its fighting, as the majority of its games has featured that as often the only gameplay mechanic of the game. In the upcoming Ubisoft game, you’ll indeed be fighting, and it looks like one of the best systems yet. The fundamentals of pressing given buttons for combos and attacks is pretty much what you’d expect, but it was the jutsus and the rage like system that really made it all look new and great. As you attack and build up your power, you can perform jutsus that are the big deal of the franchise; these moves can also be the deal breaker in any given battle. We decided to use Neji as our combatant of choice, and sure enough his powers were intact, including his jutsu that lets you hit pinpoint chakra points in the body to limit their use. When it came to hitting these points, it takes on a first person point of view, as you control Neji’s hand, trying to use his hand to hit the shining white points of chakra. The thing that made the jutsu unique is that it isn’t a given you’ll hit every point or possibly even one, because unlike other games (but would be the case in the manga and anime series) characters aren’t going to just sit still and let you hit them. Instead, with Ubisoft’s game, the second player who is controlling the character being attacked, will actually be able to shift their character to the left and right, hopefully throwing off the precision of the attacking character.

And on the defensive side of things, the more damage you are dealt and the closer you get to your health completely depleting, you’ll be able to trigger a rage move that makes you invincible, as you can deal out more damage with your attacks. The thing keeping you from losing for a whole match and then triggering a cheap ability is augmented by the fact that for all the damage you are dealt, you lose time you can spend in this rage mode, making it a perfect balance game and making the end of matches much closer. The effects of the rage mode – a blue/green hue that takes over the entire screen – is eerily cool, as are all the graphics for that matter, including spectacular grapples that leave the 2D side fighting and takes it to a more cinematic, roving camera style.

To this date, Naruto fans haven’t had a lot to look forward to when it comes to their beloved franchise on their beloved console of choice (if said choice is the Xbox 360), but it seems that the wait just might be worth it, as it looks as if Naruto: Rise of a Ninja could end up being the definitive game of the franchise’s relatively short history. Do I dare utter the catchphrase? Believe it!