Naruto: Ultimate Ninja

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/Narutoultnin.jpg Naruto: Ultimate Ninja (known in Japan as is the first installment of the Ultimate Ninja series. It is now a Greatest Hits title, meaning its retail price has dropped to $19.99.

The game was released on October 23, 2003 in Japan, June 26, 2006 in North America, November 17, 2006 in Australia, and November 30, 2006 in Europe.

The game features a unique battle system with special attacks and various jutsu that can be used. It also features several items, like kunai and shuriken. There are many multi-layered stages from around the Naruto universe, including the Hidden Sand Village, the Chunin exam arena, and the Forest of Death. In the original Japanese version, there were only 12 characters; however, NamcoBandai has added the ability to select both Cursed Seal Sasuke and Nine-tailed Naruto as bonus characters. Although both of these characters were already in the Japanese version as transformations, NamcoBandai has separated them into separate characters. Due to this, both Naruto and Sasuke have lost their ability to transform into their advanced modes during battle. This is much like the Naruto: Narutimate Hero 3 transformation system. The game also features an arcade style story mode. The Story Mode consists of up to six battles divided by some dialogue in a manga style display, one of many homages to its source material.

Critical reception has been mixed, ranging from mediocre to somewhat high ratings. G4's X-Play gave Ultimate Ninja a three out of five for a creative comicbook feel and stylish cel-shaded graphics, but complained that the controls are too simple and the English voices are "slightly questionable." Both IGN and GameSpot say that the game is easy, yet fun, to play, and praise the anime/manga-inspired graphics.