Naruto: Ultimate Ninja (series)

The Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series, known in Japan as the series, is a series of 3-D fighting games developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Namco Bandai. Although most of the series is available exclusively for Sony's video game systems, recent instalments of the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm franchise have also appeared on Microsoft platforms (Xbox 360, and PC/Steam).

Gameplay
In the Ultimate Ninja series line, the player controls one of the many characters seen within the Naruto anime and manga. The simple goal is to fight the opposing character and to win by reducing their health to zero. Battles as aforementioned are rendered in 3D polygons, and all characters have a variety of uniquely-named attacks in their moveset in the form of attack strings with various directional inputs and so forth, each with their various functions (such as a counter or a guard break attack).

The catch to this goal is the vast amount of weapons that appear to the characters as the battle progresses (along with items which could potentially heal the player or the opponent). Along with the various weapons available to the characters, they also have their various special abilities taken straight from the series (Naruto Uzumaki's Rasengan or Sasuke Uchiha's Chidori, for example). To use these attacks, however, the player must have the required chakra as indicated by the "chakra bars" located under the players health. Using the technique drains the chakra bar (which can be regained through various methods, including special, character specific methods for some characters). These special techniques are not performed in real-time, however; once successfully executed, a cinematic takes place, where the player either has to fill a bar to a specific level or hit buttons illustrated in the corner of the screen faster than their opponent to assure the attack is at its full strength.

All characters can use the Body Replacement Technique, although some characters use different versions (two variants of Body Replacement exist; one which evades normal attacks, and another which begins a tug-of-war like minigame after juggling an opponent). Also, some characters have specific transformations available to them (such as Sasuke's Cursed Seal of Heaven with the right amount of chakra or, in the later games, by successfully executing their special technique). The first 2 games of the Ultimate Ninja series let players execute 3 different secret technique attacks using three different chakra levels (red, purple, and blue, in order of weakest to strongest), 2 different signature techniques, and a wide variety of kicks, punches, and throws. However, in Ultimate Ninja 3, players are only allowed to use one secret technique attack, besides the other attacks and techniques. To compensate for this, players will be allowed to select the secret technique of their choice before each battle, but not all secret techniques will be made available at the start of the game. Different secret techniques must be obtained through story mode and completing missions.