Note: The following review was written after a post-launch update. Therefore, some details and experiences by the reviewer may differ from other reviews published closer to the time of the game’s release.
Note 2: This review would have been up earlier, but then Rita turned it into a monster and we had to destroy it. It was really cool, but it also meant we had to start over. Remember, you can never have too many redundancies, kids!
It’s finally time… it’s reviewin’ time!
Once and Always
Our story begins in the far-off, long-ago time of… 2023.
April 19th, to be exact. That’s when Hasbro and Netflix teamed together to celebrate 30 years of Power Rangers with the release of the 30th anniversary special titled Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Once & Always.
The plot followed the original team of Power Rangers (and, for that matter, the original team of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which itself changed over the years) as they took on the forces of Robo-Rita: an android Empress of Evil created when the evil energies dispelled by Zordon’s sacrifice so many years ago fused with an Alpha unit. Ay-yi-yi, indeed!
Robo-Rita’s plan was to create a time portal to go back in time to when she was first freed from her captivity, aka the “Day of the Dumpster”, and team with her past self to rewrite history in her favor. Of course, despite suffering some losses, the Rangers are able to push back and thwart her plans, thus ensuring that the timeline is maintained and good triumphs.
But… what if they didn’t?
That’s the starting premise of Rita’s Rewind, as the game begins with the Once & Always team of Rangers showing up at Bandora Palace (the place Rita operated out of on the moon) to put a stop to her nefarious scheme. But despite their best efforts, things diverge from the reality we know as she successfully makes the jump to 30 years (and ten minutes) into the past. The modern MMPR want to go after her, but Billy warns of the possible temporal consequences that might occur if they were to make the attempt (translation: It could get all Back to the Future up in Angel Grove, and they don’t want that), so they decide to leave the original team to handle things.
As an aside, the story presents a fun thing about this title: Rather than being able to play as six different Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, you can actually play as up to nine different Rangers here (though not all at once). The original team consisted of Zack, Kimberly, Billy, Trini, Jason, and later Tommy, while in Once & Always, the team was formed by Zack, Katherine, Billy, Minh (making this her first playable appearance, I believe), and Rocky. You don’t get to see the latter group unmorphed, though, but still, that’s a neat little piece of trivia for you to break out at parties.
Anyway, things more or less go off the way they did in the original premiere episode: Zordon orders his ro-butler Alpha-5 to abduct a group of five overbearing and emotional humans (or “teenagers with attitude,” if you prefer) so they can be infused with dino-powers and spandex (whoops, not spandex. My bad) to form a defense for the Earth against giant monster expies from The Wizard of Oz and clay foot soldiers. (Man, I love this series.) From there, we basically get a truncated reprise of the start of the series through the “Green with Evil” story arc.
And yes, it’s true! In case you haven’t already heard (or looked at the cover art), Tommy Oliver, the original Green Ranger, is here! And he’s playable, too! This may not seem like a big deal, but folks who grew up with Nintendo platforms should know only too well the pain of not being able to play, or even see, the most popular Ranger of his day. It was certainly a choice someone made at the time, to be sure. (It was also something you can bet the SEGA faithful were only too happy to lord over their Nintendo contemporaries in the Console Wars.)
That said, there is a bit of a catch. For starters, you can only play as him after beating the game, which also bumps up the 5-player co-op to 6-player. However, while you can then replay any or all of the stages as Tommy, he doesn’t really get any additional dialogue or anything to reflect his presence there. Still, it beats the pants off of what we had on the Super NES and Game Boy! (Genesis and Game Gear owners, you may proceed to gloat.)
Mighty Raw
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers occupies an interesting place in pop culture history. It was without question a product of its time in the early ’90s, and as such, the developers at Digital Eclipse has fully embraced the ’90s-ness for this outing. It delivers on the beat ’em up genre, and so much more, albeit in a more contemporary style. For instance, the graphics use a modern-retro pixel art style (a la Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge) that evokes what was more commonplace at the time, yet doesn’t really look like how a game from the time would look. Have a look to see what I mean:
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (SNES, via Emerald Rangers) | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (Genesis, via NEPA Scene) | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind (Xbox, PS5, Steam, Switch)
Of course, if you want to bring things a little closer to how they looked back then, you can add scan lines and other filter effects, if you wish. Personally, just the regular pixel style was good enough for me.
There is a fair amount of variety in stage themes, including a graveyard. And who knew Angel Grove had a subway line (complete with an homage to one of the progenitors of the genre)?
"Ms. Appleby always said that if we kept skipping out on classes, we'd find ourselves working the graveyard shift. But I don't think this is what she meant."
Sound is kind of a mixed bag, though not necessarily in a bad way. While both the classic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers theme (but not the full version) and Bulk and Skull theme are lovingly rendered with more of a chiptune sound, few if any other songs from the series made it in. What’s here is good, don’t get me wrong, but there were times when I really wanted to hear “5-4-1”, “I Will Win”, and of course, “Go Green Ranger Go”.
Likewise, none of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers cast reprise their roles in the voice cast here. And I mean, that’s perfectly understandable, from my perspective. There are almost as many reasons why that wouldn’t work as there are Rangers, so going fresh with a whole new cast makes sense here. While I don’t think there will be anyone confusing them for the originals, most of them do capture the general vibe and sound the original Angel Grove teens had.
Well, except for Jason. He sounded the most askew of any of them from how they sounded in the show. And that’s really only a criticism if the direction was “try to sound as much like these guys as you possibly can.” But if you’ve never heard the original Jason before, then he probably meshes fine with the rest.
Juice and Cut Loose
Getting into the meat of the game, there are 15 stages in total. For the most part, this amounts to two brawling stages, followed by either a 3D driving stage where you ride motorcycles or pilot your chosen Ranger’s Dinozord in a 3D run ‘n gun stage that culminates in combining to form the Dino Megazord. From there, it becomes a Punch-Out!!-esque boss fight.
Breaking it down further, there are four difficulties to choose from: Easy (Easy enemies, unlimited continues), Normal (Normal enemies, 10 continues), Hard (Hard enemies, 5 continues), and Headache (unlocked by finishing Hard; Hard enemies, no continues). So no matter your skill level, you should be able to find something that suits your needs.
"Hey, Putty, tell me: Do you bleed?"
All the stages are laid out on a neat map of Angel Grove, though moving back and forth through the levels from one end to the other can feel a little cumbersome. You can also use this screen to visit the Juice Bar, where you can talk to other characters from the show such as Ernie, Ms. Appleby, Principal Caplan, and of course, Bulk and Skull, who (as always) are the most entertaining by far, and get the most varied dialogue as you go.
You can also swap out which Ranger you’re currently using, and you’ll also find a bulletin board with a checklist of collectibles you can find throughout the game’s stages and their descriptions, each a callback to a different episode of the classic television show. There are also three retro-style arcade games, which require parts found in three different levels to repair in order to play them. These call back to various ’80s and ’90s-styled arcade games, from Spy Hunter to the “Test Your Might” bonus stages from Mortal Kombat.
It’s Morphin’ Time!
Getting back into the main gameplay loop, each level has up to three goals for completion: No deaths, S Rank (complete within a stated time), and finding all the secrets, which ranges from freeing characters to finding hidden items, which fill out the Juice Bar as described above.
The beat ’em up levels play really well. A lot of games of these types will lock you in a certain direction as you’re wailing on the enemy, which allows for other enemies to sneak up on you from behind. But movement here feels very fluid, as you can move from one enemy to the next, back and forth so that you’re not left at a disadvantage. As a result, once you know your moves and get into the flow, you can jump, flip, kick, and zip all over the place, pounding Putty Patrollers and trouncing Tenga Warriors.
“Tenga Warriors?” you might be asking. “Aren’t they from Season 3?” Yes, they are, and that ties into the plot, as all of Robo-Rita’s toying with time travel has led to some anachronistic appearances from myriad monsters, Tenga included. This leads to some neat pairings, like Chunky Chicken from Season 1 tag teaming with Turkey Jerk from Season 2 — a fun nod to the fact that the costumer for the former was repurposed to create the latter. That said, don’t expect any heavy hitters to cross the timeline here; I’m sure those are being saved for (hopeful) sequels.
Remember, kids: Reduce, reuse, recycle!
The time travel aspect also lends itself to a more unique gameplay aspect that truly sets this title apart from its genre contemporaries. Part of the Ritas’ plot involves harvesting time crystals, and about once per beat ’em up level, some Putties will come out to throw a big Time Disruptor device at you. If the counter on this mechanism reaches zero, then it basically rewinds all the progress you made in this screen of each level, forcing you to do it over again.
One thing worth noting is that in these portions, all the Rangers kinda feel the same, unfortunately. I suppose that can be a good thing when there are six of you standing together, fighting evil, with no one being the weak link (because let’s face it, Billy’s genius doesn’t really come into play very much from a gameplay standpoint), but it also hinders replayability across different Rangers. So when you’re swapping them out at the Juice Bar, it’s really more down to aesthetics and personal preference thereof.
Incidentally, to that point, it’s worth pointing out that for fans of the Power Weapons, you should know that they don’t play a big part of the action. They get brought out mainly as big moves during combos. The Dragon Dagger gets a little bit more play, as Tommy uses it to summon Dragonzord’s missiles for his Special Move. Meanwhile, the Blade Blasters get unholstered for some target shooting in their own special segment, but you don’t get to use them during most normal play, either.
We Need Dinozord Power, Now!
With one exception that dips into spoiler territory, the third stages vary between racing on motorcycles (a nod to the old Battle Bikes from the merch of the day and the show’s Super Sentai equivalent that almost never made it into the show, but are different in that each Ranger gets their own, rather than just Red, Black, and Blue, with Yellow and Pink in sidecars) and piloting your respective Dinozords. Both stage types are in 3D, and presented with an aesthetic that’s reminiscent of the old SEGA Super Scaler technology.
Nobody puts Kimberly in the sidecar.
The motorcycle stages have you racing down the streets of Angel Grove, collecting coins and blasting away at Putties who are playing their own version of Grand Theft Auto while dodging obstacles and attacks. Certain vehicles will need to be destroyed to expose the Time Crystals inside, which must then be destroyed before they can rewind time, much as they do in the side-scroller stages. Succeed in taking out the targets, and that’s the stage completed. These are the less-common and simpler of the two.
Wow, Goldar looks so much bigger in person than he did on TV!
The real draw is when it’s time for your Rangers to summon their Dinozords. When they show up, you’ll be in a sequence that’s sort of a 3D auto-scroller, wherein your respective Zords run/drive/fly towards the back of the screen. Here, you’ll need to blast enemies and certain targets, dodge obstacles, and collect coins and power-ups to increase your firepower. The Ritas are running a mining operation for Time Crystals, and it’s up to you to see to it that the Putties operating it get to clock out early — for good. As such, you’ll enter these caverns where you’ll need to destroy these sort of mini-boss-like stations before proceeding.
The Dinozords’ respective attacks mostly feel well-represented here, and this provides one area in which one Ranger does manage to stand out — Kimberly. Since she pilots the Pterodactyl, which is effectively a plane, she doesn’t have to worry about the more ground-based obstacles like pits that her teammates do.
"Remember, team: If we don't move, he can't see us. Right, Billy?" "That's a negative. A big one. Maybe I should lead..."
Once you’ve reached the appropriate point in the stage, it’s time for Dino Megazord power! The Dinozords combine in a neat sequence with a sort of comic book-like illustration style, and then things switch to a battle mode that’s more akin to something like Nintendo’s Punch-Out!! games. Unlike those titles, where you’re largely fixed in place and pivoting to dodge blows, there are points where you need to pursue the Monster of the Week Stage you’re fighting. Like the aforementioned boxing game, you’ll bob and weave left and right, forward and back to avoid attacks from the enemy, while looking for opportunities to deliver punches of your own, left and right, respectively.
Doing this fills up a meter that will be used to summon the Mega Power Sword for a final strike against the weakened foe. However, if there’s more than one person playing, then the meter is segmented, and players take turns round-robin style to get in on the action and help fill the meter. If one player fails, another can pick up the slack.
'Alright, you big monkey. Come catch these hands!"
And of course, once you beat the game and unlock the Green Ranger, the mighty Dragonzord is also yours to command in these sections. Unfortunately, though, you don’t really get to enjoy any of the cool, unique attacks and features that helped make this draconic king of the Zords so beloved. While I guess the blaster fire could be equated to its missiles, there’s no drill tail whip to be had, and when it comes time to form the Megazord, there’s no opportunity to use the Dragonzord instead, or even the Dragonzord’s combined Battle Mode.
But say it with me, now: It’s still more and better than we got on the SNES!
Other Modes, Online, and More
Yeah, I tried to find a good Billy technobabble quote for the title of this section, and failed. I have let you down, Ranger Nation.
Anyway, in addition to the main story mode, there are two extra offline modes: Training and Speedrun. Training shows you some of your moves, but not quite everything. Meanwhile, Speedrun is just the regular game, but with a clock in the corner. Everything else is intact, from the map to the cutscenes to just faffing about in the Juice Bar. As a result, I can’t imagine that this is as “raw” as I’d think a dedicated speedrunner would want such a mode to be. Not that I’m anything resembling a speedrunner myself, I could be completely wrong here.
I played the game on both the Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch, and found it performed well on both platforms. Not that I expected any different from the former, but sometimes you never know with the latter.
There's no rave like a '90s rave.
However, it’s when I took things online that things got a bit shaky.
There are two modes for matching up with someone on Xbox, and presumably most other versions: Quick Match and Invite. Basically, pairing up with random strangers or inviting someone you know in to join you. On the Switch, there’s a third option for local play between multiple Switches. I don’t know if anyone else I know is playing, so I went the Quick Match route.
It took me a bit to find a match on Xbox. I gave it five minutes with nothing happening before I backed out. I immediately tried again, and then got connected to someone in one. I couldn’t pick the Green Ranger for whatever reason, having already beaten the game at that point. Apparently, at least for Quick Matches, you’re starting from scratch. It makes me wonder if you have to beat the game again while online in order to play as him online, or how that works. Maybe he’s not available for Quick Matches?
Unfortunately, I wouldn’t get to find out. Everything was going well until the other person I connected with and I reached the middle of the fifth stage. That’s when we were disconnected for some reason, and that was that.
"Oh no! Rita's started her own social network! We've got to shut it down, fast!" "That's not what -- oh, whatever. I'll be running this outfit in 30 years, anyway."
Over on Switch, it wasn’t much better. I found a match much quicker on my first time than my first Xbox attempt, after about a minute or so. But we didn’t really get to play, as we were disconnected before getting to properly start due to a network error. This happened twice.
Almost ten minutes later, I got a match that finally worked… for about six minutes into the first stage. I called it after that.
I tend to find Switch online play shakier than Xbox’s, anyway, and your mileage may vary altogether. Still, that was my experience. Take it for what you will.
Morphenomenal
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is, in a word, good. As a reminder, I have been playing an updated/patched version of the title, so my experience may be different from what players and reviewers experienced when it first came out, but as the game is now? It’s good. Maybe even great.
I won’t blow smoke and try to pretend it’s the greatest game ever, stomping the likes of Mario and God of War or anything like that, but it’s not trying to. It’s out to deliver a fun Power Rangers experience, and as a Power Rangers fan for 32 years running, I feel like they succeeded. It’s not perfect — did I mention I’m a big Green Ranger fan? So there might be some bias there — but it’s still a really good Power Rangers game, and definitely in the top percentage of titles released to fly the Rangers banner over these last three decades.
And even as just a regular video game, apart from all the Power Rangers trappings? It’s just good, solid fun. Definitely give this one a look if you’re into spandex-clad super heroes, martial arts, tokusatsu monsters, giant combining dinosaur robots, and retro-styled beat ’em ups. You might just like what you see.
We give Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind six out of seven Power Coins.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind is available now digitally on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Steam for PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 for $34.99 USD. Review codes were provided by the publisher.
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