g.Rev get a ton of credit here for just making something real wacky: an arena fighting / shooting game hybrid with danmaku elements, multi-input combos, BOSS mode (each character can transform into a different giant STG boss!) and other such nonsense.

I dunno if it actually works -- how could I? There is no one I can viably play this game with (I am an adult with a family, who already has extremely weirdo niche interests -- I can't be adding "getting really good at playing the anime girl mech arena fighter shooter on a dead console against real people" to the list) -- and that's where, I would imagine, Senko no Ronde could really shine. If you were to take it seriously, and your opponent were to take it seriously, and there were any kind of community surrounding it (as I'm sure there is, or once was, in Japan) I would guess you could access a lot of deep, fun competitive play.

As it stands now, I mashed buttons for a cumulative hour against the computer, stomped its ass over and over, and had a pretty good time.

In another life, g.Rev... in another life.