Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 shipped at the beginning of March for North America and Europe, and just recently for Japan. So these are some pretty good numbers indeed. So good that Namco Bandai says it’s the most successful launch in the franchise. Considering the franchise consists of 12 games thus far, that’s not too bad

The amount of content jam-packed into the game might have helped its cause, since it features more than 80 characters from the currently running arcs in the anime, focusing especially on the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Nine Tails Demon Fox attacking Konoha (which features the Yellow Flash) and a battle with Uchiha Madara. Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is currently available for Xbox 360 and PS3.

And it did do justice to the source material: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 spends an almost inordinate amount of time building up context, weaving in and out of Naruto lore, and developing all of its characters, deliberating on every major story event that occurs. Fans of the series will find themselves in seventh heaven. Ultimate Storm 3 treats the series lore wonderfully well, recreating it with some well made cutscenes, and allowing players to play through some of the more momentous occasions in the story.

Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 thrives in how it delivers the illusion of story control to the player. Throughout the game, you are presented with alternate story paths to choose from, Legend or Hero, and your choice opens up alternate story paths, many of which will be new even to ardent series fans. The allure of differing story paths is probably enough to make many play through the game multiple times, lending it more replay value than it already would otherwise have.

That replay value comes, of course, from the online mode. The online mode from the previous games returns with Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, and it’s almost exactly as it was the last time around. You can select your character and duke it out in online battles, in ranked and unranked battles. There is no dearth of gameplay modes and characters, and the netcode itself works excellently well.

The actual fighting is a treat. Although not necessarily the deepest fighting games around, the Naruto Shippuden games are some of the best at making you feel like an absolute badass when it comes to the fighting, taking all the coolest of attacks and moves from the cartoon, and translating them all into the gameplay. Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 looks equally cool, and it remains deep enough to retain your interest, while also being accessible enough to remain inviting to newcomers to the genre or the games, who nonetheless might be interested because they’re fans of the anime.

The single player plays much the same way, but it mixes things up a little by introducing a new gameplay style called mob battles. Mob battles pit you against literal waves of enemies, and you have to take on them yourself. They’re actually fairly easy, even though they look sufficiently cool, and even get a bit dull. If they were overdone, they would detract from the pace and the flow, but as it stands, they’re used sparingly, and work just well enough to provide a bit of a change to the player.

Looking cool is something the game goes out of its way to do: apart from all the great animations and attacks, all of which look like they are right out of the cartoon, the game also manages to integrate some really cool moves into its gameplay. Certain times, the fights give way to some beautifully animated Quick Time Events, allowing you to finish off whoever you are fighting in style, and though the QTEs themselves are actually rather forgiving, they look cool. Again, if they were used more often, their shallowness would probably detract from the gameplay, but as it stands, they are used just enough that they provide a nice change of pace without actually taking away anything else from the game.

From the story, which does its best to appeal to series faithful, and even presents them with some great ‘what if’ scenarios via the branching paths that you are asked to choose from along the way, to the way it looks and sounds, to the dialog, Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is incredibly faithful to the anime it derives its license from. Unlike most games based on an anime license, that are barely adequate, and sell just on the appeal of their license, Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is a great game independently of its source material, and one that even non fans of the series will enjoy, if they don’t try to follow the story.

Faithful to its source, fun to play, fun to look at, Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is a great game that does its license justice and is recommended to all fans of Naruto and the genre as well.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 3.

From the Summit of the Five Kages and revisiting the past with Sasuke and Naruto to the Fourth Great Ninja War and the truth behind the Nine Tails Demon Fox’s invasion of Konoha, the campaign is packed to the brim with plot.

The character roster is being touted as the largest ever, what with all the Edo-Tensei shinobi, Kages and main characters crowding around. However, it’s the arrival of Uchiha Madara that is the highlight of the trailer. We get a look at just how powerful he really is, and the battles that unfold in facing him.

And honestly, they look better than the anime by miles.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, developed by CyberConnect2, will be releasing on PS3 and Xbox 360.

The third entry in the Ultimate Ninja Storm series features the biggest roster in the series yet with over 80 playable characters. Other changes include interactive environments, and the ability to trigger awakening mode at any time during the fight with the restriction of only being able to use it once per battle.

The game’s campaign will pick up from the ending of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2. As you can see from the video, the game’s presentation is simply sublime. The game features a comprehensive colour palette and painstakingly fluid animations. Any scene taken out of context from the game can easily pass as an episode from the show itself.

Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is slated to ship for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 6^th in North America, and on the 8^th in Europe.

Available now on PSN for PS3, the demo covers events occurring in the series before Naruto’s birth as the Third Hokage totally serves the Nine Tails Demon Fox in a massive boss battle and the Fourth Hokage takes on the Masked Man in a one-on-one duel to the metaphorical and literal death.

Spoilers: Both fights are pretty awesome, and present some of the greatest moments from the manga in full HD glory.

Best of all, the demo will be available in North America, timing it fairly well with the game’s release in the coming weeks. An Xbox 360 demo should be arriving within the next few days.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is currently slated to release on March 5 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Source: Siliconera

The Tailed Beast battles are straightforward: As two Jinchuriki are facing each other, say Naruto and Gaara, when one’s physical strength becomes low, they can convert to Tailed Beast mode to continue the fight. This is the process of abandoning the human host’s form and assuming the form of a Tailed Beast entirely. Hoss fight!

Crowd battles, on the other hand, help break up the monotony between typical one-on-one battles. They allow characters to move about freely on a 3D plane and fight against multiple enemies at once. This is a nice change and will help to facilitate the huge Ninja War fight scenes all the better.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is currently set to release for PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 5th in North America and March 8th in Europe.

Source: Siliconera

The publisher has recently announced new pre-order bonuses for players who pick up the game through GameStop or Namco Bandai’s own online store ClubNamco.com.

For all retailers, first-run copies will include a download code for a Dragon Ball Z Goku costume for Naruto along with a collectible trading card. Naturally, you won’t be seeing it outside of the initial run so pre-ordering the game is your best bet to getting this limited edition costume.

Those who pre-order at a US Gamestop, however, will also receive an exclusive poster along with the Goku costume and trading card along with a free 30 day trial subscription to Neon Alley, a VIZ Media streaming service available on PSN and Xbox Live.

ClubNamco pre-orders comprise of two packages: The first, limited to 5000 copies, includes 6″ figurines of Sasuke and Naruto from Banpresto along with an exclusive poster, soundtrack and Goku costume for $79.99. The second, for $59.99, offers the poster, soundtrack and Goku costume.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is slated to release on March 5th for North America and 8th for Europe.

The game features 80 playable characters, advanced online modes and enhanced fighting mechanics allowing anyone to become a ninja master.

“Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 brings the highly successful Naruto Shippuden anime series straight to the hands of console gamers,” said Carlson Choi, VP of Marketing for Namco Bandai. “The talented team at CyberConnect2 has once again merged break-neck action and fluid animation into a thrilling fighting action-adventure title that’s fun for everyone.”

The first few copies of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 will feature a code to download an exclusive Dragon Ball Z Goku costume for Naruto and collectible trading card. So if you are interested to get the bonus item, it is best to pre-order the game as limited copies of the game will have the code included.

Earlier we had reported that the game will release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 8th, 2013 in European regions.  The game is rated “T” for teen by the ESRB and will cost $59.99.

Are you guys looking forward to buying this game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt.com for more news and updates.

Nowadays, the developer earns its bread and butter by developing fighting games for the ever-popular Naruto anime series. In fact, their latest title, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, is due this March for Xbox 360 and PS3.

However, the developer is also currently working on three original titles in development. Talking about their plans for the year, president Hiroshi Matsuyama stated the same on their website, indicating that these titles will be released this year itself.

Given that CyberConnect2 has experience with smartphone titles and the like, don’t get your hopes up that these will be titles on the level of Ultimate Ninja Storm’s production values. But they can deliver on the innovation, as their previous titles Night Runner and Guilty Dragon have showcased.

As for what these games are, time will tell.

Source: Siliconera

While Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 will be taking place during events of the Fourth Great Ninja War, players will also be able to go into the past and take on the role of the Fourth Hokage as he battles against Madara/Tobi for the first time. Along with big boss battles, players will also have a multitude of multiplayer modes and tournaments to play through.

And as a special bonus, first-run copies will feature a code for downloading an exclusive Dragon Ball Z Goku costume for Naruto and a collectible trading card. So if you’ve ever wanted to see this properties clash, here’s your chance.