Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows revolves around the trainee shinobi of Hanzō Academy; Asuka, Ikaruga, Katsuragi, Yagyuu and Hibari, as they complete missions and battle against rival ninjas.

[3] Producer Kenichiro Takaki's original inspiration for Senran Kagura was from a desire to create something that was very easy to understand but also very deep and detailed for those who appreciate beautiful female characters.

When thinking about what type of game to make for a 3D handheld, he decided that one of the things people most wanted to see in 3D were breasts.

[citation needed] The game was originally released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS on September 22, 2011, as Skirting Shadows.

[10] Ken Berry of North American publisher Marvelous USA stated in early May 2013 that they had considered releasing Senran Kagura Burst digitally outside Japan, but that it was a "scary proposition due to the subject matter and difference in attitudes between Japanese culture and the more conservative culture ... in the U.S."[11][12] On August 6, 2013, Xseed Games officially announced it would release the game digitally via the Nintendo eShop in Fall 2013.

[14] Multiplayer.it appreciated the story and combat, as well as the many quests and secrets that were available to unlock, but took issue with the variable framerate and the repetitive gameplay.

[3] GameZone's Mike Splechta gave the game a 7.5/10, stating that if one liked "[their] anime chicks badass with a healthy dose of jiggle physics, Senran Kagura Burst satisfies on those levels" but warned that there were "painful framerate dips".

[18] Gamestyle characterised both the visuals and dialogue as "creepy", but stated that the game was a "solid, if basic, side scrolling beat em up".