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[PkunkFury]

I recently got into the Naruto series,(I'm on episode 60 or so) and I can't help wanting to play a fighting game with these charatcers because the one on one tournament matchups have been so entertaining. I recall hearing that the fighters for Naruto released on the Gamecube in Japan were actually really good, so I'm considering importing. Anyway, I'm wondering if they are indeed worthwhile imports? I hear they are multi-player too, so do they work well with friends? We play Smash Brothers regularly

Also, I guess they are on the 3rd game in Japan, so I may as well skip right to purchasing the third. Is there any reason to purchase one of the earlier ones instead?

 

[Lyte Edge]

Just get Naruto 3 and don't bother with 1 or 2; each game in the series has felt more like an upgrade and contains just about all the content of the previous titles, plus more characters and play modes.

The 4P simultaneous mode is pretty fun, but it's no Smash Bros. You're not fighting on the same plane as each other, and you have to select which player you want to fight against with a targetting button. It works pretty well, but doesn't have the lasting power of Smash Bros. IMO.

 

[dazzgc]

Yeah absolutely naruto 3 is imo the third best gc fighter available after soul calibur 2 and ssbm. Its alot of fun and really captures the feel of the series very well, there are the usual moves from the series and some nice finish moves. Altho keep in mine the story mode is used to unlock characters and japanese text/speech may hold you back altho there is a guide on gamefaqs.com

 

[Calidor]

Naruto 3 is a nice game, i own 2 & 3 and both are excellent, and pretty long

 

[miyuru]

I only have 2 on GCN. I play a lot of fighters (2D mind you), so from the get-go I didn't really like the game much.

It's very simple and limited in scope. Dial-a-combo and all that. I liked how you could turn into a treetrunk or whatever to avoid combos, but past that there's nothing too special about the game.

If you like the anime/manga it might be worth getting (Naruto 3 I mean) just for all the characters, etc.. As a game Naruto 2 is nothing special. I'd give it a 6/10.

 

[Oichi]

Get Narultimate Hero 2 for the PS2 if you got the system. IMO it's better than Naruto 3, simply because Naruto 3 has stagnated on the system, plus the actual game system isn't that entertaining after a while. To me, NH2 is the definitive game to represent the series.

 

[MrAngryFace]

Miy: sure you werent playing Tekken 5? SLAM! Game over Namco, I win.

 

[Khalid-S]

Naruto 3 for the NGC is a fun and along game but if u r in 60th episode the game well have some spoilres for u so i think u should wait until u reach the 100th episode

 

[Hero]

I have Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 2 and 3 (the GCN ones) and love them both, though go straight for number 3 since it has everything from 2 plus more characters, balance, tweaking, etc.

The biggest difference is that the GCN Naruto games (at least 2 and 3) are 4 players, while the PS2 version is only 2. I just got done playing about 2 hours worth of Naruto with three other friends. We usually do 2 on 2 battles since there's actually a lot of strategy involved in team mode.

I've heard the PS2 Narultimate games are fun, but apparently there's a lot of stuff that's not involved in the manga/anime

Spoiler

(such as Gai opening the gates months ago in this game where he just opened them recently in the manga)

Also, I heard that you can kawarimi almost infinitely, so it gets annoying.

It's a lot easier to play the GCN Naruto games, just get a Freeloader, or mod the system yourself. PS2 takes a bit more work.

 

[Oichi]

I've heard the PS2 Narultimate games are fun, but apparently there's a lot of stuff that's not involved in the manga/anime

Spoiler

(such as Gai opening the gates months ago in this game where he just opened them recently in the manga)

Also, I heard that you can kawarimi almost infinitely, so it gets annoying.

It's a lot easier to play the GCN Naruto games, just get a Freeloader, or mod the system yourself. PS2 takes a bit more work.

IMO that's why Narultimate Hero is better, I don't mind all the extra stuff that's not manga/anime-related. To me, it, doesn't hurt to put it in. Plus, who wouldn't want to see

Spoiler

Hyuuga Successor Hinata or Naruto in Rock Lee's super green outfit?!

. Also, there's a lot of extras to unlock in the game, compared to the pitiful amount in Naruto GC

Edit; I should also mention that kawarimi is indeed infinite, but the timing gets harder and harder depending on the situation (slow motion cutscenes speed up with each kawarimi, doing it in real time is tough). Also, there are some cool little techniques you can do that throws off any kawarimi abuser. Doing jutsu or shuriken cancels can completely screw someone.

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

Go directly to 3!

 

[Skin]

Just make sure you watch the series up until episode 100 before playing part 3. Or else you will get to play through some major spoilers. You can't really go wrong with the game though. It's excellent if you approach it like a party game and don't expect too much depth.

 

[Hero]

I don't know, I still don't really like the look of Narultimate Hero, but if indeed is getting a US release I'll pick it up anyway.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen games are made by Eighting, who also does the Bloody Roar series. I'd say there's more depth in N:GNT games than Bloody Roar or DoA, but don't expect Street Fighter or Soul Calibur.

With that said, in fact, unless you have a couple of friends who are also into Naruto, you can only fight the computer so much before you discover tricks into beating the AI. But seriously, it's a lot of fun, just a few notches below SSBM in terms of frantic free for alls and team battles.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

They're not deep or anything, but they're really really fun as fuck.

this is the truth. Nice to look at with neat effects as well.

 

[PkunkFury]

Just make sure you watch the series up until episode 100 before playing part 3. Or else you will get to play through some major spoilers. You can't really go wrong with the game though. It's excellent if you approach it like a party game and don't expect too much depth.

Thanks to the people who warned me about this, it was gonna be my next question I'll hold out until I'm a little farther into the series.

Also, I do have a PS2, but it is not modded, so I'm inclined to get the cube version.

 

[PkunkFury]

Narultimate Hero is getting a US release? will the cube ones be released here as well? Does anyone know when this will happen?

 

[bitwise]

Get Narultimate Hero 2 for the PS2 if you got the system. IMO it's better than Naruto 3, simply because Naruto 3 has stagnated on the system, plus the actual game system isn't that entertaining after a while. To me, NH2 is the definitive game to represent the series.

i agree, its the best Naruto game.

 

[SentientStone]

If you like Naruto, you'll probably enjoy it. I didn't really like it though; I prefer SSBM for simple fun with friends. The Naruto GameCube games are pretty good though for an anime-based fighter, but there's less strategy involved than SSBM in my opinion (or maybe I didn't get deep enough into the Naruto games).

 

[jarrod]

Narultimate Hero is getting a US release? will the cube ones be released here as well? Does anyone know when this will happen?

Bandai doesn't have rights to Naruto on Nintendo platforms. Unless they make a deal with TOMY, we won't be seeing Naruto on GC, GBA or DS here. TOMY and Nintendo are pretty close though... if the show does well I could see NOA maybe doing the games. Or Atari, they've already licensed Zoids from TOMY.

 

[Lyte Edge]

Get Narultimate Hero 2 for the PS2 if you got the system. IMO it's better than Naruto 3, simply because Naruto 3 has stagnated on the system, plus the actual game system isn't that entertaining after a while. To me, NH2 is the definitive game to represent the series.

I don't know what it is about Naurtimett Hero 1 and 2; I just couldn't get into them. The super moves are AWESOME looking and it's fun to just watch those over and over again, but the game play feels like a stripped-down Smash Bros. That wouldn't be so bad if the game let you have up to four people on screen, but just two players on those large stages doesn't feel right.

 

[Hero]

I think it's pretty certain we'll see the Naruto games (NDS, GBA, PS2, and GCN), it's going to be the next big anime (unless they market/advertise horribly).

All they'd have to do is translate the menus and substitute the English voice actors, and that's pretty easy money. I can't imagine them just skipping them over. It'd suck if they did.

Another consideration is that there will be Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 4 for GCN this fall, as for the past few years it's been a yearly release. Generally the previous versions drop rapidly in price, since every new iteration is only an improvement. I believe NGNT3 is going to cost about 70 bucks shipped, add another 10-15 for a Freeloader. So if you're short on cash, I'd wait until TGS or something to see if a 4th version is announced. I would bet on yes, considering that Naruto has sold a million between the three GCN versions.