NCS
Game Notes
» After Naruto shouts out, the intro begins with
Sasuke and Naruto engaged in battle against each
other with cel-shaded graphics before other bouts
between assorted fighters are shown. The animation
cuts back to Naruto and Sasuke engaged in a fierce
battle. At one point, a black & white photo of the
three original genin (Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto) and
their teacher Kakashi is shown. The intro ends with
a chakra fuming battle between Naruto and Sasuke
with each fighter shouting the other's name.»
Naruto jumps by pressing "X" and double jumps when
"X" is pushed again while aloft. To switch between
foreground and background, press in the direction
you wish to go + X. Throw shuriken by pressing the
SQUARE button. If an opponent is in the foreground
and he's in the background, Naruto will throw stars
diagonally to reach the opponent. To switch between
throwing stars and using other items such as bombs,
hit the L1 trigger and choose the bomb icon. When
engaged in close combat, "O" throws out punches and
a leaping doppelganger. To fight cheap, keep hitting
an opponent with the doppelganger for 24 hit chains.
To block blows, hit either R2 or L2 to guard against
attacks.
» When Kiba Inuzuka fights, his little dog
Akamaru always stays on top of his shoulder. Tayuya
is a weak fighter but her flute makes up for her
lack of skills. She can blow out beast attacks
(down, down, O) as well as harmonic blasts which
range the entire length of the battlefield.
» In the "Now Loading" screen in Story Mode, a
single leaf floats and wavers in a pool of water as
ripples radiate outwards. In the "Now Loading"
screen in Versus Mode, Tayuya plays her flute. The
animations for the other modes' loading screens also
differ.
» When time runs out during a match, a big alarm
clock appears in the middle of the screen and rings.
» During a match, special moves are shown in a
superimposed window along with how to perform them.
When a fighter ignites a powerful special combo
attack, it is shown in an animated cut sequence
where the attack button "O" is pushed to move it
along.
» There's a gallery mode where a vast amount of
character portraits, artwork, and BGM may be checked
out. Unfortunately, everything is locked when the
game starts.
Story Mode
» In the Story Mode, an intro recounts how the Nine
tails fox demon threatened the village but was
sealed within baby Naruto. An animation starts with
Naruto taunting someone by slapping his left cheek
before disappearing and joining Sakura, Sasuke, and
Kakashi on the training grounds. The first match is
between Naruto and Kakashi in the familiar 2D +
foreground/background field of fighting. The bout
starts in the background section of the level where
Kakshi reads a book while fighting. He'll also hum
from time to time to show his disinterest and lack
of conviction in Naruto's skills. The camera zooms
in and out of the action as the fighting close in on
each other and away for seamless coverage of the
action as the fighters range the battlefield. After
Naruto defeats Kakashi, he is left panting for air
in the area where the Genin train.
» The next scene shows Sasuke staggering before
collapsing into the ground and Naruto calls forth
his chakra before battling a masked fighter named
Haku who is Zabuza's apprentice. Haku is trained in
water style ninjutsu and the battle takes place on a
bridge above a waterway with the sky painted red by
the sunset and the water sparkling in the
background.
Adventure Mode
» There's an adventure game mode in Narutimett Hero
3 where Naruto explores a town and talks to various
people such as Neji and Kiba. Control is fully
action based and Naruto may walk on walls just by
running into them and he'll scale them without any
difficulty. To earn some money, run to the NE corner
of the map and destroy the crate there for 100
credits. There's another crate on the SE corner of
the map that gives up 200 credits. Naruto may use
the money to buy a ramen lunch for 100. Although you
don't see him eating the ramen, you do hear him
slurping it up something fierce. Once Naruto has
explored the ground, jump and double jump to explore
the rooftops of the buildings in town and collect
more coins...
Mini Games
» There is a great little mini-game that's playable
from the main menu where Naruto races up a tree
against another player or a COM-controlled Sakura.
The game is viewed in 3D from behind Naruto so he's
seen running upwards into the tree and moving from
left to right grabbing 1-up bonuses while avoiding
falling rocks as well as branches. If Naruto smacks
into a branch, he'll stop for a spell while Sakura
continues her ascent.
» In another mini-game, Naruto faces off against
Rock Lee in a 1-arm pushup contest. Pump the "O"
button as quickly as possible and you'll earn 31
pushups vs Rock Lee's measly 30... The push ups are
followed by a jumping exercise, and a Dance Dance
Revolution-like game where button cues must be
tapped so Naruto performs tai-chi moves.
» The third and final mini-game is a shuriken
throwing contest where dummies appear in the
distance with X, O, SQUARE, or TRIANGLE signs on
them. The first one to hit the corresponding button
to throw a star at the dummy earns the point. If two
stars are thrown at the same time at a target,
they'll bounce each other off and the first one to
throw the next star wins. The game ends with big
dummies that appear which require multiple hits to
knock down.
Versus/Practice Modes
» In the Versus and Practice Modes, a total of 19
fighters may be chosen but there are locked roster
slots for an additional 21 fighters which makes a
total of 40 fighters in the game. In Versus mode, 20
stages are available (all unlocked) to fight on
including one where a massive snake observes the
action from the background and moves it head from
side to side, a bouncy bridge in front of a
waterfall, and tree branches. If you look at the
background portion of the tree branch level, there
are three birds nests with a total of five big eggs
in them... There's also a potted plant.
» New gamers may test their skills in the
Practice Mode where the time is infinite and health
always regenerates. Choose a fighter from the large
roster and get into the groove with a fast and
highly responsive fighting game where moves and
combos may be chained together with ease. Even bad
fighters will look like they know what they're doing
when the special effects and maniacal moves are
strung together with button tapping chaos. A D-pad
and button-press register keeps track of every
single move that you're inputting on the bottom of
the screen to check what you're mashing out.