Naruto: Ultimate Ninja

"My Ninjutsu Is Better Than Your's"

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja is a fighting game based on the popular Naruto anime.
My review will be separated into these categories:

GRAPHICS
GAME PLAY
SOUND
FINAL SCORE

GRAPHICS 10/10
Some people may disagree with me on this, but I think that this is definitely one of the game's strong points. The game was created to look like a Manga (a Japanese comic book, for those who don't know), a job which it pulls off very nicely. The characters all have their own distinct and artistic appearance. The level design is also wonderfully done. the background characters are 2D, while your characters are 3D. This also adds a nice effect while you're fighting.

GAME PLAY 10/10
The game play is another strong asset to the game. You throw projectiles with the Square button, jump with X and use a physical attack with O. the Triangle button is used to execute each character's Secret Technique. These Super Attacks are split into 3 levels of power. 3 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. each attack is different with every character, so this gives you something to look forward to when unlocking new characters. ( Which there are 8 of, in the American version.) Besides the characters, there is an almost endless supply of unlockables for you to unlock. These include Voice samples, Music, Ninja Info Cards (pictures), Videos of each character's Secret Technique, and "Action Figures" of your favorite characters. All of these extra unlockables can be unlocked by using your Ryo ( money which can be obtained by fighting and doing different missions in Mission mode) at 3 separate capsule machines, two of which must also be unlocked. Naturally, the strongest part of the game ( as with any fighting game) is the versus mode. Don't have any friends? That's okay! You can play against the cpu before crying yourself to sleep!

SOUND 8/10
This is where the game falls a bit short. The different sound effects get all jumbled together with the voices, which sound muffled at some times. ( unless it's just my TV...) And of course the one flaw with ay American Naruto game.
BELIEVE IT!!!
GAH! The option menu is plagued with the accursed catch phrase! There's just enough BELIEVE IT's to make you rip your ears off. Also the word Chidori is never said. And don't look forward to any 128 Strikes. It's 128 PALMS. Welcome to America.

FINAL SCORE 9/10
The game is well worth the money for any die hard Naruto fan. This one is definitely worth buying. The only shortcomings are in the sound department. But that's why God invented the Mute button. Believe it!

This was my first review. Wonder how I did?

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/30/06