If you grew up with the early Naruto anime, this GBA fighter hits all the right nostalgia notes. You pick from 12 characters—Naruto’s Rasengan feels satisfyingly chunky, but I kept going back to Rock Lee’s ridiculous taijutsu combos. The sprites are surprisingly detailed for a handheld game, with little touches like Sasuke’s Sharingan glowing red during specials.

Matches are fast and chaotic, especially when you trigger the substitution jutsu at the last second. The story mode follows the Chunin Exams arc, though the dialogue’s all in Japanese—not a dealbreaker if you already know the plot. What surprised me was how well the jutsu mechanics translate to a 2D fighter; Gaara’s sand shield actually works like a defensive trap instead of just being a flashy animation.

It’s not the deepest fighter out there, but nailing a perfect combo with Kakashi’s Lightning Blade never gets old.