Gamespot basically hit the nail right on this one.
The controls are very easy to learn, however a tutorial on how to play would be nice. As the tilting combo attack is very misleading, I had to look up on the internet how to preform it. Aside from that the other combos are so easy to preform it is boring. However it is nearly impossible to land a single combo as a CPU or another player with substitute halfway through your combo. Even with the new limits on the substitution, I still don't think it's limited enough. On a better note, the animation of the characters movements across the battlefield is flawless, and each character has their own unique movement.
Online Battle mode has made some improvements. Before, ninja info cards were just for show, now they give you some advantages for fighting. Such as giving you more attack power, or increasing the time span for "awakened mode". Also with the addition of tournaments and survival mode makes fighting CPU's, a little more bearable, plus there are rewards and other unlockables. The story mode has changed from the previous game title. As you are no longer able to free roam the world of Naruto. Instead there are stories for a number of certain characters. You play through each story which consist of battles only and each foe's attack will increase as you get further into the story. The only entertaining part of the story mode is the video clips or movies that are included for each character.
Though this game is not even close to being the best of its franchise it is a good game strictly for the fighting genre. It is a good multiplayer game and pretty much a CPU beat em up in my opinion. If you like fighting games with lots of characters and different battlefields, and no surprises then this is a game for you.
Final notes
> The flashy attacks, faced paced battles, and character movement give this long-winded game title a certain elegance to it
> Not much has changed since the previous titles
> I would appreciate it if the ultimate moves were a little longer, they only last a few short seconds, barely enough time to register what happened
> Nice character list
> Somewhat repetitive, endless fighting with CPU's