Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind XSX Review

Gameplay

Graphics

Audio

Value

Summary: A great brawler brought low by baffling design decisions.

3.3

Ay! Ay! Ay!

I wanted to love Power Rangers Rita’s Rewind. After the Turtles Power Rangers is the series I got into the most when I was a kid; toys, videos, failed attempts at learning karate, the whole nine.

When I saw the initial trailers for Ritas Rewaind, it appeared to be the kind of mighty morphin belt brawler that made my inner child drop his cornflakes and blankly starae at the TV in awe.

It appeared to be a celebration of classic Power Rangers, Robo Rita has openeda a time portal back to 1993 so she can use her experience and the resources of her younger self to vanquish those meddlesome Rangers when they’re still green (one of them literally). Taking both Rita and players back to fight their way through that epic first series of Power Rangers that kicked off the now 30-year-old franchise.

Unfortunately, for all the awesome five-player coop action and widdly, widdly power metal, Rita’s Rewind is the kind of game that becomes so infuriating at times that you want to throw your controller through your TV and swear never to return.

This all came to a head during stage nine, Eye Guy Battle, when you’re tasked with chasing down and defeating Eye Guy in one of the Zords.

Sounds awesome, but the super-scaling style Zord sections are unfortunately the weakest part of the game (I know, right?!). The controls are clunky, the action is repetitive, and fighting as the Megazord at the end doesn’t so much feel like a slugfest that ends with the Rangers landing a coup de grace on their vanquished foe, but a slog.

This particular stage though, had me mentally dropping points off the score with each miserable attempt.

It encapsulates and exacerbates everything that irked me about the scaler sections and the wider issues with the game’s dunderheaded approach to difficulty. The abysmal checkpointing, instant death pitfalls, restarting a level from scratch whenever you use a continue, a repetitive mid-level boss called the Harvester that melts through your health in seconds which makes the next area almost impossible to get through, and the final cheap boss with instakill attacks a complete nightmare, Oh and you can’t heal at all, and you only have two lives. See my problem here.

This would be irritating but not the end of the world, if it weren’t for the fact that running out of continues locks you out of your save game, and the damn thing, won’t even let you delete the save slot. (I kid you not.)

In trying to review this game I made it to the penultimate level during my first run before this nonsense forced me to start the whole thing again. It’s permadeath of the most idiotic and pointless kind.

That is unless you Rita’s Rewind in easy. This I would highly recommend. On easy the game is, pretty damn good. It’s a romp, it’s worthwhile, it’s fun. It doesn’t feel like Rtia has robbed you of four hours of your life. The super scaler-style missions still suck in comparison to the main brawling, but at least you can play through the entire game.

The obnoxiousness of normal mode is made all the more baffling since each level also has secrets and collectibles to find, a par time to beat, and challenges you to get through each without dying. You also unlock the Green Ranger (the best one) by finishing the game. It’s a belt brawler, these things demand repeated playthroughs. So why sabotage your ability to do that?

Especially, since the core of the experience is The brawling is weighty and fun. There’s a decent variety of enemy types pulled from 30 years of Power Rangers, from putties to tengus to punk putties (there’s a lot of putties).

Trying to take out Rita’s time rewinding pods before they explode and rewind the clock on you, is also a clever little twist that adds some extra pressure and tension to fights, and requires a surprising level of strategy at times.

The bosses are some of the most memorable monsters from the original series, Even if they sometimes are a pain to fight. I’m looking at you Bones. There are also tons of nods, winks, and easter eggs strewn throughout every level.

It looks the part too, like an arcade game from the early 90s that never got a home console port outside of Japan, where it’s a Super Sentai game. It’s got lovely colorful, well-animated sprites.

The super scaler-style levels, although they’re a pain to play through, look great, they look like they should, reinforcing the game’s brilliant sense of time and place.

Final Thoughts

Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is an enjoyable belt brawler hamstrung by some truly baffling design decisions. The combat is fun, it looks great, there’s a good variety of enemies and game modes, and it’s clear that developer Digital Eclipse, understands and loves the source material.

However, the poor checkpointing combined with an awful permadeath mechanic drain the fun out of the otherwise fun, nostalgia-packed experience one credit at a time.

About the Author

Gareth Newnham

Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind XSX Review