It's almost difficult to believe that Naruto debuted at the turn of the millennium, since the series' inception it has carried a level of popularity that few others have enjoyed. Three years after Naruto began making waves, its first video game adaptations began cropping up in Japan, another three years after that, Naruto titles made their way to North American markets.
Much like the Dragon Ball Z franchise, Naruto naturally lent itself to fighting and action-adventure titles. While there were undoubtedly successful early examples, it wasn't until games combined fast-paced action with the heartfelt story of the series that the video game adaptations truly began to shine.
F-Tier: Shallow and Strange
- Naruto Shippuden: Dragon Blade Chronicles
Naruto Shippuden: Dragon Blade Chronicles - A bizarre Naruto game if ever there was one. The plot, while original, was completely discordant with the Naruto universe, and the gameplay was as repetitive as it gets. It was largely panned by critics, and rightfully so.
D-Tier: Handheld Disasters
- Naruto: Ninja Destiny 1 & 2
- Naruto: Ninja Council 2 & 3
- Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4
- Naruto Shippuden: Naruto vs. Sasuke
- Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes 1, 2, & 3
Naruto: Ninja Destiny 1 & 2 - The Ninja Destiny series overreached where it didn't have to—trying to stretch the limits of the Nintendo DS' graphical capabilities—but the result was an unimaginative fighting game that most players could finish in under an hour.
Naruto Shippuden: Naruto vs. Sasuke - For a title that highlights the epic rivalry between Sasuke and Naruto, the game itself feels surprisingly underwhelming. If Naruto vs. Sasuke had been part of the initial wave of handheld Naruto games, it might have been considered a hidden gem, but it rehashes too many of the mistakes of its predecessors.
Naruto: Ninja Council 2 & 3 - There are occasional head-to-head battles against named Naruto characters that are somewhat enjoyable, but the majority of these titles play out as a generic platformer that is completely forgettable.
Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4 - If the Ninja Council series had given up at this point, it would have been remembered as one of the worst franchises on the Nintendo DS. While Ninja Council 4 was a major graphical improvement, it still followed the generic side-scroller beat 'em up formula. Luckily, the series had one more kick at the can in North America.
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes 1 & 2 - A series of forgotten PSP games that, like Akatsuki Rising, offered a more expansive look at the Naruto franchise, but failed to deliver meaningful and memorable gameplay.
C-Tier: Masterful Ideas, Mediocre Execution
- Naruto Powerful Shippuden
- Naruto: Ninja Council
- Naruto: Path of the Ninja 1 & Naruto RPG 2: Chidori vs Rasengan
- Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3
Naruto Powerful Shippuden - Powerful Shippuden took the tired side-scroll beat 'em up and slapped a Chibi anime game aesthetic on it. Aside from its cutesy flair, Powerful Shippuden offered a nicely responsive and tactile combat system that made it infinitely more playable than other handheld Naruto titles.
Naruto: Path of the Ninja 1 & Naruto RPG 2: Chidori vs Rasengan - Despite having different titles, these games both belong to the same series. The Path of the Ninja series presented Naruto as a turn-based RPG and leveraged the Nintendo DS touchscreen to make for a unique turn-based combat system.
Naruto: Ninja Council - Since it was the first of the platformer beat 'em ups, Ninja Council gets points for popularizing Naruto to a larger audience. The original is simplistic, easy, and has other flaws, but it's undeniably charming and is likely a great nostalgia trip for inveterate fans.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3 - Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3 was a definite improvement over its predecessors, but still suffered from shallow combat. Still, it's the crowning achievement of Naruto games on the PSP.
Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 1 & 2 - Charming titles that suffered by covering some of the shortest arcs in Naruto. Uzumaki Chronicles deserves praise for taking risks and switching up the formula majorly between the original and the sequel, but both fail to live up to better games in the roster.
B-Tier: Important but Outpaced
- Naruto: Rise of a Ninja & The Broken Bond
- Naruto: Ultimate Ninja
Naruto: Rise of a Ninja & The Broken Bond - Hugely important games for Naruto adaptations. They laid the groundwork for future titles and showed massive potential when creating more games like Rise of a Ninja.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja - Another massively important title that was simply outpaced by its predecessors. Without the original Ultimate Ninja, the Ultimate Ninja Storm series still features great entries.
A-Tier: Close to Perfection
- Naruto: Clash of Ninja series
- Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm
- Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2, 3 & Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja 4 & 5
Naruto: Clash of Ninja series - Sat as the best example of fighting games in the Naruto franchise for a long while. They're all tightly designed, and for fans of head-to-head, classic-style fighting games, they're perfect.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm - The first of the best series of Naruto games. The original unfortunately suffered from balancing issues, which made it less enjoyable than other similar games. Still, it's arguably the most important game in Naruto adaptations.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2, 3 & Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja 4 & 5 - If they weren't outclassed by the Storm series, all the Ultimate Ninja titles could easily stand among the very best Naruto games. They took Budokai Tenkaichi-inspired combat and brought it to the Naruto universe.
S-Tier: The Pinnacle of Naruto Games
- Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series (excluding the first)
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series (excluding the first) - Simply put, the Ultimate Ninja Storm series is the pinnacle of Naruto games. Without exception, the games offer deep rosters, responsive, lightning-fast gameplay, and absurd replayability. Fans' opinions differ on which title deserves to sit atop the series, but there's no question that the series itself is among the very best Naruto games ever.