Naruto: Ultimate Ninja

"Special Jutsus! What is that?"

Want a Naruto game that can satisfy you? Naruto: Ultimate Ninja comes for you! As my tagline says, I'll let you read my desciption of the famous Special Jutsus in the Ultimate Ninja series.
Gameplay 9/10
In any typical fighting games, you'll see the characters facing each other; like a side-scroller. Well...You'll see them in Ultimate Ninja too. But not vintage or old school fighting games or like the fighting gameplay of the Tekken series.. You'll experience moves that is way over the top.Several combos. First of all, the combos in this game are all easy to do, because you'll just have to mash the circle button. You might ask, if there are several combos in this game, why am I only gonna mash the circle button? The answer to that is, you'll gonna use the D-pad in every push of your fingers to the circle button. In every direction you press the D-pad, you'll see another combo. Second, the Jutsus. There are only two jutsus in every character, so don't expect much. These jutsus are important in every crucial time in the fight. When you play it, you'll understand me. Third is, in my tagline, the Special Jutsus. These Special techniques, are very, very important if you're about to die, and your opponent's life points is still best. The moment you engage your opponent in a special jutsu, there's a chance that you can equal his HP with yours or defeat him. Now, I'll explain. There are three types of Special Jutsus, red, purple, and blue. When you press the triangle button, your character bursts in flames or what you call chakra, and if you press it once, you'll see red chakra, twice, you'll see purple, and thrice, you'll see blue. From red to blue is like weakest to strongest. Once you hit a blue chakra burst special jutsu, you'll be surprised of what great deal of damage you inflicted on your opponent.
Story 2/10
Acually, there's no story in this game. But there's a little ray of hope. There's a mode, Scenario mode. In this mode, you'll pick a character, then fight six opponents. There's a little bit of story in here because before each of the fights, they'll talk to one another.

Graphics 7/10
Graphics-- Cool cell-shaded character models and awesome 3D environments. What a nice mix.

Sound 6/10
Sound effects are directly from the anime, while the music is originally composed. The music lets you feel you're in the Leaf Village.

Replayabitity 9/10
You'll probably play this over and over until you complete the game. Even not completing it, you'll have fun with your friends playing it using versus mode.

Recommendation
I suggest you rent it. But if you're an avid Naruto fan, better grab a copy.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/26/07, Updated 12/10/07

Game Release: Naruto: Ultimate Ninja (US, 06/26/06)