After releasing Naruto Shippuden: Dragon Blade Chronicles in Japan back in 2009, Takara Tomy and Eighting have teamed up once again to bring players the next installment in the Gekitou Ninja Taisen! series with Naruto Shippuden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! Special.

The Gekitou Ninja Taisen! series is known to gamers in North America as the Clash of Ninja series. The Clash of Ninja games are not direct ports, but more like remakes of the original Japanese games that usually bring about new features that were not seen in the Gekitou Ninja Taisen! series before, like Wi-Fi Online Play.

This series has always differed from it's Ultimate Ninja counterpart by being more of a traditional fighter. Players can string together many different combos with both the melee and weapon buttons, which provides more strategy to be used in battles. Also, four-player multiplayer has always been a staple for this series, as well as many different single-player and multiplayer modes for gamers to select from.

Players will once again take control of Naruto has he continues his journey to save his best friend Sasuke and bring him back to the village. The story looks like it will go all the way up to the "Kage Summit" arc, which goes further into the canon than this year's, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 did.

This will also be the first time that Wi-Fi Online Play will be featured in the Gekitou Ninja Taisen! series, while last year's North American release of Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 was the first in that series to receive the feature.

There will be over 41 characters in the game, an insanely large roster, which is sure to please fans. Playable characters like the Fourth Hokage, Raikage, Killer Bee, and Sage Naruto have never been featured in any of the previous Gekitou Ninja Taisen! games, so it will be very interesting to see just how differently they play from the veteran characters.

Does news about the massive selection of characters from the ridiculously popular anime included in this game excite you enough to import it? Feel free to let us know with your comments below.

Naruto Shippuden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! Special will be released exclusively in Japan on December 2, 2010, for the Wii.

Source: Siliconera