Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Series Review

Alright, the review for this time around is a video game series which both myself and my brother enjoy very much, the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series. In particular, I will be reviewing the XBOX 360 versions of both Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 and Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations, in preparations for the upcoming Storm 3 which is due to be released in Spring of next year. Both games in the series take the player through the storyline of the second half of the Naruto anime series, from the time in which protagonist Naruto Uzumaki returns to the Hidden Leaf Village, to his climactic battle with the demon fox inside of him, known as Kurama. Both games have a battle system similar to a Dragon Ball fighting game known as Raging Blast, and a free roaming world in the story mode of Storm 2, in which the player can partake in various side missions along with the main missions of the story. However, the story mode of Storm Generations is a bit underwhelming, since the best features of Storm 2's story mode are gone and replaced by still images of the anime series rather than the fully animated cinematics of the former, which was the best part of Storm 2, along with the large scale boss battles, which have been reduced to regular battles when the events pertaining to the battle appear in Storm Generations. The graphics of each game have been cel-shaded, to emulate the style of the anime series itself and for the sake of simplicity. Despite being given a T rating for both games, there is really nothing objectionable, minus intense action sequences and an intense final battle in Storm 2 with a dark atmosphere and a suspenseful score. In my opinion, I would have rated these games E10, because there really is nothing too objectionable.

Coming Soon (Dates TBD)

Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series review

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Muppet Review

Alright, I know many people do not consider puppetry to be a form of animation, but if one

thinks about it, one of the main points of animation is to imitate life, which the late Jim Henson has

done multiple times through the use of his creature puppets, or muppets, and has applied the principles

of animation to these muppets. The muppets have been entertaining fans since the late 1950s, and have

been massively popular for generations, even to the present day, which brings us to the first movie

review of the Animation Junkies blog, “The Muppets”, which I believe to be the true fourth film in

the muppet film series, considering that the last few theatrical appearances of these beloved characters

have been adaptations of classic stories such as “A Christmas Carol” and “Treasure Island”, and upon

doing some research, many fans wanted a film in the style of the first three films, The Muppet Movie,

Muppets take Manhattan, and The Great Muppet Caper. This film goes back to the style and original

story of these films and serves as a sequel to Muppets take Manhattan and the popular variety series

“The Muppet Show.”

Our film introduces a new muppet to the series, Walter, who is a muppet that was born into a

family of regular humans, either that or he was adopted at a very young age. Walter is portrayed as the number one fan of the muppets, unaware that he is a muppet himself. As the film begins, he and his

brother Gary along with Gary's fiance Mary, take a trip to Los Angeles and while there, Walter takes

a tour of the Muppet studio. Upon arrival in Kermit's office, he overhears a conversation between

classic Muppet characters Statler and Waldorf (those two guys who heckled the cast of the Muppet

Show from the Muppet theater’s balcony) and the film's antagonist, which alleviates the boredom of

what Statler and Waldorf refer to as the “half dead audience.” Luckily, I was not part of that half dead

audience because I watched it on YouTube. The primary objective of the film was for Walter to get

the muppets back together and raise ten million dollars to save the theater, and one may ask, how do

they do this? I'll answer with four words, recreate the muppet show, even down to the popular opening

sequence, but this time, instead of using 80s songs and music, they use recent popular hits, but “muppet-ized,” such as the chickens singing my mother's favorite “Forget you” by Cee-Lo. In my own

opinion, the highlight of this film was when Kermit and Miss piggy sing the popular song “Rainbow

Connection” which precedes the final conflict with the antagonist, which precedes the closing musical

number, which is a reprise of the opening musical number.

In my own opinion, this film was alright, there were some points I enjoyed and some I did not,

the aforementioned “Rainbow Connection” duet being one of those moments I actually did enjoy. I

would recommend this film to anyone who is looking for a calm quiet film late at night when they have

nothing else to do besides pop in a DVD or turn on youtube or Netflix (which it is not available on at

the moment, but keep your fingers crossed). Are the Muppets worthy of being considered animation?

They follow the principles of animation, but some of the characters are not puppets or animatronics, but

people in suits, so in some cases, yes, and in some, no. I grew up exposed to the muppets the same way

many children after 1969 were, with Sesame Street, which is also where many animators got their start,

such as the creator of the Nickelodeon series and personal favorite “Hey Arnold.” In my opinion, the

creatures born out of the Jim Henson creature shop should be considered animated characters, from the

small nephew of Kermit the Frog to the immensely gargantuan Audrey II from the 1986 film adaptation of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's Little Shop of Horrors, the Audrey II puppets themselves to be

discussed after the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series review. Should I review the other three canon

Muppet movies? Voice your opinions in the comment box and request other animated films to be reviewed. Thank you to everyone who suggested I review this film, including my friends Max Moore,

Megan Siscoe, Cheyenne Williams, and Adam Jones and my grandmother, who is the author of the website “My Spiritual Windows.”