When the Mighty Morphin Energy Rangers emerged as many People’ first publicity to the favored Tremendous Sentai sequence, it was arduous to not really feel prefer it was using the wave of Turtle-mania that outlined the early Nineteen Nineties. In spite of everything, it was a band of color-coordinated heroes who traded mild quips and used martial arts to dispatch countless faceless baddies. I watched MMPR on the time, however I used to be additionally simply cresting the age at which I felt somewhat embarrassed by its plain camp. Three a long time later, Mighty Morphin Energy Rangers: Rita’s Rewind as soon as once more feels a bit prefer it’s using the turtles’ coattails. TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge was a superb retro brawler throwback, and by comparability, Rita’s Rewind is a fairly good retro brawler throwback, however one with a few of its personal particular charms–as properly as its personal frustrations.
Rita’s Rewind totally acknowledges the passage of time, even pinning down particular years. The unique Rangers are nonetheless preventing evil in 2023, now in opposition to a mechanized Robo Rita–a well timed reference to the villain of the reunion film, 2023’s Energy Rangers: As soon as and At all times. However apparently overwhelmed by these Rangers who’ve a long time of expertise, Robo Rita hatches a plan to return in time and crew up together with her flesh-and-blood self. The trendy-day Rangers say it is too harmful to observe her by means of time and danger a paradox, so they simply should hope their youthful selves are capable of stand up to the machinations of two Ritas.
That locations Rita’s Rewind strictly on the 1993 timeline, which suggests it is the primary time the Rangers are encountering mainstays like Goldar and the Inexperienced Ranger. The one actual distinction is that this time we see Rita Repulsa bickering with Robo Rita over technique.
That self-aware setting makes this ripe for callbacks, like a number of the earliest and most iconic monsters in Energy Rangers historical past. Your progress is split into phases, but in addition episodes, as the identical monster will usually span three phases to make an entire episodic story. It is a cute hook that cleverly invokes nostalgia for the basic, campy TV present. At one level there’s even a intelligent homage to the trailblazing recreation Remaining Combat.
A lot of the phases are typical brawler fare, as your chosen Ranger takes on a wide range of Putties (and infrequently Tengas) with their very own themed assaults. Mild-blue Putties, for instance, will run straight in the direction of you with a spike, however in case you efficiently dodge, they’re going to crash right into a wall and get dizzy for a number of seconds. Not one of the enemies are significantly brilliant, however they’re constructed to overwhelm you with numbers. Your moveset is proscribed to a couple primary assaults, jump-kicks, and dash-moves, but it surely’s typically sufficient to cope with the enemy hordes. For instances if you may get overwhelmed, there is a tremendous assault you possibly can unleash after gathering sufficient Energy Cash to cost it, and it virtually all the time clears the sphere.
The Rangers are properly differentiated of their animations, which assist to specific their particular person personalities. The Black Ranger Zack’s down-smash assault breaks out his energy axe, for instance, whereas the Pink Ranger Kimberly shoots down like an arrow and strikes a pose like she simply caught the touchdown in a gymnastic occasion. It is cute. That stated, their particular person assault energy, vary, and pace really feel successfully the identical. That makes choosing your Ranger extra a matter of non-public desire than technique. The tremendous assaults equally have completely different screen-filling results, however after they all clear the board, there’s not a useful distinction.
Typically brawler phases are interrupted by a Time Disrupter, a inexperienced machine that may rewind every part in case you do not destroy it rapidly sufficient. That is an creative little twist, since it’s important to juggle coping with Putties whereas additionally making an attempt to break the Time Disrupter, otherwise you’ll should struggle the identical Putties over once more. However the Time Disrupter retains no matter injury you probably did, so you possibly can chip it down over a number of rounds. Typically this could even work to your advantage–once I misplaced a life whereas a Time Disrupter was energetic, then time rewound and I obtained the life again and carried out higher to maintain it.
In between phases, you hang around on the native juice bar, the place you possibly can discuss somewhat to different characters or play easy arcade video games. It is a candy little diversion that helps promote the sensation of watching an outdated Energy Rangers episode.
Most episodes culminate in a vehicle-chase phase together with your particular person prehistoric-themed robotic, which in true Energy Rangers trend, normally then transitions to a giant MegaZord brawl. These are rendered with a retro Mode-7-esque impact and are styled like arcade shooters, firing your weapons to get short-term power-ups to extra swiftly take down the enemy ships flying in the direction of you. The MegaZord battle is extra akin to a first-person Punch-Out, as you shift left or proper to dodge assaults after which wail in your super-sized enemy to cost up the Energy Sword, which rains down from the sky to ship your ending strike.
These phases appear meant to interrupt up the pacing, however they’re usually irritating. The hit detection within the automobile segments is imprecise and arduous to guage because of the Mode-7-like results, so it is simple to maintain successful and die or, worse, get crushed by a chunk of geometry. Meaning you lose a life. However in contrast to the common brawler phases the place you proceed proper the place you left off, these begin you again at an usually arbitrary-feeling checkpoint. If that is earlier than a boss that you just had almost crushed, it means you are ranging from scratch with the boss at full well being. It may be straightforward to lose all three allotted lives, which then prompts you to make use of a continue–a restricted useful resource on most problem ranges, which begins you again from the start of the entire stage.
The large boss-finishing MegaZord segments really feel unusually off otherwise. Dodging is floaty and imprecise, and getting hit resets the meter to construct up your Energy Sword. However there additionally would not appear to be any injury. If it is even potential to die in these segments, I by no means noticed it. There are inexperienced, yellow, and purple lights within the MegaZord cockpit that appear meant to indicate injury, however they by no means lit up. It is potential that these segments are supposed to be unimaginable to lose, and the one penalty is delay, as a result of it is imagined to really feel large and empowering. However it appears simply as potential that, confronted with imprecise dodging that will make injury too irritating, the builders simply opted to make you invincible.
Like a basic brawler, Rita’s Rewind will be completed in a number of hours, and when you’re achieved, there’s not a lot motive to replay. There’s a bonus unlockable character that you could play with, however they deal with principally equally to the opposite Rangers. The Rangers do not degree up with expertise, and there is not a forex or store to purchase bonuses or extras. The phases do have bonus aims, but it surely is not clear what finishing them provides you apart from bragging rights. There are a number of problem modes to check your abilities, after all, and there’s a Pace Run mode with an on-screen timer, if replaying the sport to high your finest time strikes your fancy.
Mighty Morphin Energy Rangers: Rita’s Rewind feels gentle and disposable. It is a largely fulfilling brawler throwback that performs properly and precisely captures the spirit of the unique old-school Energy Rangers. The automobile segments will be irritating, however the bigger difficulty with MMPR is that it is ephemeral. Like watching an episode of Energy Rangers on a lazy afternoon, you will have somewhat campy enjoyable after which instantly neglect about it.