This popular fighting game is back with more bone-cracking ninja action, one-on-one, or as a tag team. The title character Naruto Uzumaki, his allies and enemies (incl. Rock Lee, Tenten, Kakashi Hataki, Shino Aburame and the Hyunga siblings & 2-dozen more) battle it out across various areas with that manic Manga / Anime-style, the expected unique fighting techniques and powers assigned to each.

The standard single fight and vs. modes also get the regular story trail to follow in between battle set-ups, as the Anbu encounter rogue ninja attacking villages (even former friends turned enemies due to a spell cast on them). Your basic left-right horizontal screen fighting set-up (like Mortal Kombat and Tekken) remains the most practical, but a perspective and location shift does prevent it from being too static.

4 / B
- Paul Blom

A:Long Term Shelf Life
B:Deserves Another Play
C:Once Should Suffice