Imagine being born with a nine-tailed demon fox sealed inside you (or maybe, don't). It's the sort of thing to really throw up some problems at social services.
Maybe that's why Naruto Uzumaki is a loud, hyperactive, adolescent ninja, who's constantly searching for approval and recognition but ends up being shunned by the neighbours.
Of course, this inner demon stuff is something that could prove mighty useful for a wannabe ninja star, which perhaps is one reason why
Naruto has been a huge manga and anime success story on the scale of
Dragon Ball.
It's never quite worked when it come to handheld games, although there have been plenty of attempts – notably on GBA, but not forgetting last year's
Naruto: Ninja Council 3 (which wasn't released in Europe, happily).
Still ninja hope springs eternal, so the news that Naruto heading back into DS action – this time in role-player
Naruto: Path of the Ninja – will certainly keep fans of the series interested.
There aren't that many details about the game yet. We know you'll be able to choose from six characters – presumably including some of Naruto's Team 7 chums such as Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno – while you explore the Village Hidden in the Leaves before setting off across forests, fields, rivers and mountains for adventures and boss battles.
Also promised is a unique time-based combat system in which you have to 'determine each character's strengths and use them accurately to help them defeat the enemy'. We have to wait to find out what that means.
Due for an autumn release in the US, there's no news yet on whether
Naruto: Path of the Ninja will get a European launch.
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