NAMCO BANDAI Games announced today that "NARUTO:
Ultimate Ninja" has gone gold for the PlayStation 2. Based on the hit anime series, SHONEN JUMP's NARUTO from VIZ Media airing on the Cartoon Network, "NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja" allows fans to enroll in the Ninja Academy and fight as their favorite characters from the show. Players will experience interactive stages, use varied weapons and develop skills that will enable them to become the ultimate Hokage - the greatest ninja of all.

"NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja" features blazing single and multiplayer ninja battles that bring the series to life. Fans can choose to fight as Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Rock Lee and many more as well as summon support characters for super attacks and special items. A variety of ninja fighting techniques are at a player's disposal including ranged-weapon attacks and close-combat moves. Featuring 12 multi-tiered stages taken from the anime series, gamers can switch stage mid-combat to gain tactical advantage. "NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja's" array of game modes allows players to follow their favorite character's storyline, accomplish specific missions or battle it out against a friend. Secret characters, movies and other unlockable features further immerse fans in the ultimate NARUTO experience!

First introduced into the Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine in Japan in 1999, NARUTO - by revered creator Masashi Kishimoto - quickly became Japan's most popular ninja manga. In 2000, NARUTO was expanded into a series of graphic novels with more than 59 million copies sold in total in Japan.

NARUTO consistently ranks as one of the most popular titles serialized in VIZ Media's SHONEN JUMP monthly manga anthology and one of the top graphic novel titles (also published by VIZ Media) in the United States. VIZ Media was named the Master Licensor in February 2005, obtaining the television, home video and merchandising rights to NARUTO for North America and Latin America.

Developed by CyberConnect 2, known for the .hack series, "NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja" is rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB and is scheduled for release in June.

For more information about "NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja", please visit http://Naruto.namcobandaigames.com