It's more of a collectible than a game.
Compared with other fighting games that are out on the market today, there is nothing particularly exceptional or spectacular about this game. Tomy obviously knew that there was no real need to make this GameCube title reach it's potentials so that it would sell well. No, the popularity and hype of the Naruto comics and anime alone would have insured Tomy a reasonable profit.
This is not to say that the game isn't fun. The game is fun. The moves of each of the 7 characters that you can initially choose from stayed true to the comics. The animation of the cel-shaded models are decent. The game is very fast paced, partly due to the fact that moves are extremely simple to execute (each character's special move is performed by the mere tap of the "x" button). While the simplicity of the game adds to the fast pace that anyone who is familiar with the original comics would have come to expect out of a game titled Naruto, it makes the game seem a little rough around the edges and way too short.
Graphically speaking, this game isn't very impressive. While the fact that the characters are cel-shaded and thus look EXACTLY like the anime is cool, the overall graphical style of this game isn't very consistent. From the opening introduction video which was simply a short clip taken out of the first episode of the anime, to the poorly animated 2D sprites that appear in the background of the arenas, to the still pictures that the game use for it's story mode, you get a sense that the developers of this game were either underpaid or just didn't really know what they were doing.
The sounds of the game feature narrations by the original voice-actors of the anime series. During fights, the yells, shouts, and grunts that each of the characters make are extremely repetitive, but I guess that is the case of any fighting game.
I'm not disappointed with the game at all, I'm just not as pleased with it as I as I had hoped to be. If you are familiar with the comics or the anime, you would know that a game titled Naruto has A LOT of potential. Characters could have more special moves; combat system could be a little more sophisticated; there could be a LOT more characters to choose from; the story mode could have been longer; the story sequences could have been done with the readily available cel-shaded models instead of still frames; and the introduction sequence could have definately been a lot cooler. So here are my final suggestions. To those who do not know of Naruto, you most likely won't be at all interested in this title. It makes for a nice rental if you are in need of a party game. To those of you who are interested in knowing more about Naruto, this game isn't the best place to start. And finally, to those of you who are fans of Naruto, chances are that you have either already ordered this game or are thinking about it. This gamecube game certainly looks really nice in any Naruto collection... just don't expect to be blown away.