By the end of September 2001, ZAGE once again proved that its August lineup had not been a temporary explosion of quality.
The company released two more major games for ZEPS 3.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja and Crash Bandicoot 3.
Both games targeted completely different audiences, yet each became successful for its own reasons.
Naruto had already become one of the most popular anime series in the world.
Unlike in Zaboru's previous life, Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach had not started as manga before receiving anime adaptations several years later. In this world, all three series had been created as anime projects from the beginning under ZAGE's growing animation empire.
That difference changed how the stories developed.
Instead of adapting chapters from an ongoing manga and occasionally catching up with the source material, the animation studios could plan episodes, story arcs, fights, character development, and production schedules much earlier. The writers were still required to produce episodes consistently, but they did not need to insert enormous amounts of meaningless filler simply to prevent the anime from overtaking a manga.
Naruto had already been airing for around six years.
The series currently had four major seasons and had recently entered the early Shippuden era. Sasuke had already defected from Konoha, Naruto had returned after his long training journey, and the Akatsuki had begun moving more openly against the Jinchūriki.
The current story focused heavily on Deidara and Sasori.
However, Zaboru had made several changes compared to the Naruto he remembered from his previous life.
He did not want the supporting ninja to feel useless whenever Naruto, Sasuke, or one of the most powerful characters entered the battlefield. The other members of Konoha's generation received more serious training, more independent missions, and stronger moments against dangerous opponents.
Neji, Shikamaru, Lee, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Sakura, and the others did not simply stand nearby waiting for Naruto to solve everything.
They were genuinely capable ninja.
Some of them could challenge dangerous enemies alone. Others became extremely valuable through intelligence, tracking, healing, formations, traps, or teamwork. Even characters who were not designed to become overwhelmingly powerful still had roles that made them essential during missions.
That did not make the Akatsuki weaker.
If anything, it made them feel even more threatening.
The ninja of this world were stronger than their counterparts from Zaboru's previous life, but the Akatsuki remained monsters even by those higher standards. Their members possessed terrifying experience, unusual techniques, powerful bloodlines, forbidden jutsu, and the kind of teamwork that made even elite ninja approach them carefully.
Deidara was not merely a strange man who created explosive clay.
He was an aerial combat specialist capable of controlling enormous areas from above, forcing opponents to fight according to his preferred distance. His smaller creations could scout, distract, chase, and explode unexpectedly, while his larger techniques could threaten entire villages.
Sasori was even more frightening.
His puppets carried different weapons, traps, poisons, and hidden mechanisms. Fighting him felt less like fighting one man and more like entering an army controlled by a single mind. Even destroying one puppet rarely meant anything because another one immediately replaced it.
Zaboru wanted Akatsuki battles to feel like true operations.
The heroes needed preparation, teamwork, information, and sacrifice. One powerful attack was rarely enough.
Naruto himself was also developing more gradually.
Zaboru disliked how some long-running series suddenly gave the protagonist enormous power without enough time to understand or earn it. Naruto's growth remained impressive, but each improvement came from training, failure, experience, and learning how to control the Nine-Tails' chakra without losing himself.
The relationship between Naruto and Kurama was also being developed earlier.
Kurama was still hostile, bitter, and dangerous. He did not suddenly become Naruto's friend. However, the series gave more attention to their conversations, their shared loneliness, and the complicated fact that both of them had spent years being treated as monsters.
Those additions made Naruto's emotional journey more important without rushing the final friendship between them.
Zaboru still intended to adjust many future arcs.
The early Shippuden story still followed the broad structure Naruto fans expected. Naruto returned. Akatsuki targeted Gaara. Deidara and Sasori became major threats. Sakura and the others demonstrated how much they had grown.
Naruto's popularity was enormous inside Japan.
Children copied hand signs in school. Teenagers argued about which village had the strongest ninja. Headbands, figures, posters, cards, clothing, and toys sold constantly. Naruto-related discussions frequently appeared on ZAGE Forum, especially after major episodes.
But the series had become even more impressive overseas.
Naruto was already considered one of the main anime that introduced foreign viewers to Japanese animation. In several countries, people who barely watched anime still knew Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Sakura, and the Akatsuki.
The series had even developed the same strange reputation it held in Zaboru's previous world.
Some viewers proudly called themselves Naruto fans.
Others used Naruto as the easiest example whenever they wanted to joke about "weaboo" culture.
Teenagers copied Naruto's running style. Some attempted hand signs in public. Others wore forehead protectors to school despite having no reason to do so.
Zaboru found the entire phenomenon familiar and amusing.
Naruto had once again become one of the most powerful gateways into anime culture.
That popularity made Naruto: Ultimate Ninja one of ZAGE's most anticipated September releases.
The game was inspired by the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series Zaboru remembered from the PlayStation 2 in his previous life, but this version had been heavily rebuilt for ZEPS 3.
Visually, the game used a highly stylised anime presentation.
The characters did not attempt to look realistic. Instead, the developers focused on recreating the strong outlines, exaggerated movements, facial expressions, impact frames, and colourful chakra effects of the television series.
During ordinary combat, the game looked like a fast-moving anime episode controlled by the player.
The stages were presented from a side-view perspective, making the game easier to understand than ZAGE's more complicated three-dimensional fighting titles. Players could quickly learn how to move, block, jump, throw basic attacks, use items, and activate jutsu.
That accessibility was intentional.
Naruto attracted many younger players and anime fans who did not normally spend hundreds of hours learning fighting games. Zaboru wanted them to enjoy the game without memorising long and intimidating command lists.
However, the game was not shallow.
Each character possessed several advanced techniques that rewarded skilled players. Substitution timing could completely reverse an attack. Chakra management determined whether someone could continue using powerful techniques or become vulnerable. Movement across walls and environmental objects created unusual positioning opportunities.
Players could also combine ordinary attacks into different routes depending on direction, timing, and distance.
A beginner could press buttons and create something exciting.
An experienced player could control the entire flow of battle.
That balance became one of the game's greatest strengths.
The roster included characters from both the original Naruto seasons and the early Shippuden era. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Rock Lee, Neji, Hinata, Shikamaru, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and many other popular ninja were playable.
Several Akatsuki members also appeared as unlockable characters.
Each fighter had a distinct style.
Rock Lee relied on speed, pressure, and close-range combinations. Shikamaru used traps, delayed attacks, and Shadow Possession to control space. Gaara fought from a distance using sand as both defence and offence. Neji specialised in precise chakra strikes that could gradually disable an opponent's ability to use jutsu.
Naruto was aggressive and flexible, while Sasuke focused on speed, fire techniques, and the Sharingan.
The most popular feature, however, was the Ultimate Jutsu system.
Once players filled enough chakra and successfully activated their strongest technique, the match transitioned into a short cinematic sequence. The animations showed characters performing iconic attacks with dramatic camera movement, voice acting, special effects, and exaggerated impact.
Naruto could unleash the Rasengan.
Sasuke used Chidori.
Gaara buried opponents beneath crushing sand.
Rock Lee opened the Inner Gates and attacked with frightening speed.
Kakashi used techniques copied through the Sharingan.
Some Ultimate Jutsu sequences changed depending on the stage, costume, or opposing character.
These short scenes immediately became one of the main reasons players loved the game.
Even when someone lost badly, activating one beautiful Ultimate Jutsu could still make the match feel satisfying.
Naturally, the sequences could be skipped during competitive matches. Zaboru understood that nobody wanted to watch the same long animation repeatedly during tournaments.
But during casual play?
Almost nobody skipped them.
The game also included a large story mode following Naruto's major arcs. Players could experience important battles while completing special objectives inspired by the anime.
Certain missions required victory under unusual conditions.
A player might need to defeat an enemy before time expired, protect an ally, survive with limited health, or finish the battle using a specific jutsu.
Between fights, short animated scenes connected the story.
The developers did not attempt to reproduce every anime episode. Instead, they focused on the moments that worked best as gameplay.
A separate mission mode allowed players to accept smaller ninja assignments. These missions rewarded costumes, artwork, music, character profiles, alternate techniques, and hidden fighters.
The game also had local multiplayer, which quickly became one of its strongest features.
Children gathered with friends to recreate their favourite fights. Older players experimented with advanced substitution timing and chakra control. Naruto fans argued endlessly about whether certain characters were too strong.
The game received excellent reviews.
Critics praised its visual style, accessibility, energetic combat, cinematic Ultimate Jutsu, and respect for the anime. It was not considered the deepest fighting game ZAGE had ever created, but it did not need to be.
It succeeded because it understood what Naruto fans wanted.
They wanted to feel like ninja.
They wanted to perform the techniques they had watched for years.
They wanted to create impossible matchups and defeat their friends with dramatic attacks.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja gave them exactly that.
The second September release was Crash Bandicoot 3.
Crash Bandicoot was already one of ZAGE's most recognisable platforming mascots. The earlier games were popular because they combined simple controls, colourful stages, hidden secrets, fast reactions, and enough challenge to make completion satisfying.
Crash Bandicoot 3 expanded almost everything that made the previous games enjoyable.
The adventure began after Uka Uka was released from imprisonment, joining forces with Doctor Neo Cortex and Doctor Nefarious Tropy. Their plan involved travelling through time and collecting powerful crystals from different historical periods.
That time-travel concept gave the developers enormous freedom.
Instead of keeping Crash inside one island or laboratory, every world could use a completely different setting.
Crash travelled through medieval villages, ancient Egyptian tombs, prehistoric jungles, futuristic cities, Arabian rooftops, pirate waters, and military battlefields. One stage could involve avoiding knights and wizards, while the next placed Crash in front of dinosaurs or deadly traps inside a pyramid.
The constant variety prevented the game from becoming repetitive.
Traditional platforming remained the foundation.
Crash ran through narrow paths, jumped over pits, spun enemies away, broke crates, collected Wumpa Fruit, and searched for hidden routes. The controls had been polished further, making movement more responsive than in the earlier games.
Crash also learned new abilities after defeating bosses.
These included a double jump, a more powerful body slam, faster running, and an expanded spinning attack. The abilities did not merely make Crash stronger. They encouraged players to return to earlier levels and access areas that had previously been impossible to reach.
Vehicle stages added another layer of variety.
Crash rode a motorcycle through traffic-filled roads, controlled a small aircraft during aerial battles, and escaped dangerous enemies while riding unusual animals. Coco Bandicoot also became playable in several stages, including levels where she rode a tiger or operated vehicles.
The vehicle sections were intentionally simple enough to understand immediately, but difficult enough that achieving the best time still required practice.
Time Trials became one of the most addictive features.
After completing a stage normally, players could return and attempt to finish it as quickly as possible. Special crates temporarily froze the timer, rewarding players who memorised optimal routes and took dangerous shortcuts.
Earning relics became a major challenge.
Ordinary players could complete the story without mastering every stage, while perfectionists could spend many additional hours chasing the fastest possible times.
The game's crate challenges also returned.
Breaking every crate in a stage rewarded gems, but doing so often required careful exploration, hidden paths, and difficult jumps. Several secret levels could only be discovered through unusual actions that the game never explained directly.
Players shared discoveries through ZAGE Forum.
Some explained how to reach hidden platforms. Others posted their best Time Trial records. Many argued over which motorcycle stage was the most frustrating.
The boss fights were also larger and more memorable.
Tiny Tiger fought Crash inside a Roman arena.
Dingodile used a dangerous flamethrower while surrounded by barriers that could be destroyed.
Doctor N. Gin attacked using enormous machinery.
Doctor Nefarious Tropy manipulated time itself.
Finally, Crash confronted Cortex while powerful forces clashed around them.
The fights remained understandable for younger players but contained enough patterns and spectacle to make them exciting.
Visually, Crash Bandicoot 3 was one of the most polished platformers on ZEPS 3.
The environments were colourful and varied, the animations were expressive, and Crash reacted comically whenever he failed. Being crushed, burned, frozen, attacked by animals, or thrown into hazards resulted in different exaggerated animations.
Players sometimes failed intentionally just to see what would happen.
The soundtrack also changed with each historical setting, helping every stage feel unique.
More importantly, the game respected the player's time.
Someone could simply complete the main stages and enjoy a fun platforming adventure. Another player could hunt every gem, relic, secret level, and hidden crate for full completion.
The game was easy to begin but difficult to master completely.
That made Crash Bandicoot 3 appealing to children, families, casual players, and dedicated platforming fans at the same time.
Reviews praised its stage variety, polished controls, humour, replayability, and creative time-travel structure.
Many critics called it the best Crash Bandicoot game so far.
Together, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja and Crash Bandicoot 3 created another powerful month for ZAGE.
September followed with two more successful ZEPS 3 games.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja proved that licensed anime games did not need to survive through popularity alone. They could still be stylish, mechanically satisfying, and enjoyable even for players who were not deeply familiar with the series.
Crash Bandicoot 3 proved that ZAGE could continue improving an established mascot without losing the simplicity that made the original games successful.
The two releases sent a clear message.
ZAGE had not slowed down.
Even while its developers worked on ZEPS 4, the company continued supporting ZEPS 3 with games strong enough to dominate attention on their own.
But by the middle of October, discussions across ZAGE Forum had already begun changing.
Players were satisfied with the current games.
Now they wanted to know what came next, which is ZEPS 4.
And by mid-October 2001, players had become increasingly impatient to see it.
To be continued.
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