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Namco Bandai’s Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles is an entertaining adventure game that fuses recognizable anime characters with a slick and fun fighting engine. Fans of the cartoon will not be disappointed, however, the mundane missions can become a chore rather than an adventure.

Gamers take the role of ninja Uzumaki Naruto through a series of missions that progress the story line. The game starts with a comprehensive tutorial mode that leads into mission-based gameplay. Naruto will travel between towns, speak with characters, and embark on varying missions (sometimes with allies), that end up in gang fights with ninjas and other characters.

Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles features an pick-up-and-play combat engine with responsive controls. Naruto can combo attack, execute special attacks, and use items in combat. Combat flow is fluid and on-screen movements correspond instantly to each button press.

The game’s shortcomings lie in the missions themselves, with tasks that are ultimately uninteresting and predictable. Players will spend the majority of their time battling ninja clones live only to drop items and money to collect. Fans of the anime and manga may receive more satisfaction, but core gamers can find themselves disinterested and bored.

Uzumaki Chronicles is one title that does not employ cel-shading for graphics. As a result, the characters don’t exactly look like their cartoon counterparts. The 3D engine is capable for in-game action with minimal slowdown or polygon tears. The backgrounds during battle are simple, but feature good textures.

Despite Naruto’s gratingly annoying voice, the game includes capable voice acting to compliment the music and sound effects for a seamless experience from the anime.

Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles will not disappoint fans of the series. The game’s smooth-as-butter controls make the game accessible to casual gamers; however, the bland missions may be off-putting to players not familiar with the anime or manga.