Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2

Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2, known as 'Naruto: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 2 in Japan and Naruto: Clash of Ninja European Version' in Europe, is the second instalment of the Gekitō Ninja Taisen (Clash of Ninja) series.

Gameplay
Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2 offers several different game modes such as Arcade mode, VS mode, and Story mode. You can unlock new features such as new characters, stages, and modes by accomplishing certain tasks in the game. Once accomplished, an item will appear in Anko's shop and the player may buy with money earned from fighting. The roster is also notably more updated from Clash of Ninja, where it is more notably praised.

A large notable series mainstay in this instalment is the feature to not only fight one on one, but now 4-way brawls have been added, with characters being able to switch their targets mid-fight, and enabling multiplayer with up to 4 players on field at the same time. Also new are air throws, where certain character are able to throw their foes in midair, though even these can be escaped from like normal throws on ground.

The game follows the plot of the series, in story mode, starting from Naruto's graduation from the Academy to the end of the Chūnin Exams. There are also several fights which may be purchased from Anko that go into detail about things not fully explained in the series.

Another mode featured is "Oboro (Haze) Mode", where the player enters a normal 4-way brawl but they instead engage with haze clones that progressively re-spawn in increasing numbers as more are defeated, making the goal to defeat as many as possible before being overwhelmed.

Reception
Critical reaction ranges from average ratings to fairly high and respectable ones. G4's X-Play gave Clash of Ninja a three out of five, claiming that while the game has "slick cel-shaded graphics and strong animation," the game's characters are all somewhat similar and lacks in the two-player department. Mark Bozon at IGN gave this game an 8.2 out of ten, and said that the game is quite easy to get involved in, even for those unfamiliar to the Naruto series. He also praises the game for its easy-to-learn combos and character roster.

Trivia

 * An extra 10,000 coins can be earned if there is a saved file of Naruto: Clash of Ninja on the player's memory card.
 * There is a limited edition Naruto trading card in every marked box of Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2. It's a hydrofoil Mission featuring Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke with Gamakichi, a slug, and a snake respectively. The card does not come in Player's Choice editions.
 * The GameCube Clash of Ninja series was ended after Clash of Ninja 2 in America, primarily because of the Nintendo Wii console launching close to Clash of Ninja 2 ' s release date. As such, this is the last game in the American Clash of Ninja to be a translated version of a Japanese game; with the Revolution series that has continued for the three years since, new games have been created for the Wii, featuring characters and stages that were not in the subsequent non-localised GameCube counterparts.
 * Later on near the end of 2006 Clash of Ninja 2 was released in a combo pack with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
 * Opponents settle down differently here when defeated. They lower their hands slowly in their knees until their full upper-half hit the ground, while in the previous game they bend over their neck and hands until they hit the ground.
 * When a combo is done against an opponent to the point they are launched far away being defeated, they flip in circles around the floor, while in the first game, they simply fell down normally being launched.
 * During a match, in the previous instalment, the portrait of a character near their health bar and name was the same artwork that was used in the versus screen. In this game, the artwork used is when the same one that's shown when a character activates their special attack.
 * The only exceptions to this are Sakura and Nine-Tailed Naruto. Both characters in their special attack artwork face away from the direction their opponent is in (due to them emulating the startup flash poses for their specials) and, in Sakura's case, have an exaggerated facial expression. Because of this, the two have unique artwork for their health bar portrait. Neither of them are found in the game's art gallery for each character.
 * Naruto gains a brand new neutral weak attack combo animation (having a clone perform an upward launching kick for him instead of doing two of them in a row himself) and a new downward strong attack (hops and punches the ground for a clone to uppercut from below instead of disappearing and uppercutting himself) as of this game in the series. The original non-clone attacks are still carried over to his Nine-Tailed forms. Naruto also gains a new substitution grounded counterattack for the rest of the games, now hitting the opponent while curled to a ball-like form via his running weak attack animation, instead of performing a backfist at the opponent like in the first game (which was an altered version of his running strong attack animation).
 * Many aspects of Nine-Tailed Naruto that he had in the prior instalment have been changed in this game, and they can be noticed. Those might be that in this game, he is no longer called out as "Naruto Uzumaki" when he wins, he no longer says "Over here" when substituting, says "I'll destroy you!" (or "butsubushite yaru!" in Japanese) instead of "Believe it!" when activating his special, and growls when he is selected in the character selection, instead of saying "It's my turn. Believe it!" with a distorted voice like in the prequel.
 * Likewise, Kakashi with Sharingan can no longer copy Nine-Tailed Naruto's special jutsu.
 * If he beats Naruto in a round that doesn't end the match, Sasuke no longer mocks him by saying "Scaredy-Cat" like he would in the previous instalment.
 * When fighting Kakashi, Zabuza no longer says "Bear witness to my technique!".
 * When copying Zabuza's Hiding in Mist Technique, Kakashi no longer says, "Here it is!" like in the previous game, but instead says, "Give it up! What lies in your future is defeat." before striking Zabuza several times with the Lightning Cutter Technique in tandem with a kunai.
 * Lee by the time before Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 3 was the only character to have a down special (along with in a technical sense, Haku, via the secret easter egg mentioned down below).
 * Sakura, Iruka and Mizuki are also the only characters with an automatic Body Replacement Technique for their back strong attack upon counter activation, and also ones that cost no chakra.
 * Sasuke with Sharingan is the only character in the game to have a special he can use in midair, Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
 * Akamaru and Karasu are the only two characters who don't have a special, this was fixed in Naruto: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 3 and 4.
 * Censorship is seem to be found in this game with some of the voice acting. As many lines of dialogue that were found in the anime were altered in the translation for a younger audience. As words like "Kill" or "Death" are replaced with "Destroy" or "Defeat", despite the fact that Clash of Ninja 2 has a Teen Rating in the United States.
 * Both Japanese and English versions respectively have Hiruzen Sarutobi as the announcer.
 * Both the Chidori and the Lightning Cutter in this series (before the Shippūden games) actually possess guard points/autoguard, allowing Sasuke and Kakashi to literally run through attacks while blocking through them; however, the auto-guard is still finite and will eventually give way if up against an attack with a hitbox that lasts for a good amount of time (and if Kakashi/Sasuke reach their target while about to thrust their hand). Sasuke's version is much faster than Kakashi's and will not drop the autoguard as soon.
 * Likewise, either version of Kakashi can perform the Lightning Cutter with either hand depending on which side he leads with in his stance, while regardless of which body-side Sasuke in Sharingan mode leads with in his stance, he as with the source material, will always perform the Chidori with his left hand.
 * Whenever Shikamaru blocks a weak-on-hit attack, he will outright dodge the attack from a stationary position, thus, when it comes to "blocking attacks" that have a standard attack coding on them, Shikamaru can effectively avoid chip damage from weak-on-hit moves that are bladed/clawed. The only exception is when blocking attacks that are strong-on-hit (causing him to still normally suffer from blockstun that either lifts him off the ground or makes him slide along the ground).
 * Though as of Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 4 however, Shikamaru still will have his guard gauge units reduced when blocking through this fashion, despite not suffering any direct body contact.
 * These said animations are likely another asset rip from the Bloody Roar series, via the stationary Evasion/Dodge mechanic that was added in since Bloody Roar 3.
 * Orochimaru's Five Elements Seal special not only deals massive damage, but also seals the opponent's chakra bar while also emptying it. This means the opponent cannot use substitution jutsus or specials and Orochimaru can attack them with a huge advantage (thus making many players of the game to deem him as overpowered on top of other traits). To prevent this from being unfair, this was changed in Clash of Ninja sequels so that the special only seals the chakra bar for 10 seconds, while making the victim's chakra gain return to normal afterwards.
 * The sealing palm motion itself in this series does not also inflict any direct damage to the victim. As a result, the only way to K.O. opponents with it is either with the initial blow, the tongue slam, or by powering up the motion of the attack itself for a small bit of extra damage in the Wii-sub series only with motion controls.
 * As a result of this, if the opponent is K.O.ed from the tongue slam to end a round, it's possible to skip over the sealing palm entirely by mashing the buttons to move on to the next round without ever having the victim lose any chakra.
 * Neji, Hinata, and Kankurō are the only characters who can "feint" in the game. By pressing the Y button during certain combos, it immediately stops the three during their combos and returns them into a neutral position within a second. Because the three's playstyles can revolve around throwing the opponent, it allows them to use a mix-up of combos and throws, keeping their opponents on guard.
 * Neji is the first Clash of Ninja character whose normal moves can deplete an opponent's chakra bar, as well as being one of the first two whose special depletes it (the other being Orochimaru).
 * As of this game and in both Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 3 and 4 (as both Haku and Zabuza are playable in those games that have 4-way multiplayer battles), there is a secret easter egg in a 4-way battle mode that involves Kakashi against both a Zabuza and Haku on the same team against him. When a Kakashi player activates his Lightning Cutter special when targeting the Zabuza player, the Haku player when pressing down + the special button will instantly warp to Zabuza's side to take Kakashi's Lightning Cutter, much like Haku's sacrifice in the source material.
 * In 3 and 4 however, due to the new addition of down specials/secret techniques, the command to activate this easter egg for the Haku player is instead re-allocated to back + special.
 * Both versions of Sasuke and Orochimaru in this game and in the prior instalment, have an infamous glitch where upon performing their forward strong attacks (their Fire Release techniques), holding down the strong attack button again on the last possible frame you are allowed to do so (which requires very specific timing) allows the fire breath to occur on its own without any further input, allowing either version of Sasuke or Orochimaru to freely act while the hitbox of the forward strong attack remains active until their chakra fully depletes. However, this is fixed by the time of Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 3.