WarTech: Senko no Ronde is a port of a Japanese arcade game simply known as Senko no Ronde. It combines elements of fighting games as well as shoot-em-ups to form a genre all of its own. Senko no Ronde is a rather niche game, though, that fragments its potential audience into such a tiny group that you have to wonder how the game will sell at all. It is a good, fun game if you are of the right mindset going in, but it certainly isn’t going to appeal to the mass market.
Quick Hits
- Title: WarTech: Senko no Ronde
- Platform:Xbox 360
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Developer: G.Rev
- ESRB Rating: “T” For Teen
- Genre: Fighter / shoot-em-up
- Pros: Slick presentation; interesting mix of genres; fun while it lasts
- Cons: Incomprehensible story; single-player gameplay modes are very short; poor value at $60; the most niche game ever
Gameplay
Senko no Ronde plays like a mix between a fighting game and a shoot-em-up (or shmup). You take your giant robot and go to battle against another giant robot in a duel of close range melee attacks, longer range projectiles, and super powerful BOSS attacks where your robot transforms into a huge death machine similar to bosses you’d see in a shmup. Each of the eight characters has a different BOSS attack and different standard attacks, so there is quite a bit of variety. You can fly around anywhere you want in the arena and you can use your three main attacks however you want. Different combinations of attacks result in different moves, and there is quite a bit of depth in the whole experience once you figure things out. The training mode, unfortunately, is worthless and the manual doesn’t tell you much either, so you have to figure out a lot of things on your own. Overall, though, the gameplay is surprisingly fun and the mix of genres works rather well here.
Features and Modes
Ubisoft
Senko no Ronde offers up a handful of gameplay modes, but the overall value of the game leaves a lot to be desired. You get eight characters you can use to play through a story mode with an indecipherable story, a score attack mode that is the same thing as story mode minus the story, and a training mode that offers no actual training. There is also an Xbox Live mode where you can battle against other players, which can be fun for a while as long as you don’t get matched up with a Japanese player that has had the game for months now and will completely dominate you and leave you a sobbing mess in the corner. Unfortunately, that is really the only type of player you’ll find online since no one in the US seems to be playing. The story mode only takes, literally, twenty minutes to play through and score attack is only a little longer, so play through those modes once each with all 8 characters and you have beaten the game in less than 4 hours. At $30, I’d recommend it. At $40 even, I’d recommend it. But at a full $60 for less than four hours of gameplay, the value just isn’t here.
Graphics and Sound
The presentation in Senko no Ronde is pretty slick looking. The graphics are fairly simple, really, but the mech designs are nice, there are lots of bright colors, and everything has a simple, clean, and rather futuristic look to it that fits perfectly.
The sound is also pretty good. The sounds during battle are the sort of thing you’d usually hear in a shmup, so they work just fine here. One slightly weird thing is that the music in the game is all smooth jazz and lounge-style music. It reminds me a lot of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, actually. It seems sort of out of place, but it sounds good and gives an already quirky game even more personality.
Bottom Line
Ubisoft
Overall, WarTech: Senko no Ronde is a fun game, but it has virtually zero mainstream appeal. It is a niche of a niche of a niche of a niche, and it takes a one-in-a-million personality for the whole thing to really gel. For those that do “get it”, Senko no Ronde is probably going to be your favorite game ever. But if you aren’t a big fan of anime, or giant robots, or Japanese-style games, or fighting games, or shoot-em-ups, the game is going to be completely lost on you. And even if you do love all of those things, parting with $60 to play it is a jagged little pill to swallow. Rent it first to see if it is for you, but try to get it for as cheap as possible if you do decide to buy it. Senko no Ronde is a fun game, but it has way too much working against it.
