Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 3

"This was my first Naruto game.."

This was my first GNT game, let alone any Naruto game. And all I can say is, wow. This is definitely one of the best fighters I've ever played. The gameplay flows smoothly and animations are awesome.

Story: 8

Even though this is a fighting game, it does have some sort of a story. The story lives up to the anime and goes all the way up to the encounter with Itachi. There are 24 missions at first which start from Naruto becoming a Genin up to somewhere around the Sannin fight. There are then 8 more unlockable mission which don't really have to do anything with the story but are kind of sub-plots (i.e. Lee's three man cell training).

Gameplay: 10

Most fighting games are just button mashers with insanely hard to perform uber combos which can kill you in one hit. This is not the case with GNT3. Here combos are easily performed using the A and B buttons, yet some combos require specific timing and skill to perform. This is probably the best part of this game; when an opponent has got you locked in a combo and your health is almost depleted, you can use a disappearing technique (kawarimi no justu/"Replacement" technique) which makes you disappear and reappear behind your opponent and attack him which will get you out of the combo so you have a chance to beat him. This is absent from other fighting games and has drawn me deeper into this game. There are also special moves that can be performed using the X button when your "chakra" (energy bar) is at the right amount. If the move connects it will bring you to a special animation where your character performs the special move. Neither person has control at this time. There are also different gameplay modes such as "Survival", "Three-man cell", "Multiplayer" etc.

Sound: 9

Each character has their respective voice actor from the anime which gives the game an authentic feel. The music in this game also fits in with the anime's theme of music and each stage has some music that fits in perfectly.

Graphics: 9

The graphics engine in this game uses Cel-Shading to give the look of the anime. Each character looks wonderful and the animations are great. The other effects of hits and blocks are also amazing. The backgrounds are well done too.

Replay Value: 8

It may take a while to gain the money to unlock everything but nonetheless this game still is fun. You can choose your favorite character and annihilate opponents which is always fun. The multiplayer modes are also fun and you can spend hours with your friends just playing this game.

Overall, this is a great fighting game and should be in your library of games regardless if you follow Naruto or not. Unfortunately this game is only available in Japan so you must order it online. The menus may seem difficult to navigate through but there is a menu FAQ up so it shouldn't be much of a problem. I am able to read a little bit of Japanese so it wasn't too difficult for myself. I am currently waiting to see if a fourth installment will be released.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/05