Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes does what it is supposed to do: bring the popular beat 'em up series of games made popular on the PS2 to the PSP. The game's biggest negative is the fact that it doesn't really go out of its way to expand upon the familiar formula of those games. Those that enjoy Naruto on the PS2 will certainly find some entertainment, but the rest need not bother reading any more of this review. The game does deliver different gameplay modes and debuts team-based combat (which is pretty nice), but the action is all too familiar to PS2 fans. Yes, for those fans the familiarity of the action is a good thing.
The combat remains fast paced and simple. You have your usual melee attack which can be used to string together multiple combo attacks; a projectile attack that can be enhanced by picking up different power-ups; and a decent jump system that makes incredible leaps, dashes and double jumps as simple as you can imagine.
As is the case with this game series, the key to winning these one-on-one battles lies in utilizing your chakra attack to the best of your abilities. As you successfully attack your enemy will drop chakra orbs that you can collect to fill your meter. When it is full you activate your special attack by clicking a button. Unlike other Naruto games, Heroes doesn't let you have any interaction during these attacks, which are played out like cutscenes. Because each hero only gets one attack in the game you can expect to see the same cutscene over and over again as you play.
The game features 20 characters from the popular TV show, and while there are some slight differences (swiftness, power and attack), they all basically use the same controls and feel similar.
One of the marquee features of Heroes is the new team-based action. This new feature is tied to "Heroes Mode", which charges players with taking on opponents gauntlet style. Each time players defeat an enemy the difficulty ramps up, putting them against a more powerful opponent. This mode features varying levels made up of a set of special fights. You choose a three-person team of characters that you can select yourself or you can choose to go with established teams such as Team Guy or Team Asuma. You may also want to choose the order they'll fight in, which is important depending on which challenge you are taking on.
Before the fight starts (depending on who you have selected) you will have access to modifiers and power-ups. Battles in Heroes Mode offer optional win conditions which will earn points that can be used to juice up your characters' stats.
Heroes also lets you take on an AI controlled opponent or a live opponent, and supports game sharing so those without the game can still play. Heroes also features a promotion test, ranked challenges that require you to meet very specific win conditions before you can advance. This mode is related to heroes mode, in that many of the scrolls required to advance rank can only be earned there.
