We of course wanted to try out the all-new Mugenjo story mode, but the demo at Bandai Namco's kiosks didn't have the mode completely ready for play. We did dive into it anyway, and while gameplay wasn't ready, the story was already fully dubbed and can be listened to. The English voice acting was pretty much spot on with those from the anime. One very interesting thing about the voice acting is the option for Japanese audio. If you're an anime elitist who can't stand listening to English dub, this is for you.
Aside from the Mugenjo mode, we went into the other play modes. We counted about 23 characters on the roster and about 20 stages despite hearing reports of 12 unique stages. Go figure. The three-on-three teams are back again. There are a few teams already set up; you can create one custom team at a time, but we were told there are more teams to unlock as you gain some of the game's hidden characters.
The general fighting gameplay is similar to the first Ultimate Ninja Heroes. Jump with the X button, use items with the square button, press circle to attack, and triangle is the special move. Graphically, the game looks great for a portable title, and the special moves are easy to pull off and look fantastic. Over all, things are shaping up nicely. Look out for Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2 later this year.
