Certain things are meant to be. Chocolate and peanut butter. Popcorn and movie theaters. Failure and the Cleveland Browns. Power Rangers and a beat-’em-up from the mid-1990s should, by all rights, be included on that list as well. It just appears to be something that a higher power willed into being, written in the book that dictates cosmic history. However, it never took place. Indeed, there were a few mediocre SNES/Genesis sidescrollers, but they were constrained by their home hardware, just like most console beat ’em-ups at the time.
We never had a real, magnificent arcade cabinet that could accommodate four or six players or even a game that was built just for that size. Not till now, anyway. Developer Digital Eclipse has decided to give us the Turtles in Time/X-Men/The Simpsons-style Power Rangers beat ’em up we never had with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind. Rita’s Rewind is an amazing beat ’em up that will make you want to dress up and travel back in time, but it does not quite manage to establish itself among the genre’s all-time greats due to a few lackluster gimmick sequences.
Trust me when I say that you do not need to know “The Lore™” to follow Rita’s Rewind, as someone who adores arcade-style brawlers like this but does not particularly miss Power Rangers. In the far-off year 2023, Robo Rita decides to defeat the Power Rangers by traveling back in time with her former incarnation, Rita Repulsa. She can not be stopped by the 2023 lineup, so the original 1993 crew must stand up and handle things. (Time travel, darling! We are using straws to create diagrams.) Although the plot is rather straightforward, Digital Eclipse can include some humorous scenes and exchanges (the Ritas, despite their collaboration, do not get along) and place certain opponents in inappropriate locations.
Along with the CRT filters, the great, guitar-heavy soundtrack that can compete with the best of the genre, and the pixel art, that configuration also contributes to the overall “this is a 90s arcade game” vibe. Rita’s Rewind understands that arcade games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time and X-Men, as well as more recent sequels like Shredder’s Revenge, were successful in part because they had a certain vibe rather than because their plots made sense. You are here to kick some ass as a Power Ranger, not to learn the lore.
Rita’s Rewind follows the guidelines of the contemporary, retro-style beat ’em up in many respects. A basic attack combination, a throw if a mook gets too near for comfort, a double leap, rising and falling assaults, a running kick, a dodge, and a screen-clearing super attack that you can use once your meter is full are all part of the simple gameplay. You should play with a friend who is eager to throw guys at you so you can juggle them if you want to pull off a sick combo beyond that. This is not Streets of Rage 4.
Built on the foundations that make the genre famous, it is a beat ’em up.
Therefore, it is a three-hour beat-’em-up that is based on the core elements that make the genre great: characters that are just interesting enough (the Rangers, Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, and Pink, are more or less the same functionally), fun enemies, cool environments that range from a theme park to a toxic waste dump, enticing Easter eggs and unlockables to find, and unique boss fights, such as the fantastic one against Bones or the silly fight with Chunky Chicken. That is all in Rita’s Rewind. The bosses are a lot of fun, the adversaries make you adjust on the go, the levels are memorable, and the game feels fantastic to play.
Naturally, co-op makes everything even better. At launch, you can play with up to six people locally (except PlayStation, which is currently limited to four players, but Digital Eclipse intends to increase that number to six in a future update). Unfortunately, the online co-op will only be available for two players when it does arrive, as it will be a free post-release update.
To put it simply, beat ’em ups are a sort of magic trick; you will know when it is missing, but it can be difficult to pinpoint the secret sauce. In Rita’s Rewind? It is unquestionably present. However, Digital Eclipse was not satisfied with simply putting up a fantastic fight with a Power Rangers theme and calling it a day. The Super Scaler parts in Rita’s Rewind, which put you behind the controls of your own Zord, in the driver’s seat of a motorcycle, or the cockpit of the Megazord, are among its highlights. Though some of them can be annoying, these portions are often excellent.
They function similarly to the classic Space Harrier from the arcade. You can either roll past Putties if you are riding your bike, chase down a boss Rita has jumbo-sized after you have defeated them in a fistfight, or zoom toward the screen in a pseudo-3D level. These parts are graphically stunning and incredibly entertaining as you blast down foes, dodge oncoming fire, and get power-ups like the Double Shot or Rockets. Although I enjoyed every motorcycle segment, I found the Dinozord ones to be more varied, in part due to some insane difficulty spikes.
It is difficult to avoid everything that comes at you because there is frequently a lot of stuff on screen at once, and taking the wrong hit or missing a jump in your Zord can lose you one of your limited lives. My co-op teammate and I had to try some Zord sequences multiple times since we kept losing lives due to missed jumps or single hits. These portions are fantastic when they function properly and offer some intriguing character diversity (for example, Pink Ranger’s pterodactyl is special since it can fly, which makes it easier to evade attacks). But when they don’t, they might be rather unhappy. I spent all of my time in Rita’s Rewind at a Zord level. Here, there are undoubtedly more positive aspects than negative ones, yet the latter is noteworthy.
There is some variation in the Super Scaler levels.
Additionally, there is more variation in the Megazord parts, which act as the cap for any particular boss battle. These interactions are fantastic because you can not lose, but they can also be frustrating in other ways. In the first person, you control the Megazord and avoid the boss’s charged and ranged attacks until you are close enough to throw a few punches that gradually charge your Power Sword for the finishing blow. In a stage you have not fully developed, getting hit knocks you back and depletes your charge (and in co-op, receiving enough hits also swaps pilots).
You want to go in without making too many mistakes, but you also need to be lucky and hope the boss lets you punch them. That is all well and good, but the problem is that the boss can just jump away when you get close. Additionally, especially in co-op, it can rapidly become tedious if you are not good at avoiding their bullets. (In yet another strange turn of events, these levels contribute significantly more to your score than the beat ’em up levels do. This seems strange considering that Rita’s Rewind is primarily a beat ’em up.)
Therefore, while the Super Scaler levels are a mixed bag, the extra one-off concepts aren’t. Rita’s Rewind excels at experimentation, whether it is the required elevator level, a Super Scaler part on a rollercoaster, or crazy time travel mechanisms. For example, the time travel. Rita’s thugs occasionally have big tanks that contain the crystals that allow time travel; if you damage these tanks, time will rewind and you and your adversaries will be back where you were before the attack. Additionally, it resets your super bar, allowing you to spend it, start the rewind, and repeat the process until you remove the crystal. It enlivens otherwise routine interactions and promotes clever play.
Speaking of fun one-offs, you will visit the Juice Bar in between missions to check in with Ernie, chat with professional losers Bulk and Skull, and find out how any of the characters you have saved throughout the quest, such as Mr. Caplan and Ms. Appleby, are doing. However, the Juice Bar’s arcade games are its most awesome feature. These are brand-new, original games created to address the straightforward query of what arcade games the Power Rangers played when they had free time.
Each one has a missing component, but you can permanently unlock the game if you discover it in one of Rita’s Rewind levels. They are quite awesome, whether you are playing Nanopilot (Asteroids, except you are trying to shield cells from invading viruses), Drive Bomber (a racing game where you try to blow up other cars and escape the damage your bombs create), or Karate Chopshop (like Mortal Kombat’s Test Your Might). My co-op teammate and I frequently found ourselves stopping by for a run or two in between missions because they are so much fun. If I had one grievance with the Juice Bar, it would be that you could switch Rangers here in between missions rather than having to go back out and choose your save file again. That is unfortunate, particularly when switching Rangers is not an option if you have to use a continue.
Nevertheless, Rita’s Rewind has plenty of replay value. In addition to high scores to chase, S-ranks and deathless runs to accomplish, additional challenges to master, items to locate, and a speed run option, beating the campaign unlocks the Green Ranger, which opens the sixth (but yet PlayStation) cooperative slot. After you have rolled credits for the first time, there is a lot to do here, and I can see Rita’s Rewind becoming a mainstay in my beat ’em up collection.
Verdict
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind perfectly captures the style and feel of Power Rangers as well as the vintage arcade games that served as its inspiration. The Super Scaler levels are a bit of a mixed bag, but when they work, they are fantastic, and when they don’t, they are still only somewhat annoying. The rock-solid beat ’em-up gameplay, the exquisite sprite design, the banging soundtrack, the fan-friendly gags, and other small details like playable in-universe arcade games are all fantastic. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind perfectly captures the style and feel of Power Rangers as well as the vintage arcade games that served as its inspiration. The Super Scaler levels are a bit of a mixed bag, but when they work, they are fantastic, and when they don’t, they are still only somewhat annoying. The rock-solid beat ’em-up gameplay, the exquisite sprite design, the banging soundtrack, the fan-friendly gags, and other small details like playable in-universe arcade games are all fantastic.
