by Jason Van Horn
I'm a self-admitted Naruto otaku. Given that title, I've played probably every
North American Naruto release that has come out in the last year or two. During
that time I've had one or two consistent complaints that none of the games have
managed to fix…until now. It seems that in the shuffle of releasing a game, many
fan favorite characters are forgotten and left on the sidelines, unable to fight
until hopefully the next time around. Oh sure, the stars like Naruto and Sasuke
are always there, but what of Hinata or Choji? Well, not only are they
represented here, but so are a whole lot more, leading to the most stacked cast
a Naruto fighter has ever seen.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 starts at around the Chunin Exams story and goes all
the way until the end of the manga (note that we said manga and not anime, as
the single-player story ends after the battle between Naruto and Sasuke, not
including the many filler arcs that happened afterwards in the anime). Since the
game covers such a wide area, every character within that time frame is fair
game to be added. The usual standbys such as Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi and
others are here, as well as many we've seen before in other games such as Gaara,
Itachi, and Kisame. However, whenever a game was released that included one of
the later arc characters added as playable, players usually saw the
disappearance of another character to let that one on the roster. With Naruto:
Ultimate Ninja 3, however, instead of forcing some characters to watch from the
sidelines, the developers took a "more the merrier" approach and have included
not only almost every conceivable character you could ask for in the Naruto
universe, but even secondary versions of those characters as well.
The biggest reason for the 40 characters the game has to offer once they are all
unlocked (during single-player game modes) is because they include the Sasuke
Retrieval story. This introduced in greater detail Orochimaru's Sound Ninja, and
also allowed existing characters chances to shine and evolve as characters, such
as the transformation Choji goes through in the series during this time. With
all of the secondary transformations that happened in this arc, it's great to
see them implemented here and done so well. Each of the Sound Ninja, for
instance, can fight as the character you initially start with. But if you
perform your Ultimate Jutsu, you'll undergo your secondary transformation and
suddenly your character will have a whole new look, moves, and play style. The
biggest change comes from seeing Rock Lee go from his normal mode to his Loopy
Fist style, which completely changes the feel of the character as he moves from
Bruce Lee wannabe to Drunken Master––and looks and plays just like you'd imagine
from hearing those names.
The fighting of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 plays like your standard 2D
side-scrolling fighter, though it feels a bit more unique thanks to the
quickness of the gameplay. You control your characters with the directional pad;
use the L1 and R1 buttons to rotate between your pickups; use the L2 and R2
buttons to block and perform a substitution jutsu; throw things like kunai with
the square button; jump and jump dash with the X-button; perform attacks with
the circle button; and prepare your Ultimate Jutsu with the triangle button.
Most fighters usually have more than one attack button, which is where there can
be a bit of a learning curve when it comes to Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3. The
single button attack does make the game easier for first time players, but to
those weaned on more traditional fighting controls it can take some practice to
see how different directional pad presses and combos lead to new and more
advanced attacks. For instance, just tapping away on the circle button will
perform combo attacks one after another, but holding the directional pad down or
up will change up the attacks and lead to new moves.
One thing that Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 does better than any other Naruto game
is know how to handle the Ultimate Jutsus from each character. They look awesome
and do some great damage, but by no means does landing one equal an automatic
win as in other Naruto fighters. Each character has two standard jutsu (up, up,
circle or down, down, circle) and then the Ultimate Jutsu (triangle and then
circle). The standard jutsus use up one block of chakra, which you get by
attacking your opponent to make them drop chakra orbs, or by holding the
directional button down to charge your chakra up. The standard jutsu are usually
quicker to execute and less situational, meaning you can pull them out and
quickly use them without worrying about having to hit your opponent at an
optimal time. The Ultimate Jutsu, however, are a bit harder to land and will
cost you all of your chakra once they've landed. Once you've prepared an
Ultimate Jutsu and hit your opponent with it, you'll then have to perform a
variety of button presses so that you can possibly power the move up even more
than usual. This allows you to counterattack your opponent who is also pressing
buttons at the same time, trying to reduce your damage. After you're successful
in landing the Ultimate Jutsu and powering it up, you're then treated to some of
the slickest looking visuals the game has, as the game dissolves into a sort-of
partially CG cutscene that shows off some amazing graphical effects that are not
possible with the in-game graphics.
Another thing that separates Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 from other Naruto games
(or even some fighting games period) is the multi-stage system. This innovative
feature lets you battle it out not only on multiple levels in the foreground,
but also be able to jump into the background, fight there, and exchange attacks
(such as projectile throws) from either the foreground to the background or vice
versa. The game features 20 different stages, many taking their cue from places
that should be familiar to fans of the anime, as you'll be battling in front of
giant snakes, on top of buildings in your village, on bridges in front of
waterfalls, etc. The levels also feature many opportunities to break things in
the environment, such as a tree branches, rocks, or things that pop into play
like practice dummies. Destroying these will often reveal power-ups and special
projectiles you can use such as bombs, trap projectiles, and many others.
Besides the fighting VS mode, there are also three minigames you can compete in
against another player: tree running, workout, and project throwing (not actual
names, but basically what they boil down to). In the tree running mode, one
player plays as Naruto and the other as Sakura, as they try to be the first to
reach the top of the tree. As you run up the tree you'll be able to get speed
powerups to make you run faster, or items that help you launch an attack against
your opponent to temporarily slow them. Y ou've also got to watch for tree
branches that will hit you as you are grabbing these items. In the workout mode
one player plays as Naruto while the other plays as Rock Lee, and you'll compete
in three activities (pushups, squats, and posing) to see who is the best. The
games are all easy to do, as you just have to quickly press the X-button the
most times to win the pushup round, properly time two button presses to win the
squat round, and be able to input a simple button command to win the pose round.
In the project throwing game against Tenten, both players will be trying to hit
the practice dummies first with their kunai, which you can only do by pressing
the right button that corresponds to that dummy. The thing most disappointing
element about this game is the fact that you can just constantly hit every
button to easily make quick decisions and always hit the targets first.
Graphically the game looks great, featuring a very anime influenced graphical
styling that leans towards a cel-shaded look with all the characters, and some
of the moves (like the Ultimate Jutsus) are amazing to behold whenever they are
used. All of the characters look excellent and are easily distinguishable from
one another, and the environments are visually appealing. In terms of audio the
game features what sounds like all the original voice actors reprising their
roles, really bringing to life their characters every time you hear them let out
a scream of pain or yell out the name of their Ultimate Jutsu.
If you're a Naruto fan you'll be in absolute heaven with Naruto: Ultimate Ninja
3 for the PS2. It features some solid gameplay, excellent visuals, and the
largest roster of usable characters ever in a Naruto game. Even if you aren't
usually a fan of the property, there's enough here to make this a great
"gateway" game, potentially leading new players to discover the world of Naruto
and become die-hard fans in the process.
4 out of 5
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