And I’m not complaining, because it’s done so well. It easily clocks in at over ten hours, including some lengthy cut scenes bordering on Xenosaga levels. The Ultimate Adventure, or story mode, is a giant meaty feast for fans. The scope, the attention to detail, the graphics, and the storytelling are on a level far beyond anything I’ve ever played based on an anime. This game feels like anything but a quick cash-in on a property. And out of all the numerous anime-based games I’ve ever played, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is the most ambitious.
Unfortunately, most of those games were “cookie cutter” at best.įast-forward to the future: there are very few games based on anime released here, mainly just the hottest properties like Dragon Ball Z and Naruto. Ranma 1/2, YuYu Hakusho, Ghost in the Shell (the PS1 version was the first game I ever reviewed!), Shaman King, Inuyasha, Fullmetal Alchemist, Lupin the III and many more all had games released here. When anime was red hot, there was an absolute boom of games based on various titles. Having got my start as the “video game guy” in the groundbreaking anime magazine Animerica, I have probably reviewed more anime-based video games than just about anybody.
