Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 3

"The best Naruto GNT I've played out of all three, and by far the best game I've ever played."

Introduction:
Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 3 is the third game that's been released on the Nintendo Gamecube and it's by far the best out of all three. Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! 3 is based on the Naruto anime series which is currently airing in Japan. There are a couple of new features that weren't included in previous games. Naruto 3 introduces new features like more characters and stages, guard break, changing your form during gameplay, etc.

Story: 9
The story in this game is based on the anime series in which Naruto is hated by the villagers of Konoha because he has the demon fox living inside of him which destroyed the village a long time ago. He wants to become the strongest ninja in Konoha which is known as Hokage. The story mode starts from his first lesson with his teacher Iruka all the way to Sasukes (Naruto's rival) encounter with his older brother (Itachi). It doesn't go through every part of the story exactly part by part but it has the important parts.

Sound: 10
The music in the game fits perfectly with the atmosphere of Naruto. The background music is excellent in all the stages and was very well done. The voice actors in the game are the exact same as the ones in the anime series. They say a little something before and after every battle and it suits there personality perfectly.

Graphics: 10
Naruto 3 is based on an anime series so the best choice for graphics would be cel-shaded. The characters are designed beautifully and so are the stages. Some of the backgrounds seem to have less work put into it compared to everything else in the game. The background is kind of plain but still good. All the moves and specials also look beautiful along with the characters.

Gameplay: 10
This game allows up to four people play in multiplayer and with 3 vs. 3 battles. The way I like to describe Naruto's type of game play is like Super Smash Brothers Melee. You go left and right with the joystick and you jump by pushing up just like in SSBM. The A and B button are both attacks just like in SSBM. For most characters, the A button uses their projectiles and the B button uses their physical attacks. To use different attacks, you push a direction like up, down, right, or left along with the A or B button just like in SSBM. You can continue pushing the A/B button to form long combos. The R and L button lets you strafe to the left and right so you can dodge attacks. The Y button lets you throw the opponent and the X button uses your special when your chakra bar (special bar) fills up. Most of the time to use your second special, you just push down along with the special button. This is also the same way to transform certain characters like Sasuke and Rock Lee. Doing this will sometimes affect your health/special. The Z button is only used in multiplayer battles to switch opponents. One thing that makes this game different from others is the ability to use a technique called Kawamari no Jutsu. Basically what happens is that when you get hit by any attack, you can press the R/L button to disappear and reappear behind the opponent and attack them when you have some chakra filled. The game play is very fast paced and flows very smoothly. I believe they made the game play in this game perfectly and I wouldn't change a thing.

Replayability: 10
Though you'll be able to unlock everything very easily and fast, it still takes time to earn enough money to buy everything. After you unlock everything, the game still stays fun because of the multiplayer and wanting to master your favorite characters. To this day, I still play it when I want to have some fun or want to learn new strategies.

Overall: 10
If you're a Naruto fan, there's no reason why you shouldn't own this game unless you don't have a Gamecube and if you don't have one then you really should get one. Even if you're not a fan it's still a very fun fighting game that many of my friends enjoy who hasn't even heard of the show. I strongly recommend this game to all fans of Naruto and fans of excellent fighting games. There are FAQs up that tell you how to navigate through the menus so you should have no trouble not being able to play just because it's all in Japanese. If you're having trouble deciding which of the Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen series to get, don't even bother with the previous ones because this game has everything that the old ones had and more. This is definitely my favorite game that I own and I can't wait for a sequel.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/28/05, Updated 06/30/05