Posted in: Digital Eclipse, Games, Review, Video Games | Tagged: mighty morphin power rangers, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind, power rangers

Short Quest: We Review Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind

Its Reviewin Time! We answered Alpha's call on our communicator and have reviewed Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind

There was a point in time back in the '90s where the Power Rangers ruled the planet. Quite literally, the Super Sentai-based TV series became a fixture of kid's programming and toy requests, sparking several seasons of rangers fighting against all kinds of bad guys and resonating with a couple of generations of kids to this day. You'd think a franchise like that, especially during that time period, would have cornered the video game market. But no, they only released four games in the '90s, and the only one that kinda did well was the 1995 SNES version based on the movie. What's more, you would think in that period, we would have gotten an arcade beat 'em up, seeing how it's tailor-made for the genre. But again, no, just side-scrollers that were 1-2 players. Thankfully, Digital Eclipse decided to step in and make one. We answered Alpha's call, pulled out our power coin, and morphed into action for our review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind.

The plot of the game is pretty cool from their standpoint, and it feels like a Power Rangers storyline we should have gotten. Keeping it a bit spoiler-free, the game features a final battle with Rita Repulsa, the first villain of the series before Lord Zed showed up, who, as Robo Rita, in a last-ditch effort, goes back in time to help her past self try to defeat the Rangers with new powers and knowledge of future events. You play as one of the Rangers (or multiple with your friends), taking on a cavalcade of villains and monsters from the TV series' first three seasons, trying to stop both present and future Rita from winning. The team did a pretty awesome job making reference to the U.S. TV series in a lot of ways, as there are plotlines from the show that intersect in order, including the introduction of the Green Ranger.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind plays much like you would expect from an arcade beat 'em up, as you pick your favorite character and go into battle, fighting with your fists and the ranger's weapon, building up your status bar to a special move. Once you get the gauge high enough, you can pull off a special move as you see that Ranger's power coin appear and every enemy gets hit. The twist to this is you come across crystals called Time Disruptors that you can destroy to activate a rewind in the combat, forcing you to go back and do things over again, which can be a great benefit to start things over and replenish your status bars. The game also shifts to a sort of third-person mode on occasion when you're fighting on your cycles, battling in the individual Zords, or fighting as the Megazord against a grown enemy.

What works for the game is that it has a lot of the hallmarks we experienced in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, as you have up to six-player co-op, team-ups, hidden items, special levels, and a ton of easter eggs for the true fans who are obsessed with the series. A lot of the game's strengths come from the standard gameplay. What it lacks is that there isn't a ton of innovation compared to other titles, and some of the original items that are here can be wonky or difficult to master. Zord fights being the prime example as there are times when there's just too much happening on screen, and you'll go from 3 lives to zero faster than you think. Not to mention the Megazord battles, where one wrong mistake can set you back to zero, and you have to basically start the entire fight over again.

Overall, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind is a nostalgia game for those who love the series. Fans will get a kick out of talking to characters at the Juice Bar, fighting classic villains, and taking a trip down memory lane with a new pair of glasses. There are a lot of things to do in the game, things to collect and unlock, and even small arcade titles to play on the side that the devs threw in for fun. It isn't perfect; it could use a patch or two to clean things up and make it less punishing in certain areas, but it definitely falls into that "love letter" category that all nostalgia titles hope they achieve. Get a couple of friends to teleport over and morph into action.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind

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Review by Gavin Sheehan

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8/10

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind will take you back to the glory days of '90s arcade beat 'em up titles with an original story fans will enjoy. But it does lack in offering a unique experience.

Credits

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Publisher

Digital Eclipse

Developer

Digital Eclipse

Release Date

December 9. 2024

Reviewed On

Nintendo Switch

Also Available On

PC, Xbox, PlayStation

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