Ubisoft reveals Naruto RPG

By Oli Welsh Published 15 May, 2007

'Rise of a Ninja' for 360.

Ubisoft has revealed details of Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, an Xbox 360 adventure based on the exploits of the popular anime and manga character. The game is being developed exclusively for 360 at Ubsioft's prolific Montreal studio, and is due for release in the autumn.

Although the hyperactive adolescent ninja has appeared in games before, they've mostly been fighters or simple action games. Rise of a Ninja promises an extensive single-player adventure feauring "action adventure gameplay, classic platforming battles, head-to-head fighting and in-depth character development".

The game promises to follow the plot of the anime series closely, from the very beginning up to the 80th episode. Players will experience growing up as Naruto in an around Konoha village, and follow his development from disruptive dropout to respected ninja.

You'll be free to roam around the village and its surroundings, interact with regular Naruto cast members like Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi, and develop your fighting techniques as you see fit. There will also be a multiplayer mode, allowing players to pit their favourite characters from the saga against each other.

Ubi Montreal has opted for stylish cel-shaded visuals that get the game pretty close to the look and feel of the anime - see for yourself in the new screenshots.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • souljacker2000 #1 5 years ago

    Now i have read the article does sound very kool, i have never seen the series, still i love the style

  • crazyhorse174 #2 5 years ago

    Very smart looking.

    Never heard of Naruto before, but actually a bit interested in this.

  • RexRunti #3 5 years ago

    Wow, this is a huge coup for MS. I must admit I'm quite interested in this game but as for breaking the japanese market this is another tick in the right box.

  • manic_mouse #4 5 years ago

    Big fan of the show (before the filler, obv). This looks extremely nice.

  • RexRunti #5 5 years ago

    Dreams of InuYasha RPG... Come on it's practically one already.

  • absolutezero #6 5 years ago

    Oh Naruto. You used to be good.

  • bonker #7 5 years ago

    Crackdown goes anime? :)

  • joeking #8 5 years ago

    Excellent news.

  • Xerx3s #9 5 years ago

    Naruto: Crappy anime for the masses. :/

    Inu Yasha > Naruto.
    Edited by 1 at 15/05/07 @ 15:25

  • kissthestick #10 5 years ago

    gimmie a bleach adventure instead

  • absolutezero #11 5 years ago

    Right now every crappy shounen show airing is horrible.

    Shippudens animation is terrible thanks to Studio Periot being crap, Bleach has been terrible for a long time thanks to it being horribly generic in everyway, and awful animation. One Piece is going through the slump because its gotten to near the manga and the anime is having to extend everything. Plus Enes Lobby was never that great in the first place.

    Still Inu Yasha? You gotte be pulling my leg. Or you could be a fangirl I suppose.
    Edited by 1 at 15/05/07 @ 16:36

  • konnsky #12 5 years ago

    dragon quest viii anyone?

  • kissthestick #13 5 years ago

    Right now every crappy shounen show airing is horrible.

    Shippudens animation is terrible thanks to Studio Periot being crap, Bleach has been terrible for a long time thanks to it being horribly generic in everyway, and awful animation. One Piece is going through the slump because its gotten to near the manga and the anime is having to extend everything. Plus Enes Lobby was never that great in the first place.

    Still Inu Yasha? You gotte be pulling my leg. Or you could be a fangirl I suppose.


    so much hate lol

  • Drakron #14 5 years ago

    Too much hate for mainstream, all of the listed series (Naruto, Bleach, Inu Yasha) have been around for too long (Inu Yasha is already at 500+ chapters).

    I would not say all shounen airing (Inu is no longer airing) is crappy, Kenichi is pretty good.

  • YourMessageHere #15 5 years ago

    I prefer series that have some idea of beginning, middle and end. Currently Bokurano, Claymore, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Heroic Age and Darker Than Black are all working for me so far as fighty stuff goes, and Lucky Star is great fun. Also watching El Cazador and Idolmaster Xenoglossia but I'm not expecting much from them.

    Back on topic: hate Naruto but liking the graphical style immensely, looks very anime generally; more of the style without that particular license, plix.

  • absolutezero #16 5 years ago

    Almost everything you listed are'nt shounen fighting shows :p

    Bokurano, Claymore and Darker than Black are seinen shows so the structure and budgets are different. Not liking Claymore all that much, just seems like Berserk for the moe crowd. Plus it has a horrible script "Half human....HALF YOMA"

    Yoko, I mean Guren Lagann is a great piece of otaku baiting mecha.

    I also agree with whoever mentioned Kenichi although I would'nt really class it in the same genre as the Narutos or the Bleachs.

    Ill stop messing up the comments section now, I think we have a "current anime" thread in the forum for this kinda thing :p

  • Machetazo #17 5 years ago

    /looks at "to get" list...
    /scrolls past about six entries...
    Naruto: Ultimate Ninja. Really? I still don't have that?!? Bugger.

    So, a new game, not a sequel (like the US gets continually)
    /tried anim-efan card in the door...

    "Ace5s th3 d@nied!" I'd never heard of half the series mentioned in this thread! :(

    Override attempt: I wonder if there's hope of getting the 2D Fist of the North Star here, on PS2?
    [link url=http://www.siliconera.com /index.php/2007/03/19/watch-fist-of-the-north-star-on-the-ps 2/
    ]http://ww w.siliconera.com/index.php/2007...[/link]

    HOLY...! :o

  • TRUTH #18 5 years ago

    Lost Oddysee, Cry-On, Mass Effect, Blue Dragon, Fable 2, with rpg/adv games inc Bioshock, Overlord - finally MS is getting some quality RPG'S. Hopefully 'Rise of a Ninja' will add to this.

  • davisorle #19 5 years ago

    I've never watched Naruto since I have better things to do than watch anime (even though I used to before I started working the way I do now :S ). I know a lot of ppl around me that will be amazed to hear about this game on 360 though :p

    I am too but mostly intrested in seeing the game cause it's an RPG that is...

  • Ciaran #20 5 years ago

    What's with all the Naruto hate here? It's still better than 98.7% (*) of what Nickelodeon and consorts turn out.

    (*) statistic pulled out of thin air
    Edited by 1 at 16/05/07 @ 09:33

  • blicko #21 5 years ago

    "It's still better than 98.7% (*) of what Nickelodeon and consorts turn out."

    With a margin of error around 1.3%. I'd given up on Naruto just before 200 episodes. That is almost twice as many as it took for me to give up on Inu Yasha, but both were quite excellent while they held my interest.

    To be fair to the Yanks, they have given us some classic animated comedy series like The Simpsons and the Adult Swim stuff. Even Nick gave us (and then raped) Ren and Stimpy so we are being a little hyperbolic with our stats ;-) Maybe only 93% crud.