Comparison

Steredenn vs Ultra Blade

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Steredenn

Experience an award-winning blend of classic shoot 'em up action and roguelike elements. Engage in intense space combat with a vast arsenal, challenging boss battles, and procedurally generated environments for endless replayability. Choose from multiple ships and customize your loadout to survive.

Highlights
  • Intense boss battles
  • Infinite replayability
  • 4 playable ships
  • 42 weapons and 30 upgrades
  • Daily runs and leaderboards
  • Arena mode for boss duels
Features
Read full description

Steredenn: Binary Stars is an award-winning mashup of a classic shmup and a rogue-like, carved in big beautiful pixels, with insane boss battles. Fly solo, fighting off the worst scourges of space in a never-ending struggle for survival. Steredenn: Binary Stars is the critically acclaimed roguelike-shmup for PC/Mac, Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch, awarded "Best Shoot'em Up 2015" by jeuxvideo.com. With a user rating around 90% on Steam and an average press rating of 8/10, it is now available on iOS! Steredenn: Binary Stars is the hugely expanded version of Steredenn. Enjoy infinite replayability and unforgiving gameplay through intense boss fights, (almost) randomly generated environments, twisted space events and a massive arsenal of weapons. Enhance your ship during your flight with upgrades aplenty, and forge your own path across the universe! ► Features - QUICK, INTENSE SESSIONS: with rock-hard boss battles that’ll keep you coming back for “just one more run”. - INFINITE REPLAYABILITY: Endless arcade action, where levels are (practically) randomly-generated. - 4 PLAYABLE SHIPS: each with its own special ability and playstyle. - MIGHTY ARSENAL: 42 weapons and 30 upgrades with tons of customisation options. Driller, ultralaser, giant saw, robots, hypergun? We got you covered. Next-gen abilities, mysterious alien powers, improved weapons? Yep, there's an upgrade for that. - SCORING: beat your friends and be the best! - BOSS RUSH: fight a weekly selection of epic bosses and work your way up the leaderboard. - DAILY RUN: Try to get to number one in a special daily leaderboard where all players share the same run, guns and bosses. Be ready - you only get one chance per day! - ARENA: Unlock a boss by defeating it in the main game. Then, train against it in a 1-on-1 duel. Your guns, your laws, your fight. - THE ULTIMATE EDITION: Loads of new content, reworked balancing, scoring, optimisation & always more polish.

About

Ultra Blade

Engage in a pixelated roguelike survival RPG where you defend humanity's final city from relentless darkness. Master simple controls to unleash devastating attacks and build unique heroes with diverse powers and weapons for dynamic gameplay sessions.

Highlights
  • Horde survival RPG gameplay
  • Rogue-lite progression
  • Unlockable heroes with unique powers
  • Deep combat build customization
  • One-touch controls with skill-based combat
  • Endless Challenge Mode
  • Offline play
Features
Read full description

Defend Mankind's last city from the endless hordes of darkness! Ultra Blade is a horde survival RPG with rogue-lite progression elements. Build new heroes to take on new challenges while cutting through 1000s of foes at once. New heroes unlock new powers, making runs more dynamic the more you play. Drag to move and auto attack, release to execute a heavy attack. Swipe to dodge. The controls are simple, but the real complexity is in how you build your champion. Infuse flaming bolts into your bow, generate earthquakes with your slashes, or summon blizzards with your shield- the possibilities are almost limitless. Built for short, action-packed sessions. Core features Include: - One-touch control scheme and challenging, skill-based combat - Endless Challenge Mode that refreshes every hour - 27 Unique arena gauntlets to master - 12 Unique heroes to unlock by completing challenges. - 5 core classes (Bow, Shield, Greatsword, Gun, and Staff) and 100s of weapons to mix and match - 15 Meta-changing relics to unlock and upgrade - Mutating enemies that change how they fight and behave. - Fully offline - Blood-pumping soundtrack And more to come! https://twitter.com/_FoolishMortal

Screenshots

Steredenn4 screens
Ultra Blade4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Ultra Blade at free against Steredenn's paid. Ultra Blade also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 10 months) and chart position (#109 vs unranked). Steredenn's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (559 vs 78). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Steredenn costs $3.99 and Ultra Blade $3.49 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Steredenn holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Steredenn has 559 ratings behind it against 78, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Steredenn's written reviews are positive against 68% of Ultra Blade's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Steredenn ships an update every 10 months, Ultra Blade weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Steredenn versus Ultra Blade: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSteredennUltra Blade
Price$3.99$3.49 — better
Rating4.8 (559 ratings) — better4.5 (78 ratings)
Positive reviews78.0% of reviews — better67.7% of reviews
Number of ratings559 — better78
Update frequencyEvery 10 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank—#109 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.010.0
Further details — not scored
Size403 MB61 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperTyGAMESKyle Barrett

Customer experience

Steredenn

All ratings557 ratings
Positive95.5%
Neutral2.2%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews164 reviews
Positive78.0%
Neutral12.2%
Negative9.8%

Ultra Blade

All ratings78 ratings
Positive88.5%
Neutral1.3%
Negative10.3%
Written reviews62 reviews
Positive67.7%
Neutral11.3%
Negative21.0%

User reviews

Steredenn

From 559 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Intense, fast-paced gameplay
  • 🎨 Beautiful pixel art and visuals
  • 🎶 Excellent soundtrack
  • 👍 Addictive and replayable

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent controls and sensitivity issues
  • 🔁 Lack of progression between runs
  • 🤔 Randomness can lead to frustration
  • 📵 No support for larger iPhone screens

Ultra Blade

From 78 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤩 Addictive gameplay loop
  • ✨ Great art and sound design
  • 🎮 Simple yet deep controls
  • 💡 Lots of content and unlocks
  • 🚀 Fast loading times

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Game crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Progress loss issues
  • 🐛 UI cut off/obscured
  • 🐛 Confusing menus/UI
  • 🐛 Unresponsive controls

Bugs and requests

Steredenn

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Daily run feature not functioning
  • Crashes and performance issues on some devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to customize controls
  • Progression system with permanent upgrades
  • More ships and weapon variety
  • Boss rush or challenge mode

Ultra Blade

Reported bugs

38 issues
  • Game crashes after an hour
  • Doesn't save progress sometimes
  • XP disappears
  • Menus are confusing
  • Game crashed with error code
Show 33 more
  • UI is cut off by screen edges
  • Button labeled 'nper'
  • Game doesn't start anymore after crash
  • Error in action number 1 of Create Event for object controller 3
  • Game breaks and doesn't return after first play
  • Can't unlock new zones
  • Notch hides health bar on iPhone 12 mini
  • Game doesn't follow its own rules (damage/aiming)
  • Game won't progress (completed waves not counted)
  • Game is super zoomed in on iPhone 16 Pro Max
  • Settings are hard to get to
  • Game hangs after character dies
  • Black screen error message
  • Crashing every time, losing progress
  • Glitch after second time trying to open the game, blank screen
  • Progress reset after update
  • Freezes and then error code
  • Later waves cannot be efficiently navigated
  • Performance issues on 13pro
  • Game crashed, won't open, black screen
  • Character won't unlock after meeting criteria
  • Teleport item doesn't proc with staff on later levels
  • App froze and wouldn't open, lost progress after uninstall
  • Perk options are too similar
  • Game suddenly becomes slow and hard to control
  • Can't retire blade
  • Equipping skull in stage stops the game
  • Dying to a boss before grabbing loot, can't exit screen
  • Start menu confusing, swiping on sword starts game
  • Camera shake on Rebus Prime is too much
  • Settings button tucked in top left corner
  • Cannot see character sometimes
  • Can't get past character selection screen

Requested features

17 requests
  • Landscape/controller support
  • Streamlined menus
  • More lore/dialogue
  • Korean localization
  • Dash button
Show 12 more
  • Quit round option
  • Return to main menu option
  • Tutorial
  • Joystick-like controls
  • Long-term hero development
  • More items
  • Specific hero development
  • Screen shake option
  • Reroll button placement adjustment
  • Grid of icons for blades
  • Dark mode
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

In-app purchases

None

Steredenn

No in-app purchases

None

Ultra Blade

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Steredenn free?
Steredenn costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ultra Blade free?
Ultra Blade costs $3.49, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Steredenn or Ultra Blade?
Steredenn is rated higher. Steredenn averages 4.8 out of 5 from 559 ratings, while Ultra Blade averages 4.5 from 78 ratings.
Do Steredenn or Ultra Blade have ads?
Neither Steredenn nor Ultra Blade shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Steredenn or Ultra Blade?
Steredenn ships an update every 10 months, and Ultra Blade weekly. Most recently, Steredenn was updated on November 6, 2026 and Ultra Blade on November 7, 2026.

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