Hey guys! Our fifth Blog entry will be featuring Naruto.



Remember him? The ninja in the orange jumpsuit. He's been around for a while, and I suppose quite a handful of you are already familiar with him. For the most part, he's considered to be a character who is marked by mediocrity. Currently, while he does not have any glaring weaknesses, neither does he possess any impressive asset. In the current version his attacks are for the most part non-threatening, and an effective playstyle generally consists of him using his Down-Special over and over again in the air. Naruto's lackluster attributes, along with repetitive playstyle, have made him, according to some, "boring and unattractive". We decided it was time for a change.

Naruto has gone through quite a few noticeable changes to his moveset. One major aim we had in mind for him was to replace re-used animations with fresh, often custom-made ones. For example, all of his throws had the same appearance as other attacks in his arsenal (Forward-Throw and Back-Throw looked the same as his F-Smash; Up-Throw and Up-Tilt looked the same, etc.). New designs had been given to all his throws, as well as his Neutral-Aerial. Forward-Tilt, which used to appear the same as Dash-Attack, is now a kunai slash, while his new Forward-Smash is a "Spartan kick".



But the changes don't stop there. Let's move on to his special attacks.

Rasengan has brand new vectored graphics, and now is quite a bit faster. Hopefully it'll be much easier to connect with. Also, as you may know, when the attack is fully charged, Naruto will make a RasenShuriken. Feel free to use it to your advantage, since it’s one of the strongest projectiles in the game (not counting Final Smashes. Sorry people, but we're not going to make RasenShuriken cut through Mario Finale.



Naruto won't be throwing a shuriken for his Side-Special anymore. We decided it was too plain, and replaced the shuriken with a Shadow Clone. This was done partially to reflect his fighting style in the actual series (You know, it usually consists of Shadow Clones. And beating people up with them.), and now he should feel more like the Naruto we know from the anime, with all that Shadow Clones.

Down-B also has gotten through some improvements. Now two Shadow Clones, instead of one, will appear when the attack is used in the air. On the ground, the player has the option of creating a Shadow Clone behind Naruto. When done so, the attack will have more range, although note that this also means Naruto will be less protected up close.



Up-Special still functions the same, although we have done some fine-tuning. The first hit should combo into the second, now that this move can stun opponents for a longer duration. Also, there were may reports that Naruto has a hard time getting back to the stage, so we also improved the distance and control on Up-Special a bit.

Overall, Naruto is much more fun to play as (according to the same guy who called him “boring and unattractive”). His main strength is his outstanding zoning ability. Zoning roughly means controlling the positions of the players to one’s advantage. Naruto’s unique abilities let him affect remote parts of the battlefield with his Shadow Clones, effectively allowing him to choose, to a degree, where and when the battle takes place. Those with superior skill, when playing Naruto, may battle an opponent on their own terms. Don’t like being near the edge? No problem. Drop a Shadow Clone mine there and make you opponent come to you in the center of the stage. There are more ways to zone with Naruto, but I'll leave discovering those methods to you guys.



Naruto has many interesting move involving Shadow Clones and has an unique fighting style with unorthodox combo strings. Just like pretty much all the other characters, he will be getting more Hit-Lag on his moves. Naruto's throws, Tilts, and aerials are his main combo tools. Other than the basic melee combo ability given to characters generally, Naruto will also have his Shadow Clones to help him out in a team attack. There’s several different types of Shadow Clones that do different things – so a player may mix and match them a bit to develop a unique battle strategy. Rasengan will hopefully be a bit more exciting to use as well, now that it is one of his main KO moves. Oh, and did I mention he can make Shadow Clones?




We have spent a lot of time discussing and making changes to improve Naruto's character design, to rid him of mediocrity and blandness. Our goal is to formulate a fun, balanced, and well-designed character who would fit well into the SSF2 environment. We hope you'll have a great time playing with these new changes and additions.