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Through it all, though, the visuals never cease to impress. Like its predecessor, Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 has vibrant colors and silky-smooth animation that capture the look of the anime with breathtaking accuracy. The bridges, streets, and shops of Hidden Leaf Village and the other areas you visit have a painterly quality that elevates them above the appealingly cartoony visuals of a typical cel-shaded game to create something truly beautiful. The sound is terrific, too. The voice cast delivers performances filled with the heightened emotions you'd expect from a saga about powerful ninjas locked in a struggle between good and evil, without going overboard and making the material seem goofy. The score sets just the right tone for this tale; melancholy piano melodies and haunting flutes accompany the story's more serious moments, but the music shifts into high gear once the fists start flying.Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 delivers a well-told and memorable tale that does right by the characters and locations of the popular anime and is peppered throughout with some stunning moments that make you feel like tremendously powerful forces are at work here. Unfortunately, those great moments are separated by a whole lot of forgettable traveling back and forth through a world that looks gorgeous but that you can't interact with in any interesting ways, and although the fighting system works well enough in the context of the story, it doesn't have the depth necessary to stand on its own for very long. But the good moments are good enough to make up for the game's shortcomings, and you'll remember the intensity of those epic battles long after the tedium of what's in between has faded from memory.
Through it all, though, the visuals never cease to impress. Like its predecessor, Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 has vibrant colors and silky-smooth animation that capture the look of the anime with breathtaking accuracy. The bridges, streets, and shops of Hidden Leaf Village and the other areas you visit have a painterly quality that elevates them above the appealingly cartoony visuals of a typical cel-shaded game to create something truly beautiful. The sound is terrific, too. The voice cast delivers performances filled with the heightened emotions you'd expect from a saga about powerful ninjas locked in a struggle between good and evil, without going overboard and making the material seem goofy. The score sets just the right tone for this tale; melancholy piano melodies and haunting flutes accompany the story's more serious moments, but the music shifts into high gear once the fists start flying.Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 delivers a well-told and memorable tale that does right by the characters and locations of the popular anime and is peppered throughout with some stunning moments that make you feel like tremendously powerful forces are at work here. Unfortunately, those great moments are separated by a whole lot of forgettable traveling back and forth through a world that looks gorgeous but that you can't interact with in any interesting ways, and although the fighting system works well enough in the context of the story, it doesn't have the depth necessary to stand on its own for very long. But the good moments are good enough to make up for the game's shortcomings, and you'll remember the intensity of those epic battles long after the tedium of what's in between has faded from memory.