By Heidi Kemps (From Gamespot) March 9, 2016
Rating: ★★★★☆The past year has been a memorable one for fans of Naruto, the long-running anime and manga series. The manga ended its lengthy run, and the anime series will soon follow suit--though the next generation of stories featuring Naruto’s son has already begun taking shape in comics and a feature-length film. As the original story comes to a conclusion, so does the fan-favorite Ultimate Ninja Storm game series on the new generation of consoles. Thankfully, the developers at CyberConnect2 have made sure the series wraps up nicely, as well.
Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 sticks to the core gameplay tenets of the series, offering a massive roster of characters from across the sprawling Naruto saga and pitting you in one-on-one battles in a free-roaming arena against another ninja. Actually, it’s more like three-on-three this time around: while you could have partners to assist you in previous games in the series, now you can assemble a team of three characters and swap between them as you please in mid-battle. Unlike most other team-based fighters, however, all characters share the same lifebar.
As a free-roaming fighter, there’s a lot you can do. Movement utilizes the left analog stick and the jump button, allowing you to dance around the field with your speedy ninja moves and close in for the kill when necessary. You can even do ninja wall-runs this time around in some arenas. To damage your foe, you can make use of throwing weapons for low-damage ranged attacks, basic ground and air combos, throws, and special ninja techniques that utilize your chakra gauge. Managing your chakra is very important, since many of your special abilities depend on it: you can charge it manually--which leaves you vulnerable--build it through exchanging blows, or pick up some chakra balls that drop when your foe is down.