Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind was among many surprise announcements made at Summer Games Fest 2024. Developed and published by Digital Eclipse, this 90s arcade-stylized side-scrolling beat ’em up action game garnered a lot of hype and attention from fans of the iconic action franchise.
During PAX West, I spent some brief hands-on time playing through an early level and walked away wanting more. After completing the 3-hour story campaign this past weekend, I’m pleased to say that Rita’s Rewind is a great trip down memory lane for diehard fans of the series. Here are more thoughts on the game and what you can expect if you pick it up.
A Trip Through Time
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind revolves around Robo-Rita devising a plan to go back in time and work alongside her younger self to alter events and eliminate the Power Rangers from all existence. Once Zordon and Alpha 5 catch wind of the plan, they enlist our heroes to stop the newly united evil duo from accomplishing their goals. Playing as any of the five original Rangers, the story campaign includes 15 action-packed stages split into episodes. After finishing the campaign, the Green Ranger becomes available as a playable character.
This original storyline was an absolute blast from start to finish. Having played several Power Rangers games over the last 30 years, I appreciated this game’s creative approach to storytelling and gameplay. If you’re a fan of nostalgia then you are in for a treat as the familiar enemies and bosses coupled with the signature theme song are guaranteed to have you reminiscing about your childhood memories.
Great Art Style
From a visual standpoint, Rita’s Rewind perfectly embodies the retro arcade-stylized look and feel that Digital Eclipse was after. Every character model design is bursting with personality thanks to varying shades of color and emphasis on lighting and shadows. This same philosophy extends to the detailed backgrounds in each stage. The only real issue that I want to point out here is that there are some inconsistencies with certain objects that can or can’t be broken. Despite this, everything is nice to look at and all the action animations and cutscenes are on point.
I didn’t experience any technical issues or bugs while playing the single-player portion of this game on my Xbox Series X console. Unlike other major titles, Rita’s Rewind isn’t a graphically intense game and runs smoothly with no hiccups. There were some moments in these stages when fights got chaotic, but there was no drop in quality or performance. You can play couch co-op locally with up to 6 people on Xbox, PC, and Switch. Online play only covers 2 players for now but will extend to 6 later.
Creative Approaches To Gameplay
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is unique in its gameplay presentation. While this game is described as a side-scrolling beat ’em up action game, players can expect segments where they will race through a stage using individual Zords or motorcycles, and participate in first-person boss battles as Megazord. These different gameplay scenarios are spread across all 15 levels to keep things interesting. Each level has 3 key stats that are checked including No deaths, Grade ranking by time, and Secrets found. After each stage, you’re also redirected back to the Angel Grove Youth Center where you can talk with other characters or play arcade cabinet games.
In the beat ’em up combat stages, the controls include punching, kicking, jumping, and dodging enemy attacks. The motorcycle stages require shooting and maneuvering past various obstacles while completing your objectives. The Zord and Megazord stages have a variation of shooting and dodging combined with punching and using your sword to deliver a finishing blow to your oversized adversary.
In any battle that requires shooting, I strongly recommend holding down the fire button instead of tapping it repeatedly as there are several enemies and machines you’ll have to destroy to get to the end. Likewise, when you find yourself in a boss battle like the one pictured below with Goldar, you’ll want to mash both attack buttons repeatedly to initiate combos and build your sword meter faster. Lastly, conserve your continues carefully as you only have 10 available when playing solo. Once you run out of continues the game is over and you’ll need to start the game all over again instead of accessing your save file.
Outstanding Soundtrack
As mentioned above, the music soundtrack is fantastic and brings all the feels. Composer Sean Bialo has worked on other notable projects including Double Dragon Gaiden, Yars Rising, and remixes for TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge. Given his extensive background, he was the perfect fit for this project and fans will dig the tunes. The voice cast includes the following actors and actresses:
- A.J. LoCascio – Red Ranger and Zordon
- Cristina Vee – Pink Ranger
- Issac Robinson-Smith – Black Ranger
- Holly Chou – Yellow Ranger
- James Willems – Green Ranger and Goldar
- Dan Amrich – Blue Ranger and Eye Guy
- Ally Dixon – Robo-Rita
Everyone on the cast does a fantastic job of bringing their characters to life. Dan Amrich has a great deal of love for the franchise and it was cool to hear him let loose and make these characters fun.
Final Verdict
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is an insanely fun arcade-stylized beat ’em up action game that successfully honors the legacy of this popular action franchise. The clever storyline and gameplay mechanics make it a must-play, especially for fans of the genre looking for something new.
This review was written based on a digital review copy of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind for Xbox Series X provided by Digital Eclipse.
