We stopped by Tomy's E3 booth earlier and, among other things, had an opportunity to get our hands on Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Destiny 2 for the first time. Currently scheduled for release this fall, the game boasts a number of features not found in its predecessor, and as the "Shippuden" in the title suggests, it counts the new, grown-up Naruto characters (with new, grown-up abilities) among the 30-plus on its roster.

　　One-on-one battles play out in much the same way that they did in the original game. Nicely animated 3D models face off in environments based on locales from the anime, and knowing when to block, when to sidestep, and when to teleport behind your opponent is every bit as important as knowing when to use punches, kicks, projectiles, and spectacular special attacks. As in the last game, six "buttons" on the touch screen can be used to activate items that restore health, boost attributes, and the like. The items, we're told, are all identical to those in the last game.

　　After fighting a few battles against the CPU, we decided to check out the all-new Quest mode. Essentially a dungeon crawler, Quest mode lets you choose one of 10 characters and explore labyrinthine dungeons that contain random battles with generic ninjas, health pickups that you'll need between fights, and--at least in the dungeon we wandered around in--not much else. Characters from the anime will purportedly show up as bosses occasionally, and although you start out as a lowly level 1 character, you'll earn experience from every fight until you reach the level 30 cap.

　　There's also a Story mode planned, in which you'll be able to walk around and explore towns when you're not too busy fighting, but we weren't able to check it out on this occasion. We look forward to bringing you more information on Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Destiny 2, which is currently scheduled for release in September, as soon as it becomes available.