''MORPHINOMENAL''
Developed: Digital Eclipse
Published: Digital Eclipse
Genre: Beat Em Up
Release Date: Dec 10th,2024
Platforms: NSW/PS5/PS4/XBOX Family/PC
*Review copy provided by Atari/Digital Eclipse
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita's Rewind is the latest stroll down the ol nostalgia lane and it is developed and published by Digital Eclipse. With nostalgia being a huge thing at the moment with people like myself yearning for the days of old in the 1990's, Digital Eclipse decided to take a page out of Shredders Revenge and give that same treatment to the Power Rangers franchise. But is it the right time to revive these teenagers with attitude or should another franchise been the focus instead? Only way one to find out, so lets morph into action!
''MOVE YOUR BIG HEAD ZORDON, YOU'RE IN THE SHOT!''
GAMEPLAY:
Its time to Morph into action with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita's Rewind. In what is promised to be a tribute to our nostalgia and trying to blend the classic 90's aesthetic and vibe to fit a more contemporary modern day and age of gameplay, Digital Eclipse tries to give long time fans of Power Rangers the feel good feeling we all remember from watching our teenagers with attitude hangout at their favorite juice bar. Only this time, we won't be bullied by a Bulk and Skull. Here in Rita's Rewind the game puts you into an adventure and timeline where Robo-Rita teams up with her past self in order to manipulate and change history, which goes hand in hand with the Netflix special ''Once and Always''. Honestly this path they took for the story actually works out perfectly and makes more sense than just re-hashing games like we got back on the Super Nintendo and Genesis and gives it more of a Shredders Revenge direction that Tribute Games took with the TMNT property. Tonight we dine on turtle soup? nope, today we dine in the Cultural Food Festival... just without Spicy Raddish, our belly's cant take that type of abuse, right Pudgy Pig?. By allowing us as players to be taken back the golden age of not only TV, but also video games and mixing with with modern changers, it gives players a mix of your typical brawling action and incorporates on-rail shooting to the mix as well, alongside driving sequences. Which the driving sequences just give you huge nostalgia and make you think back to the days of seeing all the Zords coming together when they come out of pits, from the snow, from volcanos and make their epic way to each other and connect into one giant Megazord. It was awesome. But did you ever notice how stupid Kimberly's Pterodactyl was? it literally has one of the most epic entrances, coming out of a volcano like its Rodan from the Godzilla universe and then runs directly into a tree. What a clumsy Zord. Even Putty Patrol aren't that clumsy and they just run around going WUBLWUWUBLWU all day. Oh well, still not as embarrassing as watching Billy try to learn how to dance, so I guess it gets let off the hook this time I suppose. But were way off topic now, so BACK TO ACTION.
At the core of Rita's Rewind lives the very top tier of beat em mechanics that feel refined and perfected and replicates the old school feel of what the genre at its height used to be. Confronting waves of Putties or even Tengas makes you feel like its a blast from the past with the original TV series and the first movie with you remembering all the good stuff you missed previously, like ,The Black Plague, The Spanish Inquisition, The Brady Bunch Reunion. Well... maybe just the Brady Bunch Reunion, not the other two. With all the classic rangers playable, whether you want to be Jason, Zack, Billy, Trini, Kimberly or even later on, Tommy, you will be able to pick whichever fan favorite you wish to be and each different range boasting their own unique abilities to use that are similar to the powers they use in the actual television series as well, which is pretty dang awesome.. although it would be even more awesome with some Hip-Hop Kido thrown into the mix. While its definitely leaning on nostalgia for sure, it does distinguish itself from other beat em ups on the market, even when compared to the bar setter of Shredders Revenge as previous mentioned by having a fluid shift from terrestrial combat on the ground, punching, kicking, slicing, jumping around like a crazy person just hearing the phrase ''ZINC-YAH!'' in your head 500 times because the 90's ruined you into thinking that's how all punching and kicking sounds due to Tommy Oliver when he fights... and then the show also making you believe you can ACTUALLY fight and then you end up getting jumped by a group of people you challenged. Thanks Zordon, where the heck was MY Morpher for that situation. Big bald interdimensional being in a test tube aside, going from standard beat em up fighting on terrain and then finally being able to control your own Zord in full on Gundam level fights in first person mode just feels awesome and it's something we as fan have wanted in this fashion for a VERY LONG time and being able to finally control the Megazord ourselves, gives us way more immersion and a good amount of cinematic flair that really doesn't happen too much in these retro inspired title since companies usually play it safe and don't take much risk. Being able to go first person mode for me was epic every time, because, come on, who wouldn't want to punch Goldar in the face or take on the shows iconic villains like Eye Guy and his body made of eyes who's lucky Rita didn't crossover with the Mario Universe, otherwise Wario would come in and fart and give him pink eye, or even take on the girlfriend snatching Madame Woe and spooky Bones. The game truly does make you feel like you're part of the Power Rangers Universe.
Even beyond the addicting gameplay, I honestly feel the storyline here in Rita's Rewind is where the game kind of gets its footing truly correct and going a different route than normal nostalgia based creations would go. Usually in games trying to trigger our nostalgia will do a rehash of levels or scenes you've already played or done before to an annoyingly degree... think of Sonic and Green Hill zone and the 500 times that's throw into our faces every new Sonic entry. Well except in Sonic Forces when ''Green hill looks a lot more like Sand Hill''. Dang it Sonic. The cringe. Now I know why I dislike Sonic Forces even more than I thought. By using time travel for its plot with Robo-Rita trying to work with normal Rita to try to change the timeline, you get handed both humor and heart and it makes the exploration through these eras of Power Rangers entertaining, engaging, nostalgic and a ton of fun, especially when you throw in great voice acting that gives depth to the characters you play as for more added immersion. One thing missing throughout this though was Bulk and Skull every other segment getting themselves into Mischief with their iconic theme or being able to full fly around in the RAD BUG that Billy created. Now that I think about it, how the heck did Billy even create a freaking flying car anyways? kid is like 15 or 16 in the show and just casually building flying cars, body swapping machines and molecular transmission devices. Dude is a genius of THAT level and still enters High School Science Fairs just to stunt on everyone. What a jerk you are Billy, you're lucky I don't just push you off a cliff, you scared of heights baby.
''LET ME PUNCH YOUR FACE!''
OVERALL:
At the end of the day, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita's Rewind ends up a heartfelt homage for all of us as Power Rangers fans. Though it does have its issues that people will contend with such as a $35 price tag for a game of this stature that will come down to how you wish to use your wallet. Other than that, I really can't find any overall glaring flaws that tarnish the game to the degree where I would tell people to stay away with its addicting beat em up style, on-rail excitement gameplay, first person fighting, classic characters brought to life once again, the original cast of characters playable in this title, a fun and unique story to the Power Rangers timeline that doesn't just rehash the same ol same ol and keeps everything feeling fresh, etc. If you're a Power Rangers fan or a nostalgia junky in general who just likes old school beat em ups with a high quality twist, then I definitely suggest checking this one out, $35 price tag or not. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick say BUY NOW
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