PSi writes: "Naruto Shippuden Legends: Akatsuki Rising is one of the more expansive and feature-rich Naruto games to come out in a while, but what it has in breadth, it severely lacks in depth.
Visually though, Akatsuki Rising does a fair job. While not necessarily as crisp looking as the system's other Naruto fighters (i.e. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes), that is most likely due to Legends' 3D fighting nature instead of the others' 2D style. Nevertheless, each of the characters are easily identifiable and all sport their new Shippuden style."
The quality of game design and fun that can be found in a Naruto video game is largely dependent on its genre. The fighting games are often regarded as some of the best anime fighting titles since the Dragon Ball Z series and are pretty decent fighting games in their own right. On the other hand, the adventure games have wavered between fairly good to mediocre takes on platforming and brawling.
The glut of available modes is a little bittersweet because most beat-em-ups, even good ones, are severely lacking in the replay department. If Akatsuki Rising had satisfying or challenging combat this would be a great PSP title for fans of Streets of Rage 2 and its ilk from console generations past. Sadly, Akatsuki Rising is not that game.
Akatsuki's visuals and sound effects are crisp and exceedingly close to what is presented in the anime. This is a big plus for fans of the show, which is good as they are the only ones out there who will likely enjoy the title.
DIG writes: "Naruto has become the new Dragon Ball Z. The sort of franchise that seems to churn out video games and never reaches the bottom of the barrel. Its as if the franchise has no limit on the fans' patience, but it certainly tests mine. Waaaay back when I started this gig, one of the first games I reviewed was Naruto: Clash of the Ninja 2."
