Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit! is a strange music/rhythm game, as it doesn’t really feel like your typical entry in the genre from the get-go. Developed by Meteorise (known previously for Ciel no Surge), the game highlights the completely over-the-top debauchery the Senran Kagura series is known for, and it easily turns the fanservice up to 11.

Let’s address the concerns that most fans probably have: when you first boot up the game, you’ll notice that over half the cast of kunoichi are missing. In order to unlock all of the girls and ninja schools, you’ll have to purchase the Gessen x Hebijo downloadable content, and Rin and Daidouji are unlockable only if you purchase both of their character packs in Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus. A new fan looking to jump in with Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit! (you really should consider the non-spinoff games) is probably going to be annoyed.

So let’s move onto what most music and/or rhythm game fans are probably most concerned about, the gameplay. The game pans out in completely ludicrous, Iron Chef-style cooking battles where two girls have literal cooking duels that are broken up into three rounds, all judged solely by Hanzou, Asuka’s grandfather. If you thought his perversion was rampant in the main series, wait until you see his reactions to the ladies’ cooking!

There are two rows on which notes (via face and directional buttons) move from right to left, upon which you have to nail the timing down just right to stay on top of your opponent. This is an interesting dynamic in comparison to most music/rhythm games that have a more “solo” experience, i.e. you’re simply trying to “beat” the song. In Bon Appetit!, you’re always competing against an opponent, and if you begin to fall behind on your notes, you get punished quickly.

An even more interesting bit of the gameplay is the cloth-breaking the series is known for: in Bon Appetit!, you destroy your opponent’s clothing by serving the superior dish to Hanzou. He then proceeds to vomit a blast of sunlight/rainbow, destroying a layer of the opposing kunoichi’s outfit.

The key thing here is that you can fail both of the first two rounds, yet still win in the final, third round. There is no audience outside of Hanzou, who seems ultimately to always be won over by the final dish.

It seems a bit odd that you can continually lose, only to rise like a phoenix in the final round and miraculously win. However, if you want to see your favorite girl spread out, completely naked on a giant dessert tray, you’ll have to win all three rounds, reducing her to total nudity after the final round. This prompts the bonus round, where you can take pictures of the lady, who is usually covered in creme and fruit (as seen below), in poses which vary from girl to girl.

Difficulty seems to arbitrarily spike on certain songs, and the shift from normal to hard difficulty seems a tiny bit steep for newcomers. I noticed slowdown on many of the songs, although it’s hard to notice the more minuscule slowdowns in comparison to the really big dips. I would frequently see the notes visibly lag and skip a bit, as if catching up, and some of the more extravagant animations cause entire scenes to drop framerate considerably.

Having the notes themselves experience consistent latency can not only throw off players’ timing, but make them try to compensate, which throws the rest of the song off if the framerate manages to catch up.

This is probably related to the girls on the screen performing some of the more insane animations, in which knives and food fly everywhere, and it’s unfortunate that it happens. Everything else in the game is pretty excellent, most especially the dressing room (complete with cooking animations—oh the possibilities!).

Some of the most memorable moments in the game are definitely the bits of dialogue, and the introspective monologues that come from some of the girls. Most people who aren’t familiar with the Senran Kagura series will say it’s nothing but dick jokes and boobs flopping everywhere, but there is definitely something for everyone here. Who can turn down listening to Asuka shoving a giant futomaki roll down Ikaruga’s throat, while telling her how much she likes it?

Overall, Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit! is certainly an enjoyable experience, although I wish that more polish had been put into the game. If you’re looking for a definitive music/rhythm game on Playstation Vita, you can find that elsewhere. However, this spin-off from the Senran Kagura series has a lot of content and will keep you returning to it for quite some time—especially if you want that coveted platinum trophy, which easily takes 20+ hours to obtain.

Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit! was reviewed using a code purchased by Niche Gamer. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here.

The Verdict: 8

The Good:

• It’s more Senran Kagura goodness. What more can you ask for?
• Fun, catchy tunes and colorful, almost overwhelming visuals.
• Hilarious dialogue that is almost, if not a parody of itself.

The Bad:

• Framerate issues. Nothing game-breaking, but certainly annoying and hampers gameplay.
• Over half the cast is locked behind DLC, although the base game is half what regular PS Vita games cost.
• Medium difficulty is a joke, while the jump to hard could possibly leave some casual players non-plussed.