Senran Kagura: Peach Ball

Senran Kagura Peach Ball is one of those “You got chocolate in my peanut butter/You got peanut butter in my chocolate” moments you don’t see often in video games. It combines the unapologetic lewd and silly nature of the franchise with the thrill and unpredictable excitement that I love about pinball.

Senran Kagura Peach Ball is a pinball gaming masterpiece, but it's also incredibly light on content. There's just five characters and two tables, which really isn't a lot. Still, the content that is here is incredibly polished, gorgeous and addictive. These two tables are some of the most fun and jam-packed video game pinball tables I've ever experience, and if the game had just a few more of them, it would be a must-have for any pinball fans looking for their next adventure.

Marvelous and Honey∞Parade Games' biggest mistake with Senran Kagura: Peach Ball was treating it as a budget title because it deserves so much more: more tables, more girls, more everything. Combining the cheeseball sexuality of Senran with pinball is perhaps the most brilliant idea this franchise has ever had and the execution of what is here is nearly flawless. But the lack of a diverse set of pinball tables and a curtailed cast keep Peach Ball from reaching the excellence it could have so easily achieved if the developers had more time and more ideas for what they wanted Peach Ball to be.

Senran Kagura: Peach Ball displays new-found confidence and discernable competence when taking on a new genre, even if the overall package does appear light on content. Familiar staples from the series, such as unlockable outfits and dioramas, do pad the content out somewhat, making it a good title for fans of the series.

Senran Kagura: Peach Ball is hampered by a lack of content. The five different storyline paths are fine, but the presence of only two tables hurts the game. The two tables are designed well, even if they're similar to one another, and the ease with which one can achieve high scores makes it encouraging for both pinball newcomers and veterans alike. At the moment, you need to be a huge franchise fan to pick up this title, but if you're a pinball fan who doesn't mind the overly suggestive look and the ridiculous story, Peach Ball is worth checking out if it goes on sale.

Senran Kagura: Peach Ball might be lacking in variety but offers an enjoyable pinball experience complete with lewdness that is sure to keep players engaged for hours.

It’s pretty clear that Honey Parade isn’t putting their A team on the Switch stuff. If you’re a Senran fanboy like myself, Peach Ball is probably worth it. If you just like video game pinball, there are better, more cost-effective options out there.

Senran Kagura Peach Ball could be the perfect videogame for a Nintendo Switch summer.

Although there is no actual nudity in the game, it gets down to naked with their bits covered… and groping… and lewd poses… There’s also some swearing. Peach Ball deserves its M rating, and that’s going to be a huge part of its appeal. If you’re looking for a pervy Japanese pinball game, then look no further. In the end, I can happily say that I’m glad to have a solid pinball game on my Switch.

This is definitely a big step up over Reflexions in terms of quality and if you like pinball and Senran Kagura, this is definitely worth getting.

Another spin-off of the ninja franchise comes to Nintendo Switch, offering its fans a multitude of extras as erotic as bizarre but failing as an arcade game of pinball for its low variety of boards and a gameplay that is far from perfect.

The only reason why we would recommend this game is if you’re looking for an erotic pinball. Other than that, it’s a game with strange physics and not a lot of content, which makes other pinballs out there a better option.

Senran Kagura Peach Ball has a strong base for a Pinball title, however, it’s short amount of content makes it hard to recommend unless it’s cheap.

Even Senran Kagura: Peach Ball's delightfully flirtatious take on pinball can’t make up for a frustrating lack of content.

This spin-off features a visually rich environment, fun gameplay mechanics and a myriad of unlockable content but it would have been more enjoyable if the game featured more characters and a greater variety of pinball tables.

You've got to ask yourself: if you're looking for quality pinball, would you not be better off playing a pinball title that offers actual quality? And if you're looking for something sexy, would you not be better off looking for something actually sexy? Peach Ball is broadly entertaining, but it's hardly a pinnacle in either case.

So there is some casual fun to be had in the video pinball side of things but it would be much more fun if the game gave you better control over the ball. You can tilt the table to move the ball up or down but this is hit or miss and it seems like the game wants you to make use of this function more than you expect. But if you’re interested in a solid pinball game then you might want to look elsewhere and if you’re here for the Senran Kagura side of things then the overall game will have more on offer with cutscenes featuring interactions between the girls as they bring each other back to human form and other activities.

In terms of content far less voluptuous than its main characters and with sub par pinball physics, this doesn’t give you much bang for your buck.

A chronic lack of contents makes this game really overpriced and so light also for the most loyal fans.

Senran Kagura: Peach Ball is briefly enjoyable, but is bogged down by a lack of things to do aside from skipping through tedious dialogue. Senran fans may find themselves content with the ways you can, ahem, interact with its cast, but for the rest of us this is a passably decent pinball game and little else.

I just don’t see the point in Senran Kagura Peach Ball. If you want to play pinball, download Pinball FX3 for free and you’re all sorted. Maybe buy a table or two that take your fancy to expand your options. If you want to see some anime tiddies, open up your browser and do a google search. I mean, Senran Kagura Peach Ball isn’t awful, but I don’t see any reason why you need to spend £35.99/$39.99 on it.

True to fashion, Senran Kagura Peach Ball takes a ridiculous concept, and revels in it. As a pinball game, it's not all that complex or rewarding. In order to get the most out of it, the player must also be a fan of the franchise and its penchant for perversion. There's some entertainment in learning the ins and outs of each table. However, with only two to choose from, boredom will set in long before the story is completed. It definitely doesn't help that there's not much of a point in chasing high scores. Online leaderboards and a reasonably challenging level of difficulty would have gone a long way towards improving this product.

We spent a long time mulling over why Senran Kagura: Peach Ball didn’t push any of our buttons. If you find anime ladies with animal features highly appealing, you can probably add a couple of points to the score below. Ultimately, though, Peach Ball serves up a tedious, repetitive story with monotonous characters and pinball tables that can be characterised likewise. Despite a polished art style and a genuinely interesting idea of livening up the arcade game in a way only possible in a video game, we found the end result sorely lacking in the pinball department.