Well a month has come and gone. A full month full of very solid gaming. For Christmas I received three games that I had asked for. The Orange Box, Assassins Creed, and Naruto Rise of a Ninja. Having finally finished off my feast a few days ago I was thinking about the third game I recieved and honestly it occurs to me I had just as much fun playing that game as I had playing the other two. The major difference the other two were very hyped, and very well received by gamers. While Naruto was a game that slipped quietly between the holiday cracks, and is fast falling off the radar entirely. This week it sits at the 168th spot on the sales chart with an abysmal four thousand in sales, and is sitting at just over a quarter million total. All to show for its twelve weeks on the market. Well its just sad and depressing.
The reason it is sad and depressing is that it's actually an incredibly good game. Don't take my word for it look it up on Metacritic the game has an average of 78 out of thirty reviews. Thats not a terrible score and the game isn't executed poorly in the least in fact it covers many gaming niches that makes for a rather unique experience. You have platformer aspects, RPG aspects, the fighter aspects. The game most certainly does credit to its license, and it has an expansive world to explore with wonderfully done missions. Enough to entertain for many weeks.
What is almost infuriating about the lack of acknowledgment is that this game may very well provide the best platforming experience on the 360. Running up walls, long jumping, double jumping, running across water, even surfing the cables in the hidden leaf village. Platform elements abound and you must make use of them with perfect timing. The game isn't half baked in the least, and nothing feels remotely forced.
I would hardly say the game is perfect, but it does a lot of things well, and more importantly it addresses some genre needs the platform needs resolved. You have a decent fighting game with a overworld worth exploring, and RPG elements that allow you to build and upgrade your character. So this game should have wider appeal then it does. This has to be my most underappreciated game.
I wonder if anyone has any under appreciated games that came out in the last six months they would like to share their thoughts about, and would like to make a case for others to take another look at. Please pick games that aren't being appreciated don't list a game that has sold a million, and please make it a game that received decent review scores. I think its safe to assume if a game got what amounts to a five out of ten that its probably getting the appreciation that it deserves. Please don't hijack the thread with petty arguments agree or disagree with someones selection, or bring up a game of your own. Just please don't turn this thread into another subject entirely. I am rather interested in what gems others found that everyone else overlooked.
I figure this would be a wonderful time as most of us should have tied up our holiday gaming by this point, and might be looking for something to go along with our next purchase. This is a chance to advocate that someone take another look at a game you found to be really enjoyable.
