Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen Series, which one to buy?

I was wondering if anyone here has played any of the Naruto fighting series Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen on Gamecube? It seems that there have been 3 sequels to the original, and I'm hoping someone here can recommend which release is the best in their opinion, 1, 2, 3, or 4?

 

4th of course.

 

Lol, I hope you've actually played them all and are speaking from experience. Sometimes latest sequel isn't always the best, ya know! I just didn't want to assume that the 4th one was better than the previous 3, but thanks!

 

I have all of them.

The first isn't worth having, the second is alright, the third is great, and the fourth is even better.

The only bad thing about the fourth is the character select screen since they decided to load 3D models everytime you highlight a character. The third had the best select screen since it just loaded 2D sprites.

 

Yeah everything else about 4 is pretty good. Cept that damn select screen. Man that's annoying.