Not so different in combat but this is the best Ultimate Ninja you can find on the PS2
- The Ultimate Contest Mode is a great mode
- More new characters and attacks
- Takes some time to complete all
- Fans will like it
Negative
- In any way, combat still feels familiar to the previous games
- Story mode is short and misses the most important parts
- Combat is still a little on the repetitive and easy side
- Graphics are yellowy and ugly especially in the Ultimate Contest
This is the 3rd installment of the Naruto Ultimate Ninja series. Most of the little problems the previous games had are found in this game but this is the best and remarkable Naruto game available on the PS2 yet.
The new mode is the Ultimate Contest mode, which starts by a little competition. In this mode you can take missions, maybe help people and jump on buildings. Some of the missions are pretty interesting; others are mostly the same as they were before. Anyway, you can't take missions before you win the Ultimate Contest mode. The Ultimate Contest is a competition which you have to get as many crystals as you can so you advance to the next round. Crystals can be collected by defeating other ninjas and some can be found by smashing stuff. In this competition whoever wins gets to make a restriction, a kind of rule if I understood correctly. After you win you can do whatever you like. It won't take you more than an hour to finish this competition. Missions are still from D-Rank to S-Rank. D-Rank mostly consists of minigames. The higher you go and tougher the mission objectives will be. People can be found in the village and you can talk to everyone. Also when on a mission, you must find and talk to that person so he/she can give you indication of what that person needs.
The story mode is SHORT. There are 4 arcs and not explained well at all. The story mode starts from the beginning and finishes in Sasuke's Retrieval Arc. Ok, you might understand that they are rushed, only the voices could be of that particular scene of the anime, but action or cutscene doesn't even match. Even for me it's a total mess.
Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3 has some differences between the previous 2 games, but combat is still a bore. There is still not much depth; at least there are some new characters. Minigames are fair. You get to make most minigames in missions. The worst thing is that you can only play with Naruto and the person responsible for the minigames. Eventually it gets boring. Voice acting is great. Original voices from the anime. Music is good too. Not the graphics. I don't understand what's the deal with the graphics. In the Ultimate Contest mode. The village seems yellowy at times and the in game map is difficult to see if you're playing it from far away. Also characters in the village can only be seen from a short distance. Production values are great.
I expected something more exciting about the Ultimate Jutsu customization. To customize a jutsu, right before the match the game asks if you want to customize. Say yes and the menu will appear. You can customize the character jutsu and attacks. If you played the Ultimate Contest you might have a lot, but if you are still at the beginning you will only have 1 or maybe 2. Normally Justus are very different from one another.
This Naruto series hasn't been impressive graphically, always style over substance, but it's still a fun and straightforward fighting game that fans will enjoy. It may not be as deep as other fighting games on the PS2, but it's still worth a look.