Naruto: Ultimate Ninja is the second Naruto title to hit the streets, and this cel-shaded fighter does a fairly good job of portraying the characters and environments found in the anime series.

Characters like Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura and Rock Lee look just like their counterparts and each of the special moves comes off in the classic anime, over-the-top, super-flashy format that is a staple of the genre. Locations look pretty good as well. Whether the arena is a grassy knoll in the middle of the woods or a street corner, all of the background elements (i.e. trees or buildings) come off very detailed and really fits the style of the show.

Sound is okay, but isn't the best part of the game. Sound effects seem very generic, while the music got just a little annoying and repetitive while in a long fight. Don't get me wrong -- it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of Ultimate Ninja, it just got slightly distracting and forced me to turn down the volume just a little... especially during the more frustrating battles.

Gameplay is where Naruto: Ultimate Ninja does a lot of its shining. In order to stand out just a little above the rest, Naruto takes elements found in other fighters and brings them together. For instance, like most melee games (i.e. Super Smash Bros, various power up items will appear during a fight. These items will do everything from increase your speed or defensive capabilities or be used for one-time offensive attacks.

Not only do these items appear on the field for either of the players to pick up, but each character has a friend, or support character, that will appear (for a limited time) and hold an item that only he or she can grab.

Naruto also follows the anime style with its ultra-flashy, super-cool special moves, called Secret Techniques here. As you fight, you can increase the strength of your aura or chakra. When you are allowed to unleash your special moves, each character will have a series of random buttons to try and press. If the attacker succeeds, then his technique will be stronger, while the defending character's success means that the amount of damage taken will be lessened. This is an interesting element that varies slightly from what games like the later Dragon Ball Z: Budokai games have done.

Gameplay modes are fairly standard. Scenario is the story mode where you will choose one of the dozen unlocked characters and play through his or her story. Mission Mode gives you some challenge to complete during a fight. In this mode, merely beating your opponent is not enough. These conditions are things like winning the fight with a certain amount of health or using items in a certain way and so on. Practice and Free Battle modes do just what they sound like.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja's difficulty is a bit scattered. There were times when I didn't have a problem beating the one-round matches and then others where it took me several attempts to progress the story of my current character. For the most part, I found myself sailing through fights but whenever I ran into one of the harder battles, it got frustrating fast. I found that whenever these events happened, it was best to just put the game down and come back in a couple of hours (or the next day) and start fresh.

Helping to make Naruto: Ultimate Ninja stand out just a little over the other fighters is the in-fight stage switching mechanic. Sure other games like the Budokai series will have some event that causes a character to be thrown through a wall and "poof," you are in another stage, but those events aren't really controlled by the players as much as they are in Ultimate Ninja.

At seemingly random points in a match, you will be allowed to switch stages (if you choose). By pressing up and the X button, you and your opponent will be moved to a new arena. As an added bonus, the player that initiated the arena change is granted some extra health, so not only could the environment give you an advantage, but the added health is always a plus. Graphically, when you change locations, the action is paused and the camera backs up so you can watch the comic book page turn to the next scene. This was a nice detail that really helped make the game stand out.

This second Naruto game is a good, solid fighter. It has enough quirks to make it memorable, but the only people who should go out and buy this game are fans of the series and die-hard fighting gamers.