The best Naruto games are not the ones most people have played. By Metacritic score, the two highest-rated entries in the franchise are a pair of open-world Xbox 360 exclusives Ubisoft Montreal made in 2007 and 2008 — both of which are now effectively unplayable. Everything else is CyberConnect2’s Ultimate Ninja Storm series, which has carried the licence almost single-handedly for eighteen years.
Last updated: September 1, 2026. Metacritic scores checked on this date.
Why this list looks strange
Nearly every notable Naruto game since 2008 has come from one studio. CyberConnect2 has developed the entire Ultimate Ninja Storm line, and the series’ quality has moved in a narrow band — the eight games ranked below span just 12 Metascore points, from 68 to 80. There is no disaster and no masterpiece, which makes ranking them a matter of degrees rather than of kind.
The obvious omission proves the same point. Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker (2018) is the one major console Naruto game of the last decade CyberConnect2 did not make — it was developed by Soleil — and it sits below this entire list, with Metascores of 66 on PC, 61 on PS4 and 60 on Xbox One. It is left out because a four-player online arena game is a different proposition to the games ranked here, but it is worth knowing that stepping outside CyberConnect2 has usually meant stepping down.
The exception is the interesting part. In 2007 and 2008 Ubisoft Montreal held the console licence and made two open-world action games set in a fully explorable Hidden Leaf Village. They scored 78 and 80 — higher than any Ultimate Ninja Storm game before or since. Then Ubisoft’s rights lapsed, the licence went to Bandai Namco, and the arena-fighter template took over permanently. Because of those expired rights, neither Ubisoft game was ever made backwards compatible on Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S, so the two best-reviewed Naruto games are stranded on 2008 hardware.
8. Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections (2023)
Metascore 68 from 31 critics; user score 5.4 from 197 ratings. The most recent Storm game and comfortably the weakest, released November 17, 2023. It carries the largest roster in franchise history and two story campaigns, but critics found it failed to unify the previous games into a coherent package, and the 5.4 user score — the lowest here by a wide margin — reflects real anger about a full-price release that asks players to replay Naruto’s story twice. A poor note to potentially end on.
7. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution (2014)
Metascore 73 from 26 critics; user score 7.4. A roster-first release with over 100 playable characters and a tournament framing device, but almost no narrative substance — one review noted it “fails to offer anything meaningful to the story.” It exists to fill the gap between Storm 3 and Storm 4 and it plays like it. Fine as a party fighter, thin as anything else.
6. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm (2008)
Metascore 75 from 32 critics; user score 7.4. The one that set the template, released November 4, 2008. CyberConnect2’s cel-shaded art was startling at the time — IGN called the battles “tight,” and it genuinely looked like the anime in motion, which no Naruto game had managed. It ranks low because the combat underneath is thin (one critic called it “style over substance”) and it shipped without online multiplayer. Historically important, mechanically superseded.
5. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (2010)
Metascore 76 from 34 critics; user score 8.2 from 303 ratings. The largest jump the series ever made. Storm 2 fixed the first game’s missing online play, tightened the fighting and delivered the Pain invasion as a genuine setpiece. Its 8.2 user score is the second-highest on this list, and it is the entry most long-term fans point to when they say the series peaked early.
4. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 (2013)
Metascore 77 from 32 critics; user score 7.8, released March 5, 2013. The Fourth Great Ninja War adaptation, and the most cinematically ambitious of the run — IGN scored it 86 and singled out the “visual spectacle.” It also began the series’ worst habit: burying the fighting under long cutscenes and quick-time events. Whether it sits above or below Storm 2 comes down to whether you want spectacle or control.
3. Naruto: Rise of a Ninja (2007)
Metascore 78 from 35 critics; user score 7.7, released October 30, 2007, per Metacritic. Ubisoft Montreal’s open-world take let you run, wall-climb and side-quest through a fully realised Konoha, with the fighting as one component rather than the whole game. Critics praised the presentation and the fidelity to the setting while flagging repetitive filler activities outside combat. It remains the only Naruto game that made the village the appeal, and it outscored every Storm entry that followed it.
2. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 (2016)
Metascore 79 from 60 critics; user score 8.0 from 853 ratings, released February 9, 2016, per Metacritic. The best CyberConnect2 has managed and the one to start with if you want a modern Naruto game. The roster is enormous, the wall-running battles and leader-swap mechanics gave the combat more shape than any previous entry, and one review called it “the perfect evolution of a franchise that’s been around for many years.” The complaints are consistent and fair: too much of the story mode is static text, and the single-player value is thin for a full-price release. Ten years on it is still the series’ high-water mark.
1. Naruto: The Broken Bond (2008)
Metascore 80 from 34 critics; user score 8.1, released November 8, 2008 by Ubisoft Montreal, per Metacritic. The highest-scoring Naruto game on this list, and the last one Ubisoft made before its rights expired. It kept the open Konoha of Rise of a Ninja, pushed into the darker Sasuke-defection material, and added tag-team combat and environmental puzzle-solving that used each character’s abilities for something other than damage. Reviewers called it a clear improvement on an already well-received game, and 85% of its 34 critic reviews were positive with none negative.
And you almost certainly cannot play it. It was an Xbox 360 exclusive, it was never added to Xbox’s backwards-compatibility programme, and the licensing situation that stopped that from happening has not changed. The franchise’s best-reviewed game is locked to a console that stopped being manufactured in 2016 — which is the single strangest fact about Naruto games and the reason this ranking does not look like the ones built from memory.
The rankings at a glance
| Rank | Game | Year | Developer | Metascore | User score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naruto: The Broken Bond | 2008 | Ubisoft Montreal | 80 | 8.1 |
| 2 | Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 | 2016 | CyberConnect2 | 79 | 8.0 |
| 3 | Naruto: Rise of a Ninja | 2007 | Ubisoft Montreal | 78 | 7.7 |
| 4 | Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 | 2013 | CyberConnect2 | 77 | 7.8 |
| 5 | Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 | 2010 | CyberConnect2 | 76 | 8.2 |
| 6 | Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm | 2008 | CyberConnect2 | 75 | 7.4 |
| 7 | Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution | 2014 | CyberConnect2 | 73 | 7.4 |
| 8 | Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections | 2023 | CyberConnect2 | 68 | 5.4 |
Is another Naruto game coming?
Not soon, on the available evidence. CyberConnect2 president Hiroshi Matsuyama told Famitsu in February 2026 that the studio’s ten-year goal is “world domination through content,” and that it intends to “deliver a worldwide mega-hit with characters and works we create entirely from scratch” over the next decade. CyberConnect2’s 30th-anniversary announcement that month was a new .hack project, not a Naruto one.
Matsuyama did not say the studio will stop taking licensed work, and no one has announced the end of the Storm series — TheGamer reading that as Connections being the last entry for a decade is an inference from the interview, not a company statement. But the direction of travel is clear enough that this ranking may stand for a while, which makes the number-one entry being trapped on Xbox 360 hardware more awkward, not less.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Naruto game?
By Metacritic score, Naruto: The Broken Bond, an Xbox 360 exclusive from Ubisoft Montreal with an 80 Metascore. Of games playable on current hardware, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is the best at 79.
Which Naruto game should I start with?
Ultimate Ninja Storm 4. It has the largest accessible roster, the most refined combat in the Storm series, and it is available on PS4, Xbox One and PC, unlike the two higher-scoring Ubisoft games.
Can you still play Naruto: Rise of a Ninja or The Broken Bond?
Only on original Xbox 360 hardware. Neither game was added to Xbox backwards compatibility, which has been attributed to the expiry of Ubisoft’s Naruto licence, so they do not run on Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S.
Is there a new Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm game coming?
Nothing has been announced. CyberConnect2 president Hiroshi Matsuyama said in February 2026 that the studio will focus on original IP for the next decade, and its 30th-anniversary reveal was a new .hack game rather than a Naruto title.
What is the worst Naruto game in the Storm series?
Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections, the 2023 release, at a 68 Metascore and a 5.4 user score – the lowest of both on this list.
If you are working through the source material alongside these, see our Naruto watch order, our ranking of the strongest Naruto villains, and our explainer on how chakra actually works.
