Ultimate x3
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 is unquestionably the best in the series, and yes, that's a good thing.
Published: April 2, 2008
There are few things as weird as getting excited about a game based on a cartoon when you don't even care about the cartoon the game is based on. I know nothing about Naruto the show -- oh, I know the characters now (at least by name) and I've a basic understanding about the general plot and rivalries to the point where when they happen in game I have the context, but I have neither the interest nor the motivation to get any more involved than that.
And that's exactly why the Ultimate Ninja games are good. You don't have to like or even know about the source material to dig the fighting games. I'm sure my level of enjoyment of the games pales in comparison to the Naruto superfreak out there that just finished this 87th YouTube video of clips set to Linkin Park or something, but the fact that a non-fan can get wrapped up in scouring the Hidden Leaf Village for goodies in between bouts of beating the snot out of a cast of anime-licious characters means clearly the game does something right.
Maybe it's just that the battle system in the game is delightfully simple. Yes, you'll still have to do some basic memorization of move lists, but all the basic attacks center around the Circle Button. Triangle kicks off your Ultimate Techniques, at which point you only have to hit the other guy while glowing to start a button pressing mini-game (this time around, it's not if you complete the list, but who can hit more buttons in the sequence in a set amount of time; a far better mechanic) which kicks off a cinematic super-attack. Square lets you chuck either shuriken or whatever items you happen to pick up and X jumps.
There are more advanced techniques, of course, including the ability to teleport behind someone (and they in turn can reverse that move with a well-timed press of the Circle button thanks to a new prompt that makes it more obvious, but you can reverse that and so on until someone messes up), but that's the basics. This time around, though, you can also summon giant creatures that can't block, but can dish out massive amounts of pain (if you haven't killed the other guy by the time the summon is over, he's damn near dead). If you're caught on the other end, laying on the offense can actually keep you on top, so there is some strategy to it.
Apparently, though, series developer CyberConnect2 felt they'd tackled the fighting parts enough that they decided to build up everything else around the game. They've busted out the whole Hidden Leaf Village as a free-roaming (but ultimately rather empty) area replete with stuff to punch for money (ryo), characters to talk to, and a very light amount of traveling around to places like a casino and training areas. It's a bit of a shame that Ubisoft's take on the Naruto world did the same thing, and with far more fidelity on the 360 (they have the 360 exclusive license, Namco owns the PlayStation version), because there are times when it seems like a little extra legwork just to get to the next major plot point during the Ultimate Contest Mode that makes up the story portion of the game.
That story revolves around a massive festival where Leaf and Sand combatants square off in a battle royale that will eventually let the winner get anything they wish for made into Village law. As you can only play through as Naruto in this mode (though the Hero's History Mode will let you at least experience the other characters' side stores), you'll only get to see what his wish is, but it does a fine job of giving a reason to all the butt whoopin' going on beyond the usual, "hey, you're a bad guy, I'm angry orange jumpsuit dude, rarrgh impulsive move, believe it!" nonsense. That reason? Gems. Specifically, the person who beats the other contestants to get their gems and ends up with the most at the end of the round moves on and eventually gets to make the rule.
Ultimate Contest was meant to give the game a little more meat, which I can appreciate. Stuff like being able to check out the ramen shop or gamble or buy items with scrolls earned in mini-games (which you can also play in the Break Room from the main menu with friends, and I highly recommend it) was good stuff, but it also started to feel a little tacked-on after a few hours. That there are supposedly some RPG elements that play out based on experience earned from fights was nice, but it never really gave me the classic RPG sense of really becoming a bad-ass by the end of the game.
It also seems like CyberConnect2 has just about reached the peak of what they can do with their PS2 engine. I didn't really see any noticeable improvement over the last game (though the free-roaming stuff was nice in theory), which is to say the game still runs very, very well, is textured and modeled to at least approximate the cartoon (there's a cool brush stroke filter applied to everything, so solid colors look like they're painted on top of paper), but shy of the inventive (and insane) cutscenes/ultimate attacks, there's not a whole lot that will wow you if you played the other games.
As someone who can usually stomach -- but doesn't necessarily enjoy -- some anime dubs, it was nice to see the Japanese voices as an option too. I'm no snob, and don't necessarily prefer one over the other in most cases, but sometimes hearing an unfamiliar voice speaking a different language is better than a grating kid's voice. The rest of the sound effects are typically solid, if a little muted and flat, and the music, like the effects, is keen on preserving the feeling that this is taking place in ages-old Japan, so plenty of taiko drums and koto plucks meander throughout. It's definitely good stuff, though, and with perhaps the exception of the constant, "YoooOOOOO!" confirmation sound, really adds to the feel of the presentation.
CyberConnect2 clearly knows what they're doing. They built a fighting game that, while by no means a contender to the Street Fighters or Soulcaliburs, is still a decent distraction, and now they've started the process of building up more of a game around that. There's definitely room for improvement, of course, but what's here makes Ultimate Ninja 3 the best of the bunch, and arguably the most interesting of the Naruto games on the PS2. Even if you aren't a fan, you should at least give it a rental, and if you dug the previous games, this one should be a no-brainer.
And that's exactly why the Ultimate Ninja games are good. You don't have to like or even know about the source material to dig the fighting games. I'm sure my level of enjoyment of the games pales in comparison to the Naruto superfreak out there that just finished this 87th YouTube video of clips set to Linkin Park or something, but the fact that a non-fan can get wrapped up in scouring the Hidden Leaf Village for goodies in between bouts of beating the snot out of a cast of anime-licious characters means clearly the game does something right.
Maybe it's just that the battle system in the game is delightfully simple. Yes, you'll still have to do some basic memorization of move lists, but all the basic attacks center around the Circle Button. Triangle kicks off your Ultimate Techniques, at which point you only have to hit the other guy while glowing to start a button pressing mini-game (this time around, it's not if you complete the list, but who can hit more buttons in the sequence in a set amount of time; a far better mechanic) which kicks off a cinematic super-attack. Square lets you chuck either shuriken or whatever items you happen to pick up and X jumps.
There are more advanced techniques, of course, including the ability to teleport behind someone (and they in turn can reverse that move with a well-timed press of the Circle button thanks to a new prompt that makes it more obvious, but you can reverse that and so on until someone messes up), but that's the basics. This time around, though, you can also summon giant creatures that can't block, but can dish out massive amounts of pain (if you haven't killed the other guy by the time the summon is over, he's damn near dead). If you're caught on the other end, laying on the offense can actually keep you on top, so there is some strategy to it.
Apparently, though, series developer CyberConnect2 felt they'd tackled the fighting parts enough that they decided to build up everything else around the game. They've busted out the whole Hidden Leaf Village as a free-roaming (but ultimately rather empty) area replete with stuff to punch for money (ryo), characters to talk to, and a very light amount of traveling around to places like a casino and training areas. It's a bit of a shame that Ubisoft's take on the Naruto world did the same thing, and with far more fidelity on the 360 (they have the 360 exclusive license, Namco owns the PlayStation version), because there are times when it seems like a little extra legwork just to get to the next major plot point during the Ultimate Contest Mode that makes up the story portion of the game.
That story revolves around a massive festival where Leaf and Sand combatants square off in a battle royale that will eventually let the winner get anything they wish for made into Village law. As you can only play through as Naruto in this mode (though the Hero's History Mode will let you at least experience the other characters' side stores), you'll only get to see what his wish is, but it does a fine job of giving a reason to all the butt whoopin' going on beyond the usual, "hey, you're a bad guy, I'm angry orange jumpsuit dude, rarrgh impulsive move, believe it!" nonsense. That reason? Gems. Specifically, the person who beats the other contestants to get their gems and ends up with the most at the end of the round moves on and eventually gets to make the rule.
Ultimate Contest was meant to give the game a little more meat, which I can appreciate. Stuff like being able to check out the ramen shop or gamble or buy items with scrolls earned in mini-games (which you can also play in the Break Room from the main menu with friends, and I highly recommend it) was good stuff, but it also started to feel a little tacked-on after a few hours. That there are supposedly some RPG elements that play out based on experience earned from fights was nice, but it never really gave me the classic RPG sense of really becoming a bad-ass by the end of the game.
It also seems like CyberConnect2 has just about reached the peak of what they can do with their PS2 engine. I didn't really see any noticeable improvement over the last game (though the free-roaming stuff was nice in theory), which is to say the game still runs very, very well, is textured and modeled to at least approximate the cartoon (there's a cool brush stroke filter applied to everything, so solid colors look like they're painted on top of paper), but shy of the inventive (and insane) cutscenes/ultimate attacks, there's not a whole lot that will wow you if you played the other games.
As someone who can usually stomach -- but doesn't necessarily enjoy -- some anime dubs, it was nice to see the Japanese voices as an option too. I'm no snob, and don't necessarily prefer one over the other in most cases, but sometimes hearing an unfamiliar voice speaking a different language is better than a grating kid's voice. The rest of the sound effects are typically solid, if a little muted and flat, and the music, like the effects, is keen on preserving the feeling that this is taking place in ages-old Japan, so plenty of taiko drums and koto plucks meander throughout. It's definitely good stuff, though, and with perhaps the exception of the constant, "YoooOOOOO!" confirmation sound, really adds to the feel of the presentation.
CyberConnect2 clearly knows what they're doing. They built a fighting game that, while by no means a contender to the Street Fighters or Soulcaliburs, is still a decent distraction, and now they've started the process of building up more of a game around that. There's definitely room for improvement, of course, but what's here makes Ultimate Ninja 3 the best of the bunch, and arguably the most interesting of the Naruto games on the PS2. Even if you aren't a fan, you should at least give it a rental, and if you dug the previous games, this one should be a no-brainer.
