Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress seems to learn a few things from its less than perfect predecessor. Besides a tightening of the controls and the addition of a real story mode, the overall feel of the game also improves.

The visuals stick with the same style defined by the first game and the console Ultimate Ninja titles these are derived from. The still images have a manga style shading applied, while the in-fight graphics are crisp and the fighting arenas are pretty well detailed. Existing fans of the Ultimate Ninja series should recognize several levels from the other games including the Ichiraku Ramen Shop, Survival Exercise Ground, Forest of Death, and a couple of new locations specifically for this game (Outside the Mugenjo and Inside the Mugenjo).

Sound doesn't change much from the previous release either. The music is decidedly Naruto and the various yells and shouts from the fighters are done by the same actors from the show. Nothing really stands out in this department, and it gets the job done.

Fighting in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress follows the Ultimate Ninja style pretty closely. Fighting arenas are divided into different layers (for lack of a better term). There is the foreground and a background. Each layer can also have multiple heights (for instance, the background layer might have a roof you can jump onto). While the game is still a 2D fighter and most attacks can only move in the same 2D layer that you are on, weapons you throw do move between the layers. If you aren't already familiar with the style that this line uses, it can take a bit to get used to, but in the end it really helps to add a new dimension to 2D fighting.

As far as gameplay modes, The Phantom Fortress takes out the Promotion Test and the Parameter Power Up menu options seen in the first one. This game also doesn't rely on Heroes Mode to be the game's story mode. In the last release, Heroes eeked out an excuse of being the story mode by setting up certain fights and saying that it was representative of the fights from the series. Instead here, a new mode, Mugenjo Mode, actually conveys a story (an original story at that), and in a rather unique way to boot.

When a mysterious fortress appears over the Hidden Leaf village, several Jonin are sent in to investigate, but Naruto, in his ever hotheadedness, also ventures in hoping to take down this legendary evil. As you progress through the many floors of this fortress, you will gain new team members to fight alongside you. Each floor of the temple is seen like a tile-based board game that has an upstairs and a downstairs tile. The rooms between each stair aren't exactly completely there, so you have to use special summoning scrolls to create the room in order to progress. These scrolls create six types of rooms, each with their own type of challenge.

Battle Scrolls create rooms where you will have to fight a phantom enemy (basically you just go up against one of the other characters in the game). Tree-Climbing Scrolls force you to run up a tree as fast as you can without hitting branches (as seen in other Naruto games). Shadow Possession Scrolls is a Simon Says type game, while the Riddle Scroll throws a question about the series out at you. The last two scroll types are Amusement (a slot machine game) and Clone, where you play through a shell game as two clones swap places with the real character and you have to keep track of which one is which. The last type of room is a Drama Room. These are in place automatically and they advance the story. Typically they lead to a fight.

As with the previous game, Heroes 2 deals with a team of fighters. While fights themselves are one-on-one, if one of your characters goes down for the count, the next one in your lineup steps up. As time progresses, your characters will regain health and chakra, so don't worry if one of them is beaten; unless they are all taken out, you can keep going through the story.

One of the goals of Mugenjo Mode (besides going through the story) is gaining points. These points can be used to buy various collectables in the Ninja Road Menu option. Basically, you spend points to move along a single path. At each waypoint on that path, you will pick up an object like artwork, sound clips and various other things to look at in Naruto's House.

The other modes of interest are Heroes Mode where you will choose from either a preset team or a custom one and go through a specific series of fights. This survival mode will only restore a little bit of health to your characters between fights, so you will have to work hard in order to get through all of them.

I have to say, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress seems a bit easier than the last game. I did notice that the opposing fighters are a bit more susceptible to cheap spamming of the same attacks, making fights a bit more boring since you will constantly be using the same move over and over again, but at least the change means you can actually progress through the Story and Hero modes a bit better than the last game. Of course, that could also be a result of the tighter control scheme, since I found I could pull off the moves I intended a lot easier in The Phantom Fortress than the first Heroes game.

One thing I've said a couple of times is that Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress's controls feel a bit tighter than the previous game. While still not as good as its console cousins, the game just feels more responsive and easier to handle. The control layout itself has stayed basically the same, and anyone who has played the previous version or the normal Ultimate Heroes games shouldn't have any problems picking it up.

What might throw newcomers to the series is the ability to switch between the two playing fields (the background and foreground) as well as triggering some of the characters' more powerful Jutsu (which is nowhere near as comprehensive as the ones found on the consoles). In order to release the fighter's ultimate attack, you have to have max chakra and then tap the (Triangle) button followed by the (Circle). When you hit the (Triangle), the character is surrounded by chakra, and tapping the (Circle) executes the attack. While each character only has one powerful attack, they typically do a good job of hurting your opponent pretty badly.

If you liked the first game, or didn't but saw its potential, then you should definitely check out The Phantom Fortress. If you are looking for a good fighting game, then this title might also interest you, but otherwise, it is still a niche title and really only best left for Naruto fans.