Trouble is a brewing in Konoha. Naruto Narutimate Portable ~ Mugenjo no Makie is an adaptation of the PS2 series but in a portable form. Although with a portable version of a game you’d expect cuts to be made, but I’m happy to say that the package is a fulfilling one, living up to and in some cases surpassing the console counter-parts. In this game Naruto and his peers are sent on a mission to investigate a mysterious happening in a 100-level tower. Might I add a very spooky tower.

The game is surprisingly well developed compared to other portable anime games that have come out for the PSP. In terms of loading times, the game is very efficient and only needs a few seconds while loading into battles. What makes the deal sweeter is that they didn’t skimp on any voice acting and have included voices for all the characters. There are even a few CG clips in the game that garners the game some high presentation values. Still the story is mainly presented through character portraits with the characters speaking. But the realization is that the game is primarily a fighting game and to go to the extent of including these features are astonishing, but in a portable game... is extraordinary.

In terms of character arrangements, we have whopping 23-total characters in the game, which range from the favorites of the series, to the infamous. There are no nonsense characters that shouldn’t be included and every character in the game is very fitting for their role. We have the favorites like Naruto, Sasuke, and Rock Lee then we have the minor characters like Itachi, Tenten and Gai Sensei. So it’s obvious that the line-up doesn’t need work and caters to most of the average fan’s favorites.

Generally, the learning curve for mastering each character’s move-set is very short. There are really only three different forms that a character follows with the variations consisting of how many times should press the main attack button. So learning each character shouldn’t present a problem. Seeing this though may present a problem for a few people as the depth of the gameplay isn’t as a deep as say, Street Fighter, but also makes the game perfect for pick-up-and-play purposes with the demographic being for young teens.