Wartech/Senko No ronde: My thoughts..

[mrtie]

Ok So I've enjoyed G. Rev enough in the past go against my better judgment, and that of seemingly most of the mainstream reviewers and picked up Wartech. At first sitting I really didn't get the game, that said after actually doing a bit of reading and some seat time I've come to see the game in some new light. This game for those of you that are not aware of it is a pretty dang unique hybrid between fighting game and shmup.You basically pilot a Mech like ship that has different abilities, firing patterns, supers, and speed. The main area of the game is you fighting other mech to move the story along in standard fighting game 2 round settings, you also have a life bar, and bombs which amount to well the closest thing I can even think us is like the super powered mode in the Powerstone series, meaning for short amount of time you are extremely powerful and put out huge amounts of damage. Where this game shines for me at least is the fact that given the amount of things you can do within the playing field, it can allow for some really fun mind games so to speak, against the cpu the game is a little bit empty but against another person it really starts to show it's true colors. The versus game play in a lot of ways reminds Virtua On, though not quite as polished and a bit more limited. That said I picked the game up for an astounding $9.99 brand new, and after an evening on it with a few friends I think that it's worth quite a bit more. I haven't as of yet tried to play it on Live and wonder if there is an active community, but with as hard as the game got panned I somehow doubt it. All in all though I think this game especially at the steep discount it has been selling for is really a under appreciated gem on the 360 and if you like shmups, fighters, or more specifically game like VO or even ZOE this might be right up your alley.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mf96wa7f6Q&fmt=18
Pretty nifty example of the versus gameplay.

[RackGaki]

http://insomnia.ac/reviews/naomi/senkonoronde/
This is a quality review of the game from when it was still in the arcades.

http://rounders.omnivangelist.net/
Relatively new site that attempts to be a comprehensive encyclopedia of information concerning the game. Strategy, stats, thoughts, etc. I plan on joining as soon as I stop sucking at the game. I've played it over the 10 hour mark, but 8 of those hours were a year ago. I appreciate the styling and genre-bending, and it is very rewarding for the individual who bothers learning how to play this game.

After you get a feel for this game, you realize that while it may be difficult, it's in a fair manner. The learning curve is high for someone like myself who has never played a Virtual On game in his life. I have plenty of shoot 'em up time under my belt, but this game is a whole new challenge for me.

[Doctor Fugue]

You guys are making me regret never playing this. I will now; you make it sound like my kind of game. Why did I always hear so much crap about it?

[RackGaki]

Did you read the reviews from the usual suspects on Metacritic? Most reviewers don't care for anything remotely SHMUP related unless it has Treasure behind it, and even then, only if it's related to RS or Ikaruga.

I haven't as of yet tried to play it on Live and wonder if there is an active community, but with as hard as the game got panned I somehow doubt it.

When I first started playing this game, I noted that the online population was composed of about forty Koreans, a dozen Japanese, and two or three American players. Every one but the Americans were highly ranked. Needless to say, I opted out of online play.

[mrtie]

You guys are making me regret never playing this. I will now; you make it sound like my kind of game. Why did I always hear so much crap about it?

Yeah man, give it a shot it's dirt cheap and supporting G. rev is something worthy of 10-20 bucks even if it ends up not being your thing.

[ZenLogikos]

First impressions led me to dismiss this game. Upon second look, it doesn't look half bad. May have to track this down, especially if it's so cheap as was mentioned. I didn't realize it had user-controlled bullet patterns!

[Gamerforlife]

You guys have read this right?

http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/ ... oronde.htm

Second best site on the web, after Racketboy of course

[RackGaki]

I would have added the HG101 article, but it's blocked at my work site. Great article too, with the exception of the whiny rebuttals of why the game is actually good.

There's little reason not to buy this game, too, since you will never find a G.Rev title cheaper than this. I will actually go against a point in the Hardcore gaming article and say that if this game had been released at a $30 price point instead of a $60 one, it would have been more successful. Ubisoft overestimated the viability of the genre, and consequently, this was one of the first 360 games to drop a full $50 at retail. If not the first.

[mrtie]

Wow great article just finished I'm actually a little freaked out that they came to same feeling conclusions about VO and ZOE as some what comparative.

Also Rack I completely agree, just playing the game and thinking about I really have to wonder what in the hell ubisoft was smoking even porting this game, not that I don't like it but the game itself basically is in a niche of it's own within an already extremely small niche genre in the west. Honestly i think this game would have been much better received as a XBL release, but I for one am glad to have a hard copy even if the cover art is a bit silly. On a side note I just found a killer deal for a J-360($205 for a 20gb), so I'm extremely excited about all the up coming shmups even more now.

If nothing else we all owe G.Rev thanks for having the balls to bring the first exclusive shmup-like title to the 360 which has obviously opened the literal flood gates in japan now.

[RackGaki]

I replied to your other post @ the SHMUPs forum before I caught this reply. When we have a general 2D forum and another dedicated to a specific retro genre, we tend to get a few cross-members here and there. It doesn't seem like too many of the old school members over there come across over here, though - mainly some members of racketboy just seem to be newer members over there.

The cover art Ubisoft chose for this game was abysmal. It looks like they were trying to hide the anime-feel of the whole game and make it look like a robot "FPS-like" shooter. Do you think that could account for some of the disgruntled buyers?