This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

The Naruto anime features a cast of characters beating the snot out of each other in tournament-style competitions. Sounds like another particular uber-popular anime, doesn’t it? Many fans have come to see Naruto as sort of a Dragonball 2.0, but aiming to be like DBZ isn’t such a bad idea considering how well the Budokai series has done on consoles as of late. And now we have another Naruto offering (Clash of the Ninja for the GameCube was released earlier this year) that sort of emulates the frantic battles of those said DBZ games, but with a flair and style of its own. Not many games based on anime or television shows do well, but Naruto: Ultimate Ninja may just surprise some.

The art style won’t really surprise anyone considering that many other anime-based games have used cel-shading. Even though the novelty of cel-shading has run its course, here it was a good decision because it does an excellent job of copying the show’s look. What makes it more impressive is that the stages aren’t static two-dimensional backdrops. You can switch back and forth freely between the foreground and background, like the older Japanese DBZ games, so even though Ultimate Ninja sports a 2D look, it’s technically 3D played on planes.

The fighting system employed in Ultimate Ninja doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s different enough from other titles of the like to make it distinct. It seems simple at first, but then the realization that there’s so much more than beating down on the opponent will start to become apparent after you’ve settled into a few bouts. Attacks and combos are initiated with circle, jumps and double jumps with X, special attacks with triangle, and item usage with square.

Attacks and combos are done using different combination of circle and a direction. They’ve even included a Soul Calibur-like move list to help in case a particular move has escaped your mind. Then there are the stronger special attacks unique to each character. The use of special attacks is dependent on the chakra level. The chakra meter can be built up a number of ways - up to a max of three. Higher leveled meters open up more specials that can rip off more damage. If the initial hit of the special connects, then you can upgrade the attack up to three times, depending on the character and type of special. Upgrading involves hitting a specific button combination within a very small window of time, getting progressively harder after each upgrade. A successful upgrade means almost a guaranteed critical. If someone is on the receiving end of one of these attacks, they too will be given a button combination prompt. If they’re successful, then they’ll reduce the damage done, but failure means absorbing the brunt of a full blow and sometimes more. These special attacks are a blast to watch since they cut away from the standard fighting screen to show the move done in its entirety, which is a double-edged sword. I’ll get to that later.

During a bout, there’s a variety of items strewn about the stages that can be picked up. Most of these are dropped by each fighter’s support character. Support characters vary for some fighters, but in the end they serve the same purpose – to drop helpful items and to smack around the opponent when they’re near. The extra couple of hits they add are always a welcomed bonus, especially when trying to chain together a small combo into a special.

As for the items themselves, each character always has an infinite number of light hitting throwing stars at their disposal, but there are plenty of others to cycle through like huge multiple hitting stars, health restores, chakra restores, even invisibility potions. There are plenty more items like offensive and defensive buffs. The sheer number is quite staggering and knowing when to use an item, whether in a pinch or to add some extra oomph for a finishing blow, can turn the tide of the battle. This adds some strategy in what can sometimes turn out to be some very frenzied matches.

Mode-wise, Naruto doesn’t offer anything that you haven’t seen. There’s scenario, mission, practice, and free battle, along with a shop to buy extras using the money earned from the other modes. Scenario lets you play through a character’s story over the course of a handful of matches. And with 12 characters to choose from (most need to be unlocked), you’ll have plenty of reasons to come back and play through scenario multiple times, if not only to view each person’s story, but to gain more money to spend. Practice doesn’t need any explanation, and free battle allows you to choose any two characters to face off with, which can then serve as a two player versus mode. Finally, there’s the shop where you can insert your hard-earned money into a capsule machine and hopefully get something in return like artwork, figures, info cards, and audio samples.

Speaking of audio samples, the entire cast from the television show reprises their respective roles for Ultimate Ninja giving it some authenticity. There isn’t anything better than feeling like you’re playing/watching an interactive episode or arc.

The largest blemish here is how deceptively shallow the fighting system can be. Yes there are tons of different ways to dish out damage, but there will be many times when fights will start turning into special attack fests. And I mentioned that it cuts away from the action to show the moves. Well imagine that occurring at least four or five times a fight, then stack the upgrades on top of that and you’ll find that it breaks the flow of the fight. I know the reason to use specials is to take off as much energy as possible resulting in a quicker knockout, but sometimes the animations will drag the fights out longer instead.

Adding to the shallowness is the fact that one you master one character, you’ve mastered them all. While they all have unique moves, the way they are pulled off are almost exactly the same, meaning that for the most part, each character plays the exact same way. This spells monotony for anyone who blasts through the scenario mode with all the characters. The upside is that each character is accessible to everyone who has general knowledge of the fighting system, meaning you won’t be seeing the same versus fights over and over again like in other unbalanced fighting games.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja has everything a Naruto fan would want in a videogame – graphics that do a beautiful job mimicking the animated show while maintaining a small sense of 3D, a healthy roster that includes many fan favorites, and a frantic fighting system that emulates the wackiness and pacing of the cartoon fights. Naruto fans should pick this up immediately if they don’t already have it. However, Ultimate Ninja transcends the Naruto fandom; those who had fun playing Smash Bros. or even the little known Power Stone could easily find themselves having a blast here. It’s a fun brawler – what more could you ask for?

Shallow in some facets, but the system offers enough to keep it interesting at a fast pace.

Does a wonderful job of capturing the shows style and feel.

Has your generic punch and kick sounds, but the official show’s cast gives it an authentic air.

Blazing fast and frenetic gameplay is fun in single-player. It ramps up immensely in versus.

Everyone playing the same is disappointing, but over 10 sort of lengthy scenarios ease the pain