Senran Kagura Bursts Into The UK Top 40 While Donkey Kong Country Hangs A Little Higher Up

"Boobs" sell games.

Hopefully SKB's success encourages the porting of more niche titles.

@Damo I get the feeling you're having alot of fun coming up with article titles related to this game.

I'm surprised.

FYI: The image is for Shinovi Versus, the Vita game, not Burst.

I have to say I'm not keen on 'fan service' games / Anime (the likes of Highschool of the Dead / Ikki Tousen make me cringe), but I have to say this game is actually quite fun for a button mashing, Streets of Rage-esque brawler. Yes, sex sells: the risque nature of the game and good advertising paid off, but thankfully it's no worse than playing a Dead or Alive game and it puts the gameplay first. The developers released Tekken's main competitor on the PS1 years ago, Battle Arena Toshiden, so they have a good history of fighting mechanics. Give it a go I say!

I didn't buy Donkey Kong at retail so no, but it was a day one download!

38 is pretty rubbish, probably only a couple of thousand units, but sad that's still better than Bravely Default managed

Not only "Boobs" sell games, I would say !
I'm enjoying it, the gameplay is good, and I like the funny dialogs !

Boobs probably helped, BUT, I think we saw more commercials for this thsn any Wii U game to date. If this game was advertised as little as most Wii U games it wouldnt be in the top 100. A little bit this, a little bit this. Mar-ket-ing.

@rjejr I've seen wayyy more commercials for Super Mario 3D World than this game.

@NodesforNoids Considering its universal infamy and that new copies can be picked up for like £5 online, I guess many people were all like (just how bad is it, let's give it a shot). Or perhaps being cheap attracted people who don't know any better.

Back to SKB, got it on Friday and despite some quality issues (running animations in the 'hub' rooms) it's quite the fun game and I had trouble putting it down over the weekend (take what you want from that statement). Even wore the t-shirt on Saturday (under a very thick coat).

Lol "burst" immaturity aside is this game any good or just fan service?

@NodesforNoids I want to see the link to that Amazon review..

and my senran kagura version still isnt shipped yet -,-

@Peach64 It is more than likely better than Bravely Default. (Sooner Square Enix realises they have totally lost it and just translates what they have never yet the better).

Is it available for download in the US yet? Not able to check at the moment since I'm getting ready to go to a class.. Fiancé is away for another 8-9 months so I think I'm perfectly safe if I pick this up xD

Also, another funny game that has thrown a lot of my friends off on Steam is "Drunken Robot Pornography", it has absolutely nothing to do with the name, but everyone acts like the people in the SKB commercial when the guy asks for it at the game store xD

@B3ND3R Its download only in the US. Europe got lucky!

I want a physical cart. No excuses for this. I DL lots of indie titles but I refuse to DL retail. I'm a collector, so if I can't have the pretty box and the option of reselling if I don't like it, what's the point? Grumble grumble region lock showing it's ugly head again. There's a couple or Euro and Jap DS games I imported and enjoyed. Booooo...

@B3ND3R
It's been out in the US since November.

Just got confirmation my copy has been sent. I guess I'll receive it tomorrow.

@StarDust4Ever same here! I actually felt bad purchasing Code of Princess as a download only. I didn't want to support that choice, but I wanted to play the game. Glad this one DID make it here in physical form. For the same reason I haven't purchased the latest Ace Attorney game yet, even though I'm a huge fan of the series.

Do these charts include download sales?
If not 38 is a very impressive placement, surely most people downloaded to avoid having to destroy the physical evidence!!!

Breasts aside, I freaking love their costumes. Gotta love the art direction in Japanese games. Epic.

Lol its senran kagura vita, shinovi versus
an irony?

busty ladies there.

Its a major achievement when Senran Kengura Burst comes in 38 but when DK finished 2 in Japan it was all doom and gloom. Makes perfect sense...

Is that list only for retail? If so skb sales must be amazing since i imagine lots of people would get the game digitally

@sikthvash
Wow I had no idea that they did BAT. It was bundled with my PS1 and I played it all the time. I was already going to get this game, but knowing that will advance the date of purchase.

@StarDust4Ever
Their "excuse" is basically that this type of niche game won't sell in the US. So to release it while keeping low cost, they go digital only.

Also compared to Japan or Europe, sex is a tabou subject in the US, while violence is not (ex: You can't release Final Fight with females as enemies, but you can release Mortal Kombat......??????)

@mastermp2 No offense to anyone but I don't get the appeal of bloody games such as FPS, etc... I don't like blood and gore yet T&A can be fun if it has gameplay to back it. I might have still downloaded it but I'm not really good at fighting genre. However, if the game is as easy as people say, it may be more accessible than a more "serious" title.

Here are some games which sold better than DK: Fifa, COD Ghosts, BF4, a Minecraft port, a supposedly terrible Castlevania game and Plants vs Zombies.

Not surprising in the least but still truly disheartening.

So... since it's doing okay in Europe, perhaps those in the NA who prefer retail can use this to make a plea for a physical release here?

I really don't care about having a physical copy of the game, I just want those bonuses.

Bought them both

Think it's a real shame that with Senran Kagura Burst, all the attention has been about the 'controversial' content but not the actual game itself which is a really fun, well crafted brawler with some hilariously OTT play mechanics....I managed a 1512 hit combo at one point and I'm sure I could've managed more had my concentration not slipped for a split second. I think the levelling up system's been really well implemented as well. People are deciding whether or not to buy it just purely based on how amusing they do/don't find the subject matter, which is a little sad.

Senran Kagura Burst is not that atypical. There is quite a few of those type of animé brawlers. (No equivalent run n gun though or shmups).

Since you guys keep asking, I'll confirm it. Yes, Senran Kagura Burst is a good game (read: not perfect, not quite great) with an interesting story, solid enough combat mechanics and a lot of content.

Also, these sales are only retail for a good amount of the stores in the UK, not Europe. The game hasn't released in a good number of PAL countries retail wise and even on the eShop (we can't change country now with Nintendo IDs without wiping a ton of data including games if we buy them).

Is 38 a good rank? Depends more on what kind of numbers, Marvelous Europe and Zen United were expecting. When it comes to the high profile games, they usually top the charts in their week (Thief, Lego Movie, ) or hit somewhere in the top 10 (Thief, Donkey Kong) and perhaps continue to do well for months. I can't jump for joy, but assume that they did well on the basis of the Life and Hometown edition at Funstock.co.uk going out of stock fast and only seeing one copy left at my local GAME last Friday.

One thing you can look at for more of an idea of how it did is the 3DS charts, as these charts are combined (even if the games are different like The Lego Movie on 3DS and on PS3), having any system exclusive chart is impressive in a sense.

And... Senran Kagura was the fourth best selling game at retail last week behind The Lego Movie and Pokemon X + Y: http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p%2Fsoftware%2Fuk%2Farchive%2Findex_test.jsp&ct=310019&arch=t&lyr=2014&year=2014&week=9

So I guess the sales of Senran Kagura in both the US and UK markets can only mean good things in the long run, such as a localization of other Senran Kagura titles like Shinovi VS for the Vita or SK2 for the 3DS.

@HaNks good im not the only one who noticed it too.

The fact this cracked the top 40 is impressive indeed. For this type of game these numbers are nothing to scoff at. Still not my kinda game.....

@Daemonite SENRAZARADANAKADAGABURSBURSTU!! Itz a leetl bet, and a leetl bet....

@StarDust4Ever

Good point. While I like FPS (like, not love) I play them for the gameplay aspect not for the blood and gore. It's kinda sad that people just go for them for the violence aspect

I like beat 'em ups like Final Fight and Streets of rage, but i also like games like Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's edge, not for the gore and violence but for the challenge and gameplay

Senran Kagura Burst has some T&A factor, but.... Is that worst than violence?? No

It is a shame that some countries make this such a taboo subject

Interesting fact: according to something I read on the net, Japan is one of the countries with the lowest violent crime rate, while US is the opposite..... Coincidence???

@mastermp2 Funny you bring up FPS. There is a title for Game boy and SNES called Face Ball. It's basically a hardcore FPS game cloaked behind innocent smiley faces and slow moving bullets. No blood, no mud, no swearing or red ooze filling up the screen when you die. Just obnoxious generic looking smiley faces who want to kill you. I had the monochrome Game boy title. I actually enjoyed it despite getting my rump kicked. Needs to pick up the more colorful SNES version me thinks...

@Uriel_PikpikVII Geez, show's how much I paid attention to it..