Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 is the third installment of the fighting game series Naruto: Ultimate Ninja released for the Playstation 2. The game was released in America on the 25th of March and Australia on the 18th of September. The game has roughly 42 Characters, giving it one of the biggest character rosters of any Naruto games. It features a new story mode, more maneuverability for characters, and a much larger variety of music.

Ultimate Ninja 3 also offers a different sort of story mode from Ultimate Ninja 2. This is called the Hero's History. It replays every major fight from the beginning of the series (Naruto vs. Kakashi-the training), to the end of Part 1 (Naruto vs. Sasuke-the final battle). Although it skips a lot of dialogue and transition scenes (scenes such as the Chūnin exam preliminaries and most of the cutscenes that one grew accustomed to in UN 2) are completely gone. It's a good way to get 'quick action' in the game for those who get bored easily of the endless tirade of cutscenes in UN 2, and it is a good way to get a lot of unlockable characters.

Another interesting feature is called the Ultimate Path (Ultimate Contest in English version). This is an RPG style part of the game, which allows you to go on missions and unlock several characters, as well as learn different jutsu. Before you can do this, however, you have to enter into a tournament in which you need to defeat many characters in order to get their crystals. After this is done, you can roam freely and level up different characters which you have unlocked.

Playable Characters

 * Naruto Uzumaki (Green Beast form)
 * Sasuke Uchiha
 * Sakura Haruno
 * Kakashi Hatake (ANBU form)
 * First Hokage
 * Second Hokage
 * Third Hokage
 * Yellow Flash/Fourth Hokage
 * Tsunade
 * Orochimaru
 * Jiraiya
 * Itachi Uchiha
 * Haku
 * Zabuza Momochi
 * Kisame Hoshigaki
 * Konohamaru
 * Shizune
 * Kabuto Yakushi
 * Anko Mitarashi
 * Shino Aburame
 * Hinata Hyūga
 * Kiba Inuzuka
 * Kurenai Yuhi
 * Shikamaru Nara
 * Ino Yamanaka
 * Chōji Akimichi
 * Asuma Sarutobi
 * Rock Lee
 * Tenten
 * Neji Hyūga
 * Might Guy
 * Kankurō
 * Gaara
 * Temari
 * Kidōmaru
 * Sakon
 * Tayuya
 * Jirōbō
 * Kimimaro
 * Hanabi Hyūga

Unlockable forms
There are also bonus characters that you can obtain once you have unlocked all 42 characters. These appear by having the character's image selected in VS. Mode and pressing select. On a battle, they will also turn into this kind of stage if you used the specific jutsu for each of the below characters.


 * Stage 2 Tayuya (Demon Flute: Trio Requiem)
 * Stage 2 Sakon/Ukon (Left Dust Strike, Right Severing Kick)
 * Stage 2 Jirōbō (Arhat Fist)
 * Stage 2 Kidōmaru (Spider Bow: Fierce Rip)
 * Butterfly/super Chōji (Butterfly Bomb)
 * Drunken Lee (Loopy Lee in the US dub) (Loopy Fist)
 * Half-transformed Gaara (Wind Style: Infinite Sandstorm Devastation) and (Sand Shuriken)
 * One-Tail Naruto (Nine-Tailed Rasengan)
 * Stage 2 Sasuke (Ominous Chidori)
 * Stage 2 Kimimaro (Clematis Dance, Flower)

Trivia

 * There was an OVA special of this game's crystal competition mode used to help promote the game.
 * In a figth with you as Anko and Orochimaru as your opponent, Anko will go into Stage 1 of Cursed Seal of Heaven if the Ultimate Jutsu Twin Snake Sacrifice Jutsu is sucsessful.