If there’s one thing 1990s kids remember fondly, it’s those colorful crime and evil fighting teams that in Japan are called sentai, but that everywhere else were known as… the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers! Hard to deny it was one of the biggest hits in television at the time, and one that still endures to this day, after dozens of new iterations, capturing the imagination of children in playgrounds everywhere.
In videogames, the Power Rangers made a huge splash during the 16-bit generation, and it’s there that the newest one takes its inspiration. Digital Eclipse’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is undoubtedly influenced by the titles that were released on Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, down to the character designs and overall look of the game. The homages don’t stop there, as it’s packed full of memorabilia from the show’s original seasons and a few others to boot.
Beat ‘em ups were the bee’s knees back during that time, and over the last few years, it’s seen a resurgence in gaming, most notably with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, Streets of Rage 4, and both River City Girls and River City Girls 2. All of them attempt to revitalize established brands and franchises among fans by way of nostalgia, but also quality content and plenty of replay value. Rita’s Rewind is no exception to this, bringing equally easy to pick up and fun gameplay that players of all shapes and sizes can enjoy.
The story has Rita Repulsa meeting a future version of herself in the form of Robo-Rita, who warps back through time in order to rid the world of the presence of the Power Rangers. In the game, we’re taken to the very first season of the show, wherein Jason, Kimberly, Zack, Trini, and Billy come together to become the group at the behest of Zordon, with the help of the lovable robot Alpha. You go through the motions of the TV show, but with twists to the story as Robo-Rita’s machines work to alter the timeline to her favor, amusingly so, especially to those who originally watched the initial seasons of Power Rangers, such as myself.
The game comprises five episodes, each containing stretches of your usual taste of beat ‘em up gameplay, where you have one attack button, the ability to jump, and using special attacks. There are also Mode 7/Space Harrier-inspired front-the-back shooting stages, along with first-person “Rock ‘n Sock ‘em”/Punch-Out!! bout against a boss with unique attacks that have to be dodged while riding the powerful Megazord. The latter is probably the weakest of the bunch as it tends to be a bit slow and fiddly to deal with, since hits tend to be difficult to land and it takes a while to power up the sword, which then allows you to land the final blow.
Still, even with those issues, the mecha fights help provide plenty of nostalgia as the theme song from the show blares from your TV speakers at all times. Personally though, I would’ve much preferred a more fighting game styled approach, in the way it was done in the more tournament fighter games released during the same time the brawlers were released when I was little.
My fondest memories of playing Power Rangers are most definitely tied to renting from Blockbuster or borrowing the Super Nintendo version of the original game from friends, enjoying it with either my brother or other friends on the couch. This feeling is ever present in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind. You can have up to five other players, much like Turtles, joining you online, which can be just as enjoyable tearing through bad guys as a team of Rangers. It can also be very chaotic in the same way Shredder’s Revenge was a few years ago, but it’s all good fun.
Also, it shares the same 3 objectives system that challenges you to finish a level without dying, avoiding certain attacks, scoring the max score, beating it under a specific time, etc. These help provide replay value to an otherwise short playtime, much in the vein of old school games in the genre. These help to challenge those looking to squeeze more out of their time with this one, even more so when it comes to hunting for trophies/achievements, containing a varied list of tasks to be done before getting the platinum.
You can also collect items in order to fix arcade games that can be played in between missions at Ernie’s juice bar, where you’ll run into Bulk and Skull, the show’s blumbling, overconfident, but with a heart of gold hidden deep within comic relief duo, that managed to be present through many, many seasons of Power Rangers due to their popularity. It’s cute to see their old faces in pixelated form, as well as Angel Grove as a whole, a place kids like me spend hours catching a glimpse of on TV.
Overall, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is a beat ‘em up that excels at providing plenty of nostalgia to those familiar with the source material, but even those that have not grown up watching it can find something to enjoy. Whether through its more traditional beat ‘em up sections or in the way of its shooting stages, the gameplay is varied and the presentation is spectacular, which are enough to hold the player’s interest for quite a while. Developer Digital Eclipse is on a run this year, that’s for sure.
