Shooting, fighting, androgyny: Senko no Ronde coming stateside

by Jared Rea { Apr 4th 2007 at 3:00AM }

Best described as a sexy, cocaine-fueled Virtual On gone 2-D, Senko no Ronde is one of the most original fighters to grace arcades in years. When it was released on the Xbox 360 last year in Japan, we figured it would stay on that side of the ocean like fellow Japanese wonders Tetris: The Grand Master Ace and The iDOLM@STER.

But when it popped up on a popular retail site about two months ago with UbiSoft's name plastered on it, we were giddier than a fat kid trapped inside a Ben & Jerry's shop. You can only imagine our pain when, after working our way through contact after contact, not a single person at UbiSoft would even talk about it. Heck, most didn't even know what a "Seiko no Rodeo" even was. Thankfully, the ESRB does.

Now titled Battle Storm: Senko no Ronde, we can rest easy knowing that we'll be busting up fools online soon enough, while silently weeping over what could be one pricey title. When last faced with an upscaled port, UbiSoft launched Import Tuner Challenge at the now standard $59.99. Senko no Ronde needs all the love it can get and for folks to take a chance a Naomi-based title in this day and age, they're going to need a little more motivation beyond unlocking pictures of Cuilan. For a simple rundown of exactly how Senko no Ronde works, check out this ancient preview, complete with control diagram.

Tags: senkonoronde, ubisoft

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

JBGUY2K @ Apr 4th 2007 3:11AM

holy crap, saw this game a few years back... didn't think it'd ever come stateside. Ubisoft's starting to shape up as a godly publisher.

Strike Man @ Apr 4th 2007 3:22AM

EBGames.com has had this listing since last week, although it's also listed under "War Tech". Perhaps "Battle Storm" was the title Ubi had used when they had submitted the game to the ESRB.

http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=200305

David @ Apr 4th 2007 8:20AM

The movie says "Senko no Rondo" not Ronde. Looks interesting, will probably be a long time before it comes to the UK though...

sheppy @ Apr 4th 2007 9:07AM

"holy crap, saw this game a few years back... didn't think it'd ever come stateside. Ubisoft's starting to shape up as a godly publisher."
And yet for every good Ubisoft game... there is a Wii title.

Seems almost too chaotic to have a fighting strategy going on. Could be wrong though.

32_Footsteps @ Apr 4th 2007 9:25AM

Hmm... given that I still play Gotcha Force frequently, I would enjoy a new romp in that style. Though the 2D gives me pause... while I'm not usually that picky about dimensions, I don't see Virtual On or Gotcha Force working in 2D, so I have a hard time mentally visualizing this working well.

trent @ Apr 4th 2007 10:28AM

man i love bullet hell games, and the idea of blending that with a fighter (which i have never been good at... except for killer instinct gold for some reason) is just awesome. i hadnt heard of or seen this game until now.

so wow. yes.

Muu @ Apr 4th 2007 11:11AM

Sheppy: I played this thing a few times late last year. Arcade interest in Japan for this has certainly passed, but the game itself seems solid. The game demos look chaotic, but there was definitely more than just holding the fire button to this. I thought B.O.S.S. mode would mean an instant win, but in reality you become a slow, lumbering target that doesn't really do as much damage as it looks like you should. You can find page after page of character strategies in Japanese if you look around a bit, as well.