Power Rangers is one of those franchises that, had someone told you it'd still be on 24 years after its debut, you'd have laughed in their faces. And yet, barring the year 2010, the show has continued to produce new episodes consistently since its debut in the year 1993, with most seasons having at least 1 licensed game. When you look back on it, you realize that the number of Power Rangers games is actually pretty impressive. These games, each of varied quality, is typically a "Beat-em Up," like Double Dragon, only lighter, softer, and way easier. Let's remember a few.
The original series' first game was simply titled "Mighty Morphing Power Rangers," and it was released in no less than four consoles: the SNES, the Game Boy, the Sega Genesis, and the Sega Game Gear, along with a release for the Sega CD. However, each console received practically a different game entirely; the SNES and Genesis games weren't even of the same genre! The SNES and Game Boy games were Beat-em Ups while the Genesis and Game Gear games were Fighting games. However, there were some core similarities between each game: you fought the forces of Rita Repulsa, and you could pick whichever Ranger you wanted to play. And most of the time, each Ranger was literally a palette swap of the Red Ranger, using a different weapon.
The games...weren't very good. The SNES game was too easy; hell, I beat the game in one sitting back when I was 8! To add insult to injury, the Green Ranger wasn't available to play as! The Sega Genesis game, which I recently played, isn't much better either. Controls are choppy and jerky, the enemy AI is ridiculously fast, and the enemy hits like a truck while you hit like a wet noodle! The GB game? It was slow; movement was slow, enemies were slow, and the music was no better.
But these games each had saving graces. The SNES game had a seriously sweet soundtrack, including one of the best boss themes I had ever heard. Seriously, you can't go wrong with an instrumental, fast paced version of "Go Go Power Rangers," itself already one of the best theme songs of the 90's. The Genesis games had beautiful sprite work, allowing the Rangers to better resemble their TV counterparts. The game also had some cutscenes, and they were a sight to behold (on the Genesis). And you could play the Green Ranger! The GB game was a fun diversion, well worth a rental. And the Game Gear game had great sprites for an 8 bit game.
These games were released during what I call "RangerMania," when EVERYONE knew what the Power Rangers were. It's actually a little hard to believe just how insanely popular Power Rangers was back then, as the show itself had several issues. Editing was sloppy, the acting was decent AT BEST, plots were insanely slipshod (the second episode of the series was about how the Yellow Ranger was afraid of heights, but the fighting footage focused on the Red Ranger instead) and overall the show didn't deserve its fame during the early episodes. And yet we ate it all up! I was a HUGE fan of the show, even before the Green Ranger showed up! Every kid watched this show back in the day!
I can't say which of the four games best translated the magic of the show onto the gaming experience, but I'd say the closest one was the Genesis version, which at least had a story mode. Of course, the SNES version had the Rangers fight in their civilian forms as well, but the lack of story really made it clear that little thought was put into making it a true experience for the kids beyond being a quick (yet passable) cash grab.
The year 1995 was a HUGE year for Ranger fans because of the Power Rangers movie released on June of that year. I remember seeing it in the theater with my mom and two little brothers. A good time was had. Logically, a game was released to cash in on RangerMania, which was starting to wane a bit. Like last time, four different games were released with the same name: one for Genesis, one for SNES, one for Game Boy, and one for Game Gear. I can only talk about the SNES one this time, as it's the only one I ever played.
It's in many ways a superior game to the first, and at the same time it fails harder than the second at showing off just what makes Power Rangers so good. And for the curious, this game does NOT, at ALL, follow the events of the film; in fact, the only thing it has in common with the film is the final boss, Ivan Ooze. Take that out, and you've got an average, run of the mill Beat-em Up with Power Rangers characters sticked on.
In fact that's pretty much what the game is: an average game with the Power Rangers slapped on it to make a quick buck! No story mode, mediocre music, unattractive graphics, and only mildly amusing gameplay makes for a forgettable game. You couldn't even control the Megazords, staples of the Power Rangers franchise!
However, it was not without its positives. Though you couldn't control the Megazords, you had your free pick of any one of the the cast of six Rangers: Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, Pink, and White, with White having a unique sprite. You could also transform your chosen Ranger into their Ranger form at any time in the stage once you filled out an energy bar; in contrast, the first game had the Rangers morph in the middle of the stage at all times. Furthermore, as mediocre as the gameplay was, the addition of two panels, as well as the option to go from foreground to background, made for a more varied experience.
Another noteworthy positive is the replacement of the character Zack with Adam. In the original series, Zack was the Black Ranger, and he also happened to be African American. Likewise Trini, the original Yellow Ranger, was Asian. The racial undertones were NOT overlooked by more mindful parents and viewers. To exacerbate the matter, the unmorphed sprite for Zack in the original SNES game had what I can only call a "monkey face," as the lips were so pronounced. In contrast, the character of Adam was Asian American, and his sprite for the game wore a male qipao. As someone who is wholly concerned with representation in gaming, I can only shake my head in embarrassment with how Zack was portrayed in the SNES game. A pity, too, as the character from the show was nothing short of a positive role model for kids of all races.
The game was more an adaptation of the first three quarters of Season 3 than the movie, as it had Rocky, Aisha, Adam, Kimberly, Billy, and Tommy. This is what I like to refer to as "the waning period of RangerMania," because while the show's writing WAS getting better, the craze itself was dying down. Really, the movie itself could be seen as the Swan Song of that magical period of time when Power Rangers was THE show to watch. The game, sadly, completely and utterly failed to capture the quality of the show during that point in time.
Released near the end of the SNES' era, MMPR the Fighting Edition...is a crappy fighting game. Only 8 fighters, a very bland 'story mode" which was really anything but, FIVE stages total, all topped off with a completely cheap final boss in the form of Ivan Ooze, the movie villain.
The game, however, was not without its positive points. The fighting system itself was easy to pick up, the character sprites were gorgeous and true to the show, there was at least some variety in how each character played, and of course the game allowed you to control four of the six Megazords that the show had by that time.
In my opinion, this game was the absolute best of the 16 bit Power Rangers games, if not for the sole reason that it strove to be more than just a quick cash grab; it was a good fighting game FOR BEGINNERS. Seasoned fighting game aficionados will find no satisfaction here; this game is for those who've never picked up a fighting game in their life.
This game was released at the tail end of the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers' era, mere months before the series would begin its tradition of retooling itself every season with new suits, Zords, and new cast members. As the Swan Song of an era, the franchise could have done much worse. For what it is, the game's pretty passable, especially for fans of the franchise such as myself.
Oh, and there was also a Racing game, but the less said about it, the better.
I myself counted 11 games released between 1994 and 2007, a HUGE year for the franchise as it was the 15th anniversary and the year of the first Power Morphicon, the very first Power Rangers convention. Of all those games, I'd say that 2 or 3 are good, and the rest are just licensed games meant to milk the cash cow. It's actually sad, considering these games are geared towards children.
And that's what gets me: the games are geared towards children, yet no care is made to give these children anything resembling a QUALITY product. When my niece was 6, she had a copy of Power Rangers Super Legends for the Nintendo DS. I asked her to let me play it, and she told me IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS that she thought the game was terrible, She was 6 at the time, the game's target demographic.
Kids deserve top quality when it comes to their entertainment. We're already failing them in health, education, and security. We need to strive for BETTER when it comes to kids, because they're the ones who'll inherit the world when we're gone.
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