‘Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson’ Review (3DS)
Senran Kagura Burst was one of my personal favourite fighting games of last year so I was incredibly excited to get my grubby little hands on the sequel, once again released on the Nintendo 3DS, Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson.
If, like me, you enjoyed the first game, you’ll be pleased to hear that this time round the franchise comes complete with more fast-paced beat’em up fun with a host of eye-popping new features, returning character favourites, insane combo chains, hilarious cut-scenes and an abundance of “tantalising” action… And if you’ve played the first game you know EXACTLY what I mean by that… Yes, those breast physics are in full force one again in this sequel – right from the very first cut scene; and that’s before you’ve so much as hit a single button!
Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson continues directly from the events of Senran Kagura Burst, closely following the story and rivalries of the Hanzo and Hebijo Academies, featuring the same sexy (some might say hentai-ish) antics of the gang of teenage ninjas but with improved graphics and audio. And the graphical improvement from ‘Burst’ is dramatic, with full 3D environments, improved animations and a better framerate! This, combined with original Japanese voice-overs, creates a all-round gorgeous gaming experience. It’s the 3D enviroments that are the biggest change for players of the original game – taking this franchise into a more modern era of three-dimensional fighter rather than the side-scrolling, Double Dragon-esque, gameplay of Burst.
In a departure from the original game, Senran Kagura 2 features pair battles, where two shinobi warriors from opposing academies – Hanzo and Hebijo – must fight together, allowing players to switch between the two at any time, creating a dual character combo system which allows for spectacular and devastating joint attacks, multiplying combos on an epic scale, even moreso than in Senran Kagura Burst. And boy, are the combos absolutely insane in Deep Crimson. Plus… Air combos! Yes, this time round combos can be chained together on land and in the air, meaning there’s really no limit to the ass-kicking insanity and the combos you can rack up.
For those that enjoyed the “sexier” side of this franchise, this game sees players able to pose the girls in a variety of positions, and even pose them in real life environments using the Nintendo 3DS’ built-in camera… Oh, and there’s been improvements to the dressing room mode – though its not an aspect of this particular series I can say I enjoy. I’d much rather stick to the fantastic side-scrolling beat ’em-up action of Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson thanks! It’s a good thing that even despite the obvious fan-service in this franchise, the beat ’em-up action is still some of the best on the 3DS and it should be. After all, developers Tamsoft have a long history in the fighting genre, going all the way back to Battle Arena Toshinden on the PSOne. Now if only we could see a return of THAT franchise… But in the meantime, we’ve always got the Playstation 4 iteration of Senran Kagura to look forward too – jiggly boobs in HD and all!
Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson is out now on Nintendo 3DS, courtesy of Marvelous Europe.
