Summary
Narutois one of those shonen anime that reached massive popularityall over the world, spawning tons of merch, movies, and, of course, video games. So many games, in fact, that they couldn’t all possibly become hits with an American audience. That’s no doubt part of the reason why there were a ton of games, especially inNaruto’searly years, that never made it stateside.
Of course, localization could be forgone for a number of reasons, not just because of the sheer amount of products to be translated. For one, a game might only appeal to a niche market, and with anime itself already being a niche in the U.S., it would undoubtedly equate to low sales. In most cases, though, it’s as simple as a game just coming out at the wrong time. What follows are just a fewNarutogames that never made it to North America.
8Naruto: Konoha Senki
The GBA, sometimes in contrast to its other handheld brethren, is known for housing some of the most strikingly impressive pixel artin the gaming space. ButKonoha Senkisimply didn’t reach the same visual heights as other strategy games for the system, likeFire EmblemorFinal Fantasy Tactics.
On the other hand, while mostly available after the credits roll, the game features a huge list of playable characters to deploy. Each features a full range of iconic jutsu to deploy as players see fit. Frankly, if die-hard fans can get their hands on this game, it’s worth playing just to see the different combinations of attacks that could be performed in combat.
7Naruto: Konoha Ninpōchō
While it was released during the Wonderswan Color’s final year,Konoha Ninpōchōwas a far cry from the best-looking games on it. This is especially true in a fight, where washed-out, static, pixelated depictions of fan-favorite characters duke it out in turn-based combat.
The game also covers an incredibly small part of the story, even comparing it to other handheldNarutogames of the time. Thankfully, theactual gameplay stays interesting, allowing the 3 playable Ninja (Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura) to employ a fair breadth of their most iconic moves.
6Naruto: Shinobi no Sato no Jintori Kassen
To get it out of the way, this is a board game. And where games likeMario Partycut the tedium with fun and wacky mini-games,Shinobi no Sato no Jintori Kassensimply has small combat encounters that are determined completely by chance and are over in an instant. All of this is probably why the game never saw a release outside of Japan.
That being said, the game provides a vibrant depiction of this ninja world, with detailed sprites that perfectly represent each character, right down to their fun idle animations. It’s also not a slow-paced board game by any stretch of the imagination, making it a worthwhile get for anybody interested.
5Naruto: Ninja Council 2 - European Version
Naruto: Ninja Council 2- European Versionis the first of this series to be featured on Nintendo’sOG touchscreen handheld. As such, the game includes a number of features that would be refined and iterated on in later entries, like jutsu being performed by completing touch-screen-based mini-games.
This game was never released in North America (hence the name), which is confusing as it’s just a retelling of the Sasuke Retrieval arc. On top of content cut to avoid spoilers for Euro audiences at the time, this version also lacked any trace of voice acting, leading to a distinct lack of immersion.
4Naruto Shippūden : Shinobi Retsuden 3 (Ninja Destiny 3)
The delayed localization of games based on anime was a common occurrence in the 2000s, as, in the case ofShinobi Retsuden 3, regions outside of Japan simply hadn’t seen the episodes some games were based on yet. Unfortunately, that inevitably led to this one never leaving Japan at all.
This is a shame because this is one of theNarutogames for the DS that had some of the most fun ideas. Gameplay ranges from that of a traditional fighting game, to adventure-style exploration, to massive real-time boss battles against some of the series' tailed-beasts. It’s clear that this game would have made waves in foreign territories, just like the others in theNinja Destinyseries.
3Naruto Shippūden: Dairansen! Kage Bunshin Emaki
Dairansen! Kage Bunshin Emaki’sstory covers a relatively short amount of the Shippūden story—from the Kazekage Rescue arc to the Tenchi Bridge arc. However, it surely makes up for it with its challenging combat encounters and some impressively vibrant andfluid pixel art animations.
This is another game that failed to secure a North American release due to Shippūden’s premiere being over a year away in the States. Plus, the DS was deep in its life cycle in 2009, making the tedious task of localization a bit of a pointless effort years later.
2Naruto RPG 2: Chidori vs. Rasengan
Taking place during the end of the originalNarutorun means thatNaruto RPG 2gets to play with a particularly intense bit of the series' story. Of course, like many licensed anime games of the era, this would exclude newcomers to the game, lest they get lost in the drama that culminates in the iconic firstround of Naruto vs. Sasuke.
Nowadays, though, the game is a rather unique way to experience this era of the story. For instance, having a party-based combat system means that players get to bring along ninja like Choji and Shikamaru to places like Orochimaru’s lair, bringing them further into the limelight than they were in the show or manga.
Ultimate Ninja 5was released in 2006 in Japan and in 2009 in Australia and the UK, skipping a North American release. This was probably because the US was already a number of years into the next console generation, as well as the fact that Ultimate Ninja 4 saw a Western release earlier that same year. Besides, with the release ofUltimate Ninja Stormin 2008, it would have seemed like a step backward for the series.
The game features 62 playable characters—a roster that wasn’t pigeonholed by the story covering the first two Shippūden arcs. For instance, players could pit the deadly (and long-dead) swordsman, Zabuza, against the Akatsuke’s resident puppet master, Sasori in mortal combat. Ultimate Ninja 5 was an impressive end to a series that meant a lot to many, so it really is sad that not everybody was able to experience it when it came out.
