Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind is a Side-Scrolling Beat-em-ups game was released in 2024 for PS5, PS4, XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC. It was developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Atari.
Before I begin reviewing this game, I want to take back to the good old 90s days where I first discovered the TV series that was first aired on TV channels such as Fox Kids, so I've just found Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on my CRT TV screen.
It's an American live-action superhero TV series, which is based on the Japanese media franchise titled Super Sentai, was debuted on 1993.
It adapts characters and footage from Super Sentai for western audiences, while also incorporating its own stories and characters.
To be honest, I don't particularly watched the whole season of the series as much, but I did managed to watch few of the episode when I'm at my cousin's house sometime, so what made the show quite special?
It's just a bunch of colourful rangers start kicking ass, has gigantic-mecha robot welding the sword, has really cool transformation sequence, and of course the rockin theme tune is catchy as f**k is what made the TV show quite popular among with the young audience especially with my childhood classmates from my junior school had talked many good things about the TV show.
The whole franchise has been commercially successful and it quickly established into popular culture expanding many TV series, theatrical films, comic books, novels, line of action figures and other toys, and of course the video games.
I did heard most of the Power Rangers video games are not been great besides the 16-bit line-up of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers games for SNES and Genesis/MD did it decently, where as the rest of the titles for later-gen systems is doing quite bad which the Power Rangers series wasn't very known for the quality licensed video games libraries, until it finally gets it right with the recent title released in 2024 such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind is the kind of game that I actually wanted to play.
It's a Side-Scrolling beat-em-ups game which plays really similar to the early-90s arcade games that we all know back then in the style of gameplay, visuals, and sounds that brings the nostalgia throwback of early-90's arcade classics.
Could it be a one of the Power Rangers better game for big time or is it a game that we should never touch it again?
So without go further do, let's start the review.
Presentation
The game set in 2023 A.D at the Robo-Rita's Palace, as it start outs with the Robotic version of Rita Repulsa from the future who travels back in time to 1993 to join forces with her past self as they attempt to change history using their ability to rewind, rewrite, and remix the past in order to prevent Power Rangers from ever forming.
This led the group of Rangers on their mission is to stop this combined force of Ritas and their future armies from altering the history.
The story in the game is just like in the TV series where you're just the bunch of Power Rangers going on their action to defeat their arch-nemesis and her minions to save the planet once and for all...yeah you get the idea guys because this is what really adds the main charm of the series that was very known for, so no pun intended.
Going back to this, having a story that involved time-shifting system catastrophic that causing a destruction that alts the time history of 1993 seems to be quite an interesting plot for the Power Rangers game like this, so I'm sure you guys will agree my point.
I also liked the cutscene sequences in each stages whether is on during the in-game action or whether if its at the beginning or ending of the stage, so I really liked having these dialogue box between the heroes and villains before and after the fights just adds-up the detail of the game's plot which is completely fine for the arcade game does really need a short and good simple story to appreciate.
I say those kick-ass groups of Power Rangers are sure f***ing awesome in the game, so you have Red Ranger, Blue Ranger, Pink Ranger, Yellow Ranger, and of course Black Ranger.
Don't forget the best part when they made the transformation of 5 zords into megazord, a gigantic mecha-robot who weld with large powerful sword which is strong and moderately fast, and also most common formation that Rangers use when fighting supersized monsters.
The series also has the memorable villain such as Rita Repulsa who dressed in dark sorceress outfit and has a long-staff with large round-shaped on top are sure cheesy especially on TV series which I really liked her screeching voice are quite terrifying, but I think the Robo-Rita are quite much terrifying with the sliver-robotic face which I had to agree that this could be a better version of Rita in the game.
The game's presentation is fantastic is because I loved the animated sequence of the game's opening intro just feels like a throwback to live-action TV series with the original theme song that made the TV series quite recognisable at the start.
I also liked the in-game's pixel-art style that are quite close to early-90s arcade classics with 2D sprites and backgrounds layouts are just looked amazing in the game.
Each of the stages has different layouts of settings such as you have old-rusty canyon, downtown rooftop, mining operation area, industrial waste area, abandoned factory elevator, highway road, carnival and rides, creepy cemetery, downtown street and sub-station, sport field and park site, and of course space station which I considered these locations are seems to be the best fit for the retro-style beat-em-up game.
Overall, it has good story cutscenes, memorable cast of characters, and pixel-art design.
Gameplay
You will have an option to play on single-player solo or local co-op up to 4 or 6 depending on which system you're playing on, and of course the 6-players online co-op.
You get to select any of 5 or 6 playable Power Rangers in which one of the playable character will be unlocked for 6-players mode after beating the game.
You'll be playing on the side-scrolling perspective, as your main goal is to beat the stage by defeating the bosses in order to get to the last stage to face Robo-Rita.
Press the d-pad buttons or push the left stick controls to move the character and also you can double tap forward to run.
Press the square button to use melee attack, while mashing the same button to continuously attack on enemies in which these enemies can take light damage from your hit, but the square button are also used for breaking objects.
You can perform various of moves such as the dash attack which you had to double tap the d-pad or left stick forward then press the square button, and you can also do rising attack by holding the d-pad or left stick up then press the square button used for launching enemies at mid-air which mostly works better for air-combo system.
You can evade the enemies attack or stage projectiles by pressing the circle button to dodge which prevents you taking damage from them.
Press the cross button is to jump and double tap the same button is to double jump which is used for platforming, but you can also perform jump attack by pressing the cross button then the square button in mid-air which works mostly for air or ground enemies, and you can do a smash attacks by double tap the cross button to double jump then the square button in mid-air works effectively to knockdown enemies on the ground.
Attacking the enemies will fill-up your special meter bar meaning you can perform a special attack by pressing the triangle button which deals a massive damage hit on enemies.
You can learn these basic tutorial by going to the combat training if you wish to learn the moves before you're fully preparing to start the campaign.
So far, the controls is quite an straight-forward to play with the 4-button controls, so all you had to do is to attack, jump, dodge, run, and of course use special seems to be easier to learn.
I find the controls quite responsive which I had no issue with the hit detection just perfectly plays it well, and I wanted to praise the simplistic use of combos which is important for the arcade beat-em-ups because it's all to do with the combo scoring system where you had to perform a multiple of juggling, landing, and bouncing at the enemies will result a numerous of combo hits up to more than 75 hits, so the more you make combos the high you will gain the score which is the reason why I love playing the arcade beat-em-ups games with the combo scoring system.
I also liked the list of 3 challenge tasks where you had to complete all 3 tasks in each stages such as gain S ranking, beat the stage in less than 4 or 5 mins, and of course find all secret items hidden somewhere in the areas which really adds-up the replayability.
As I'm pleased with the controls, combos, and tasks in the game, I got to say this game has the insane amount of stage segments that blew-me away because it's not just the traditional beat-em-up stages that are incredibly good, but you will have other style of arcade gameplay from rail-shooter to mecha-boxing to combat racing action in which I always thought the game is supposed to be a beat-em-ups action but throwing a different arcade genre for some stage seems to be really an awesome thing about the game.
I just loved the rail-shooter style of roller-coaster segment where you had to point with the crosshair and shootdown these enemy's balloon and incoming bomb, and I really liked the cabal shooter style of dino-zords part where you take control of zords and shootdown these enemy's bases, and you had the vehicular combat racing style of highway drive sequence where you ride on the motorcycle and shoot down the enemy's vehicles, and of course the best part in the is the punch-out style of megazord battle where you had to fight the gigantic monster in first-person perspective.
This really adds-up the overall fun factor of the game that I'm incredibly pleased to see game like this is doing something different that other beat-em-ups games are sticking to the one genre except this is more than just a beat-em-up game filled with other style of gameplay is something that I approved this game.
If that's not enough, then I got to say the boss battles in each stage are amazing which packs with numerous of epic bosses that you must encounter and face them such as Goldar, Chunky Chicken teaming up with Turkey Jerk, Eye Guy, Bones, Madame Woe, Crabby Cabbie, and of course Robo Rita is something that you will likely to appreciate this kind of game which gives you a full-on arcade experience.
The local multiplayer in this game is pretty good on co-op campaign in which you and your friends can able to enjoy for 6-players mode...well for XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC version only I'm afraid because the PS5 and PS4 can only support up to 4-players which is kinda shame for Playstation players, but please don't despair yourselves just enjoy the local multiplayer as it is.
To keep you in mind for XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC owners that the 6-players local-co-op can be unlocked by beating the whole game which unlocks one playable character such as Green Ranger is the only way of playing the 6-player local-co-op, but without it then you'll be stucked to 5-players as an default if the Green Ranger has not been unlocked.
I believe the game does have online co-op option which you can able to play this mode up to 6 separate consoles or PCs to connect for 6-players online co-op multiplayer as peer to peer connection, since the game initially supported 3 players on 2 separate systems for 6-players online co-op at launch, so thankfully after the game's update you can able to play online co-op individually without requiring 2 systems which makes it easier to access online team play with full 6-players.
The game does have really cool features such as the speedrun mode which can be unlocked by beating the game, so in this mode your goal is to complete each stages as quickly as possible to beat the timer as the in-game timer is unaffected by time-pausing mechanics making it a more challenging experience.
The game does include 3 mini-games from the Juice Bar room where you had to find a specific part items which is found by completing various levels and objectives, so that once 3 of the arcade cabinets are fully repaired then it became fully playable offering 3 really cool mini-games to play with such as Drive Bomber which plays just like the style of Midway's Spy Hunter, Nanopilot which is a top-down shooter similar to Bandai Namco's Bosconian, and of course Karate Chopshop which is the mini-game where you have to smash things by using the power meter, so these are pretty cool mini-games that helps you keep busy playing for short hours.
After beating the game once, it unlocks the cheat menu which you can modify the game with really awesome stuffs that suits your gameplay style such as one-hit enemies, one-hit Rangers, moon gravity, equal Rangers, go-go party, no time disruptors, tougher enemies, infinite lives, and of course maximum enemies which really adds-up the game's replay value.
Overall, it has straight-forward controls, great combo system, fun for single-solo and local-coop action, and epic stage segments and boss battles.
Graphics
The visuals is very good for the arcade beat-em-ups game with the early 90's pixel art-style just adds-up the game's appeal to those who grew up playing the classic nostalgia of old-school beat-em-ups games.
The stage environments are colourful and detailed in many areas, the texture surfaces and background layouts are sure bold and being well structured, the use of special effects are filled with flashy lighting, gloomy shadows, and the amount of explosions are quite destructible on the objects and environmental areas in many stages, and then of course the 2D sprite animation on characters and enemies are decently sharp just to keep the stages well intact that are close to the arcade game of early 90's that we all know and love back then.
Outside of the 2D beat-em-ups environments, there are some of the impressive part of the game that make use of graphical techniques that was used in mid-80's and early-90s games, so you have a 3D scaling effects that are very similar to the super-scaler arcade games like SEGA's Super Hang-On and Taito's Night Striker which creates the illusion of pseudo-3D environments with objects appearing to move closer or further away in real-time play.
It looked really significant on some stages like dino-zord shootout, roller-coaster ride, and motorbike driving action which is looked amazing with the use of 2D sprites, 3D environmental stages, and graphical rotation techniques that feels like a good old-school era of early-90s arcade games.
The game plays it very smooth and had no signs of frame-drops for most of PCs and console platforms which seems to be very good news that you won't able to notice any of screen tearing and lags whatsoever.
Overall, it has colourful stage environments, cool and flashy special effects, sharp 2D sprite animation, and of course the impressive 3D scaling effects.
Music and Sounds
The original soundtrack is amazingly sounds great especially with the actual theme tune from the original TV series titled as "Go Go Power Rangers!" being included in the game is what makes the opening credits of Power Rangers became recognisable for its cool heavy metal music that are catchy and badass.
The rest of the in-game stage had a great style of 16-bit music between the likes of Capcom's Mega Man X and Konami's TMNT games being thrown in are kinda gives a nostalgia throwback to the early-90s games which was best known for it's energetic music that fits the action of beat-em-ups game.
It was composed by Sean Bialo did a incredible job for the game's original score that are sounds very similar to the style of Tee Lopes's video games soundtrack.
The sound effects are very good for its wacky environmental sounds, hit collision, explosion sounds, and background noises has sort of the arcade-sounds aesthetics that matches the game's sound design, and I believe the voice samples for characters just took from the original TV series that was known for its goofy-lines that made Power Rangers sounds cool and likable. Overall, it has amazing energetic soundtrack, arcade-style sound effects, and of course the goofy voice sample took from TV series.
Special Features
I did mentioned the game has one unlockable playable character such as Green Ranger which also unlocks 6-players local co-op mode after beating the game, as well as the speedrun mode and 3 mini-games are included in the game, and of course it does have a list of cheat modes which I already mentioned before.
The deluxe edition boxset packs with really nice goodies inside such as the poster, steelbook case, 6 collectable cards, and of course lenticular postcard which is looking fantastic as the collector's box.
Overall, an amazing content and fantastic collector's box.
Advantages
Pixel-art presentation
Great gameplay system
Fun solo and local co-op action
Epic stage segments and boss battles
Impressive visuals and amazing sounds
Has tons of replay values including unlockable content
Disadvantages
PS5 and PS4's local co-op players limited to 4 instead of 6.
Final Verdict
Presentation 8/10 - good story cutscenes, memorable cast of characters, and pixel-art design.
Gameplay 8/10 - straight-forward controls, great combo system, fun for single-solo and local-co-op action, and epic stage segments and boss battles.
Graphics 8.5 - colourful stage environments, cool and flashy special effects, sharp 2D sprite animation, and of course the impressive 3D scaling effects.
Music and Sounds 8.5/10 - amazing energetic soundtrack, arcade-style sound effects, and of course the goofy voice sample took from TV series.
Special Features 8/10 - unlockable playable character, mini-games, and game modes to play, has list of cheat menus, and of course the nice collector's boxset.
Overall 8/10 - Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind is a remarkable arcade beat-em-ups throwback that we are been waiting 3 decades for the M.M.P.R as a media franchise to finally have this licensed video game title that are incredibly fun, energetic, exciting, and entertaining to play it deserves.
The style of pixel-art, having a great gameplay system, it had fun solo and local co-op action filled with epic stage segments and boss battles, and of course having a unlockable content and completing the challenge tasks add-ups the game's replay values is the reason why the game is so good that delivers the full arcade experience.
To be fair, I think XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC gets the points for having 6-player local co-op as opposed to PS5 and PS4 supports up to 4-player locally which I would have rate the game for 8.5 at best, but as for the PS5 and PS4 version it's still plays great which I've managed to enjoy the game no matter what system you're playing on is because it's about the joy of arcade-style beat-em-ups action that you're likely to appreciate how good the recent Power Rangers game had turned out to be a success.
For the PS5 and Switch physical release, the standard edition cost around between £20 to £25 where as the deluxe edition are between £40 to £50 seems to be a right amount of price on both physical editions.
The digital release for PS Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam retails for £30 seems to be a bit tad too high, so it would have been better off for £15 digitally.
Is it definitely an recommendation for a beat-em-ups fanatic? yes absolutely correct because having a 6-players co-op team with your friends or anyone is the best way to experience a full arcade-action is something that you're likely to enjoy this game without any regrets whatsoever.
GO GO POWER RANGERS!!! MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS!!!
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