Naruto fans have reasons of joy because Namco Bandai brought the title from PS2 to the PSP and with some additions, the final result looks pretty good.

The one-on-one fighting game delivers a lot of action, inspired from the animated series. Naruto has been quite a legend among Games32 editors, and I'm glad I am the one to review the game. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja (the original PS2 title) was revamped with a new mode, so that it became Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes. This add-on is basically a team-based combat, a three men army in the conquest of glory and fame. Well, actually you'll be earning different types of scrolls.

So, for an overview, the game features Player Vs. CPU mode where you choose any hero to rumble vs. the CPU. Winning matches will earn you experience points. Then there's hero mode, where you control one of the predefined teams, Team Kakashi, Team Guy, Team Asuma, Team Kurenai… or you can create your own team, with your favorite heroes from the series. Each hero has certain skills that will aid the team along the way. Before each stage, you can choose to use skills like Poison, Increased Attack, Recover Chakra and many more. Each character has his/her own fighting style, combos and voice lines that are true to the show. If you successfully complete all the stages you'll be awarded with different scrolls and of course, experience points to upgrade the heroes.

Another mode is the Promotion room, where you have to use those scrolls earned in the Hero mode to increase the rank of the Ninja. Along the way, "cut-scenes" will be unlocked; these can be viewed in Naruto's House.

Unfortunately this is a pure fighting game with no story involved. But Namco Bandai promised that the next title, "Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress will introduce a storyline, about a mysterious phantom castle that has suddenly appeared over the Hidden Leaf Village, draining the townspeople's life energy".

Controlling the heroes is very intuitive, as there is only one button for attacking J. Pressing the "X" button will jump and if pressed with a directional key, will rush over towards the target. You can press the button twice and it will double jump, allowing air combos to be performed. Pressing the "Square" button will use ranged attacks and items picked up from the field of battle. Also if you press the up key and jump button the hero will teleport between the two available planes present in every map.

There are a lot of places to fight in, sadly they`re kind-of static and, on the graphics side, they don't have anything to show. But overall the rest of the game looks sharp. The characters are have their own personality and even though there isn't a way to connect with them except if you are a fan of the show, you still get the most out of them.

Gameplay: 78

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes is a game that both fans of the show as well as the rest of the gamers should play. Although this can be played as a button smasher (I feel sorry for my right thumb) the game will require quite a bit of skill tobe able to advance in Heroes mode. There isn't a lot of content but this game will surely keep you entertained for some time.

Graphics: 78

The characters look very good and the special moves have a lot of eye-candy… for a PSP. The fighting locations are numerous and diversified but there isn't anything to shout about.

Sound: 75

Nice sound effects and voices that are just like the ones from the show. The music is also cool, but when you hear Naruto saying "How about this!" for the 30-th time in a fight, it might get on your nerves.

Multiplayer: 77

The game doesn't support an online mode, but you can play with a friend over wireless connection or even make use of the game sharing feature.

Hardware: 74

Despite the fact the game doesn't freeze or drop frames, there are lots of loading times that will pause that enthusiasm to kick butt.