The Best Naruto Video Games, Ranked

Key Takeaways

• Naruto games feature diverse gameplay styles, from turn-based RPGs to open-world exploration and tag-team brawling.
• Popular titles like Ultimate Ninja Storm series offer immersive three-dimensional battles and expansive rosters of characters.
• Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 stands out as the best entry with stunning cinematography, elemental damage, and compelling gameplay.

Naruto has been a powerhouse of a franchise both abroad and in the US. Between the manga, anime, video games, and merchandise, most people have at least heard of it at some point in time. The number of video games created and launched is staggering, and there are dozens of titles that have never made it to the US from Japan.

That being said, there are some great games launched in North America and did very well on various consoles. For those just diving into the waters of Naruto’s video game library, this article will save some time by recognizing the best games produced about the young ninja and his peers.

Updated on September 22, 2024, by Asad Kashif: Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections changed many mechanics from the previous games, and added some never before seen characters. With Connections and Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Strikers mixing more of Boruto into these games, the latest DLCs let you play as Hagoromo, Indra, Ashura, and more. These are just some of the great Naruto games we’ve added to this list.

20 Naruto: Powerful Shippuden

Naruto fans can generally be divided into two categories: those who enjoy the darker and more mature themes found in the story of a boy possessed by a demon and fans who want things to be light-hearted and cheesy.

Naruto: Powerful Shippuden very much falls into the latter category. With its chibi-style animation, silly dialogue, and story chuck full of jokes, this game is a unique experience that remains fun even if the jokes fall flat as often as they stick the landing.

19 Naruto Shippuden: Naruto Vs. Sasuke

Launched on the Nintendo DS, Naruto Shippuden: Naruto Vs. Sasuke is a side-scrolling adventure that has the famous orange-clad ninja embark on a surprisingly dark and grim adventure. Fans really enjoyed the touchscreen controls and thought the combat was fun and engaging.

The single-player mode was surprisingly decent thanks to the more mature storyline, but fans really seemed to enjoy the multiplayer and Boss Rush Mode. There are certainly Naruto titles with better stories and gameplay, but this title was engaging in a way that few others were.

18 Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja

The majority of fighting games have kept things restricted to the battle arena, and only after many years have they started to incorporate a more open world. Naruto: Rise of A Ninja was one of the few games to really flush out the world and allow you to explore it at your own leisure.

Naruto: Rise of a Ninja puts more emphasis on exploration and adventure than fast-paced combat, something not many other Naruto games do.

For fans of the show, this was a great nostalgic romp, but others were a little annoyed by the platforming aspects and just wanted to get to the fighting. In the end, it was a divisive title that some fans really liked and others not so much.

17 Naruto Shippuden: Clash Of Ninja Revolution 3

Launched on the Nintendo Wii, Naruto Shippuden: Clash Of Ninja Revolution 3 had a story mode that was seen as a strong improvement when compared to previous Naruto titles. Even so many fans remember the game fondly not for its single-player content, but for its fun multiplayer.

With the new tag-mechanic players could swap out their fighters for someone fresh and follow up attacks in interesting ways. A lot of players also gushed about how well it was played with the motion-based controls of the Wii.

16 Naruto: Clash Of Ninja

Naruto: Clash of Ninja is one of the first games ever developed in the series, in 2003 for Japan and 2006 for North America. Even though this game is more than a decade old, it was very well-made and still has appeal today as a solid fighting game.

The reason it doesn’t rank higher is that it was simple, almost as if the developers were testing the waters to see if a Naruto fighting game would even be popular. There were only ten characters, the fighting was pretty basic, and there wasn’t much to do after players beat the story. Even then, it was a well-made game that stands the test of time.

15 Naruto Clash Of Ninja 2

After the success of the first game, the developers quickly launched the sequel that same year and added features that fans were craving. Sure, it still had the same storyline, but they more than doubled the roster of fighters with 22 characters and added four-player multiplayer.

They also added in unlockable content to give the game more replayability and an endgame for fans who’d beaten the main storyline. Despite the rush of production, it didn’t suffer from many bugs, and the audience was stunned by how much of their feedback was incorporated into the game.

14 Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 4

The Naruto Ultimate Ninja series was the predecessor to the widely popular Ultimate Ninja Storm series. These are some of the most nostalgic Naruto games, as they launched on the PlayStation 2. The first few games had certain issues, but Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 4 solved the majority of them.

This entry introduced the ability to freely roam the world of Konoha, a beloved feature that any new Naruto game to this day still has. It had an intensive roster filled with fan-favorite characters, including awakenings of characters that already existed in prior games.

13 Naruto: Broken Bond

Developed by Ubisoft, Naruto: Broken Bond was created for Xbox 360 in 2008 and is a sequel to Naruto: Rise of Ninja. The story was very faithful to the anime and the game even incorporated the voice actors and soundtrack from the anime series.

Gameplay-wise it was fun with a roster of 30 characters and introduced a fun tag-team playstyle. They also decided to upgrade from the 2D cutscenes in the first game to use 3D. It was a great game that made a lot of improvements over its predecessor.

12 Naruto: Path Of The Ninja

You’ll probably notice that many Naruto games are fighting games, but there have been some notable exceptions as game developers experimented with the series. Naruto: Path of the Ninja was a turn-based JRPG that did well both in North America and Japan.

What’s notable about it is that the developers decided to take a risk and introduce an entirely new story that wasn’t present in any of the anime or manga story arcs. The risk paid off as fans liked the new original story over the numerous rehashes of the original storyline they’d experienced in other games. While the standard gameplay ranks this game low, it deserves this spot for an original story that resonated well with fans.

11 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is the first game in the series to dip its toes in the waters of the PlayStation 3. It made a bold move in taking the fights out of the standard two-dimensional settings and incorporating the environment into three-dimensional battles.

This sense of openness and maneuverability was amazing compared to previous titles and introduced a subseries that fans absolutely love to this day. The exploration of the Konoha village between fights felt well-made and open to the point that fans felt like they were exploring the anime itself.

10 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2

Once again, CyberConnect2 took what made a game successful and expanded upon it with the sequel. Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 expanded the roster to 42 characters and made the Konoha village even more vibrant and detailed than before.

Contrary to the previous entry, this sequel was launched for a greater audience, including Xbox 360 owners. It was well-polished and more engaging. However, it felt more like a well-made remake rather than a separate game, though this by no means dilutes how good of an experience it was.

9 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 5

Naruto Ultimate Ninja 5 was largely the series responsible for shaping the Naruto games of today. It took all of the best features from Ultimate Ninja 4 and perfected them. The free-roaming evolved into a compelte open-world filled with side quests and fun NPC interactions. It picked up from Shippuden’s story and had one of the most compelling story modes seen in any Naruto game at the time.

Another fun mechanic added to the game was the ability to unlock Jutsu Scrolls, which let you customize your character kits. This, paired with a huge number of side quests and collectibles, made the game’s replayability skyrocket.

8 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations

Boasting 72 characters for you to unlock and master, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations was a fighting sandbox fans were more than happy to get lost in when it was launched. The fighting mechanics were simple to learn and took a lot of playtime to master. They improved tremendously on the unbalanced combat of previous games, and set the stage for future games to come.

The single-player story wasn’t all that engaging, but if you loved straightforward brawling, it didn’t matter. The Awakening transformations were also a fun mechanic to trigger in battle.

7 Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Impact

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Impact earns its rightful place in the top four for doing what most of the other Naruto games hadn’t considered: pitting Naruto and the other characters against armies of opponents instead of one-on-one battles.

Made for the PSP, this game felt epic as you could face off against 100 opponents — plus, the boss fights felt incredible. What’s baffling is that the game developers never went further with the concept and decided to go back to one-on-one fights. Admittedly, some of those one-on-one games are better, but it’s a shame to think of what Naruto games could’ve looked like if they’d stuck with the grander feel Ultimate Ninja Impact introduced.

6 Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections

Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections launched seven entire years after the previous storm game, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4. You’d expect there to be loads of new content and improvements, but there were close to none. What we got instead was a Storm 4 re-skin with some changed features.

Another feature removed from the game was the Tilt mechanic, where flicking your analog stick let each character perform a unique move.

The main change from Storm 4 was that each character now has two Jutsus in their kits, and you cannot select which ones you want to take into battle from a list. The Chakra meter was reworked as well, and now charges passively. The game’s main selling point is its characters, letting you play as grown-up versions of Boruto characters, as well as certain forgotten ninjas like Kurenai.

5 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution was a blast and introduced a whopping 100 characters to the roster. A few of them were actually new creations put into the game by the creator of the manga, Masashi Kishimoto. It also introduced a fun battle royal-style tournament where four characters can fight at the same time.

The only thing that dilutes this otherwise fantastic game and why it doesn’t rank higher is that it was bogged down by the need to include lots and lots of fan service. Seeing the scantily clad characters duke it out in combat removed some of the immersion and felt like a cheap gimmick to boost sales, which it sincerely didn’t need.

4 Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker

Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker is one of the more interesting Naruto games out there. When you first open the game, you’re asked to create your own character, complete with a customized appearance and your chosen own Jutsus. The game doesn’t have a lot of content, and you spend the majority of your time grinding to unlock more cosmetics and Jutsus for your character.

The game has improved on its lack of content, releasing new DLC characters and Jutsus for you to put on your created character.

There are other characters you play, and the game is extremely fun when played with friends. The larger map sizes, the ability to create original characters, and the fluid open world make the game extremely immersive. However, if you want to experience Naruto’s story firsthand, it’s best to pick up another game.

3 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3

Taking everything fans loved about the previous titles in the Ultimate Ninja Storm series, developers were careful not to remove anything fans loved in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3

and instead gave them more of it. Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 took the story mode from its previous main entries and matched it with Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm: Generations’s refined combat system.

The updated Awakened Mode, in particular, was a welcome feature that gave players a chance to fight stronger as they neared the bitter end. It was a great game and a sign that things would only get better with each new title.

2 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst is a doozy of a title, but an excellent game that continues to improve on the legacy of its previous titles. The game is a repackaged version of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 and includes all the previous game’s DLC content.

The game also features 100 new missions, new boss fights, and an entirely new character, Sage Mode Kabuto! It’s an improved version of an already amazing game, and lets you use your save data from the main game. If you liked Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, you’ll love Full Burst.

1 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4

The cream of the crop for Naruto games, Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is a fantastic entry. Admittedly, it was released with a number of bugs and optimization flaws, but once those were patched, it quickly proved to be the best game ever made in the series.

It kept the great three-dimensional fights and introduced stunning cinematography and a more compelling story. A welcome feature is the ability to switch characters during battle and introduce elemental damage that affects weapons and clothing. It’s big, it’s epic, and there’s nothing better than watching an Ultimate Jutsus devastate your opponent and a large chunk of the planet.