I have played more Naruto games in the past few months than I ever thought I would – and surprisingly it’s damn satisfying. I mean, who hasn’t wanted to be a ninja at some point in their lives? I’m thirty-two and I still want to be a ninja. After several previous titles, it seems that the Shippuden story hasn’t run out of steam quite yet. In Akatsuki Rising, Naruto is well into his teen years, but apparently he and his cohorts are still prone to adventure and danger. But is this an adventure worth taking? One way to find out.

Scenario mode is the main story mode in the Akatsuki Rising. Other modes include mission, survival, battle and decent multiplayer modes consisting of co-op and versus. For those new to Naruto games, the first few fights act like a tutorial mode. Eighteen characters are available including of course the badass Akatsuki. The all new “Hyper Mode” makes its appearance  – basically an overdrive system that’s hit-induced. Hyper Mode relies on a timer, letting you save your chakra for special attacks – which can only be activated while in Hyper Mode. It’s a nice change from the past overdrive systems which consumed chakra. Graphics are of course great and your Jutsu add a nice visual flair. Inventory for ninja items and Jutsu are simple and work well. Camera issues have plagued past entries and although AR’s camera is far from solid, it does the job well enough. An 330mb install is available and greatly cuts down on loading times. Finally – and I swear I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing – is the ability to simply run past enemies into the next area. This of course comes at the expense of leveling and item retrieval, but I suppose if one has trouble beating that area’s enemies it might be useful. Odd, yet useful.

And now for the flip-side. Like the Ultimate Ninja series, all major attacks and combos are assigned solely to a single button – the square button – once again turning the fighting into a repetitive button mashing fest. The system in place for countering is set up so when ANY face button is pressed while being attacked, a block/counter is performed. This makes countering so easy that you wonder why it isn’t an automatic function. Besides bigger battles near the end of the game these shortcomings take away any real challenge the game could offer. While locked onto an enemy, the switch to another enemy using the d-pad can make the camera go a tad wonky, but it’s more annoying than detrimental. And as far as the story goes the Shippuden arc is great and all, but as of this release it has become officially old. AR has a very familiar feel that holds excitement only for those who have no prior experience. So veterans proceed with caution.

All said Naruto Shippuden Legends: AR is a decent play. It’s fun in spurts and is of the same quality as recent entries. But the overly simplistic controls and been there, done that storyline keep this title from being anything more than an honorable mention that fails to stand out from the pack. As far as ninja games go on the PSP however, this is as good as it gets. So keep that in mind also. Word.

[A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.]