Since I don't have any of the new game consoles and since my PC is outdated, I can't play very many new games that come out. However, there is a PS2 game coming out next month that I'm buying first chance I get.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3.
I played Ultimate Ninja 2 last year, and absolutely loved it, and I don't normally like fighting games. UN2 was the first fighting game I ever purchased, but I discovered something else important. It's something Japan, Shonen Jump, Viz Media, Tokyo tv, and especially Masashi Kishimoto don't want you to know.
Naruto is actually supposed to be a fighting game series, not a manga/anime series.
Think about it; Naruto the manga and Naruto the anime are decent, but not mind-blowing. But also, all they ever do is fight, fight fight. And also experience a shitload of flashback sequences. But the fights especially, they're more entertaining than the fights in other so-called shonen series, and yet they do crazy stuff also. The characters' chakra lets them do things that we would consider magic. And if they're not fighting, then they're training for the next time they have to fight.
And each character has a 'special move' that no one else can use; Naruto has the Shadow Clones, Sasuke has the Sharingan, Kakashi can mimic and learn his opponents' moves, Gaara has sand manipulation, Shikamaru has shadow possession, Tsunade has healing powers and incredible strength, Lee and Guy are agile and strong in hand-to-hand combat, Orochimaru has snake-like powers, the list goes on.
Tell me I wasn't just describing a series like Street Fighter or Guilty Gear a second ago.
This is why I can't wait for the next installment. I'm anticipating Ultimate Ninja 3 like Kakashi anticipates a new Make Out Paradise novel. More characters, more stuff to do, more customization, and there's now going to be an option to choose between English voices and Japanese voices. Having seen Naruto in English and in Japanese with English fansubs, I can tell you right now that I look forward to playing a Naruto game with the original voice cast.
Believe it.
P.S. to all you Naruto haters out there: if Ninja Gaiden didn't have realistic ninja in it, if Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles didn't have realistic ninja in it, if Mortal Kombat didn't have realistic ninja in it, then why the FUCK are you bitching about that now with Naruto!? If you have to have 'realisitc' ninja in your fiction, watch Shogun or The Last Samurai again. (I recommend both.) Otherwise, find a more valid criticism for Naruto other than this, "They aren't real shinobi!" bullshit.
LATE EDIT: . . . yeah, this was obviously before I bought Guilty Gear AC+ and Blaz Blue.
But this part is still true; Ultimate Ninja 2 is still the first fighting game I ever loved. Took me that long . . . . well, at least I kept an open mind about tourney fighters.
