Before Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm forever changed anime arena fighters, we had the Naruto Ultimate Ninja series. This was a PS2-exclusive series of games that played similarly to Super Smash Bros. but with elements from the anime. Over time, the series gained a stronger identity and even laid the foundation for Ultimate Ninja Storm.
That’s why we think the Naruto Ultimate Ninja games are due for a re-release. While they aren’t the most technical fighting games out there, these anime titles are still pretty unique and have a place in the hearts of fans everywhere. It would also fill the whole of Bandai Namco’s lack of love for the original series.
Even though these games go into the Shippuden era, we think limiting a future re-release to the first three titles would be a fitting re-introduction. These three games technically cover the original series, although they are quite abridged. Still, they cover important moments, and fans will appreciate the amount of content being covered.
Fans can also see how this series evolved and eventually laid the foundation for Ultimate Ninja Storm. Ultimate Ninja introduced the one-button combo mechanic that remains controversial to this day. The fact that it’s still in Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is genuinely surprising, especially for those who hate this combat system.
Naruto Ultimate Ninja lets you do various combos by just pressing the circle button and some directions. If you end the combo by mashing circle and pressing down, you’ll usually drive your opponent to the ground. Players who mash circle and press up will likely uppercut their opponent to the air, leading to a follow-up aerial attack.
Another controversial feature added in Ultimate Ninja and carried over to Ultimate Ninja Storm is the Substitution Jutsu system. If players press guard as they’re about to be attacked, they can dodge this and counter with something else. These original games gave fans unlimited Substitution Jutsu, which led to a lot of smoke and wood chonks on the battlefield.
We eventually got a Substitution Jutsu meter that limited players to five substitutions before they refilled. Unfortunately, this feature was introduced in the PS3 and Xbox 360 game Ninja Storm Generations, so the PS2 games never received it.
One aspect that was ahead of its time was the spectacular finishing moves. This was done by simply pressing triangle and then circle. After the move was hit, players had to complete a button sequence while an animation played for your chosen character’s Ultimate Jutsu. Although the button-pressing wasn’t kept past the first 3D Ultimate Ninja Storm, the great animations would inspire the spectacular moves seen in the current-gen Naruto games.
The second and third games in Naruto Ultimate Ninja did something special by letting fans explore Konoha. In the second game, it’s part of the main story mode, and players explore this town through mostly 2D corridors. Things picked up in the third game, where players had full 3D movement in this mode, though the fights were still 2D.
Bandai Namco once led fans to believe a remastered collection of Naruto Ultimate Ninja was coming when they conducted an interview series about this specific game franchise. That never happened, but fans are still hoping for a nice re-release of this series. Having the first three games in a neat collection would make plenty of people happy, that’s for sure.