Hey Everyone,

A Naruto game for the Nintendo DS was made called Shinobi Rumble or Ninjustsu Zenkai Cha-Krush (NZC). Now, the artists on this game did a great job. The spritework is really nice and really reflects the style of the anime. However, the game itself is not the best to play. I'm making my own version with those characters, but with much better characters using the MUGEN engine. Here's an example of the sprite style from NZC:
http://spritedatabase.net/files/ds/1889/Sprite/Sakura.png
(It's a large sheet and there are no spoiler tags it seems)

NZCR is the name of my game. NZC:Revamped :P.

I realized more than once that NZC did a horrible job and giving variety to character attacks. Because of that, I have to sprite some things myself. Now, I'm not a spriter, so this is extremely difficult for me. I'm starting off with Sakura, but will be using this thread for all of my NZCR custom sprites. I'm sure there will be more in the future.

Here, we have a move from a different Naruto NDS game called SND (Saikyou Ninja Daikeshu) and the NZC-styled equivalent that I'm in the process of making. I'm looking for advice on how to sprite better and make these sprites look more natural but fit the NZC style. I'm open to criticism. It's the only way one can learn from their mistakes. :)

So here's Sakura's spin kick and Sweep


Edit: Edited the post with more information.

Edited by kiraikenx - 04 September 2014 at 9:00am

Um, what? If those are acronyms, can you explain please?

Lol, I'm so confused...

Oh! I see now. I'm so sorry. I'm so used to using them I completely forgot that people may not know what they mean. Haha. Thank you for the lesson. :D I'll edit my post.

Based upon the high kick, it seems like there should be motion blur in the sweep as she spins towards the back. It is a similar rate of motion, so if one blurred, it seems odd that the other does not.

I've added the blur:


I have also created a new move for Sakura, Stun Punch:


Edited by kiraikenx - 08 September 2014 at 3:39pm

Hey, thanks for the edit. The timing you have is exactly (maybe a bit slower) what I have in my game. For some reason the exported .gif is sped up. I think the reason why I had the leg moving back like that is because she slides foward a bit during the punch. Your edit looks a lot better though. Thank you for that. :)

You shouldn't use my edit cause it's just example not refined animation, and you should try to make your own animation based on my comment. This way you will not learn anything.

In which program are you making this?

I've made a new move as well, Counter:


The first two frames were sprited by me. The rest are from the official sprite sheet. They fit well together though.

I think it's the .gif repeating that's making it look that way. The animation starts with the legs spread and bend like that having the hands down and in front of her face.

The timing is like this:
5 -> 20 -> 4 -> 3 -> 4 -> 5

Where those numbers are in ticks of the game.

Maybe it would help to post a short video or gif of her in game doing the move? See, when I export the gif from the development program I'm using it just repeats like that and there's nothing I can really do about it. When the animation is done, she goes to her standing animation.

Not really. See, the first two frames have to be timed that way because it's a counter. If the enemy hits her on the second frame, she follows up into an attack animation. What you see is basically her recovering from the counter animation to go to her stand animation. Here I split the frames, so you can get a better idea:

"Poof" will not fix lack of frames. Here you have only 2 frames before he disappears. Problem is, second of these two frames is not key frame but in between frame, so when you remove next important frame from that movement, you have nothing. You need to show him with his fist near the ground to tell the story.

This will sound harsh, but you can't make good animation without any knowledge about animations overall. I suggest that you find and read "The Animator's Survival Kit - Richard Williams"

Hand doesn't come up enough, Unless his intention is to bust the other players big toe. Also it could probably only be one frame of the hand bursting out of the ground.

Edited by Limes - 11 October 2014 at 5:01pm

Oh, so that is why his hand isn't clenched into a fist, Makes sense. Shan't not have doubted your animating superiority.

No you misunderstood me. no sarcasm there lol, you did not come off rude at all. I really like these animations :). Sorry if that came off wrongly, It was meant to be "funny"

Alright, I'm back and have been trying to improve. I took a different approach to this one:


It's just a slash, but it's completely custom and from scratch. I focused on the animation on this first by creating a stick figure that resembled his motion and what looked natural. Then I went back and sprited the character around that.

P.S. Harvey, I actually did buy that book as an app for my iPad. I read through a few chapters. I'll continue reading through it, but so far it's really good.