The Power Rangers Finally Have a Game That Will Make Zordon Proud

The Power Rangers franchise is one of the most deceptively creative around. In its original form — the 1993-1995 television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers — the story followed five (later six) California teens who used martial arts, cosmic superpowers, and Godzilla-sized dinosaur robots to save the world from alien monsters. That was all on top of their typical high school drama, from Sadie Hawkins dances to community volunteering. One could imagine Buffy Summers enrolling at Angel Grove High had she not attended Sunnydale. 

The ingredients that define Power Rangers are a recipe for a good video game. One need only look at the similarly-minded (and acclaimed, and popular) Persona series to imagine the immense potential for Power Rangers games. Unfortunately, 30-plus years of the IP have not resulted in a single meaningful video game. Sure, there's a nostalgic appeal to the 1995 movie tie-in console titles, and the 2019 multiplatform fighter Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid stoked a fiercely competitive scene during the pandemic. But as rival brands like Star Wars, Batman, Marvel, and even Ninja Turtles have left significant marks in the gaming landscape, the Power Rangers have barely grazed its surface. 

Everything about this historic losing streak is set to change in December when the retro-style cooperative game Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind is made available on all major platforms. Developed by well-regarded studio Digital Eclipse, Rita's Rewind is an arcade-inspired beat 'em up modeled in the spirit of other classic brawlers like Double Dragon, Final Fight, and Streets of Rage. "Beat 'em up," so the genre is called, because you chaotically beat up enemies while slowly progressing your way forward.

In terms of story, the game uses a time travel premise to retell the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from a new angle — the platonic ideal to attract all audiences. If you don't know Power Rangers from the New York Rangers, this is an impossibly accessible introduction. If you are hardcore for all things mighty and morphin, the new twists might freshen up familiar grounds. 

Ahead of release, critical consensus towards the game's impressions are palpably positive. Outlets like GameSpot and IGN have highlighted parts of the game they say are standout — like in a November 22 episode of IGN's Beyond! podcast. Host Max Scoville highlighted the game's approach to cooperative mechanics and its literal "rewind" challenge, where failing to destroy "time crystals" scattered across levels will make the game actually rewind, à la a VHS tape, which sets players back. "They do enough interesting little things to make it more than just a palette swap," Scoville said in comparison to the likeminded Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, another retro-style beat 'em up that drew critical acclaim in 2022.

It's high time the Power Rangers star in a worthwhile video game. There's plenty of quality gaming experiences that await with karate-kicking superheroes who pilot giant dinosaurs. Rita's Rewind's only expectation is that it must be fun, and addictively so. Never mind that it doesn't sport the bleeding-edge fidelity and polish of other major IP games. If anything, that's its most critical advantage. The recent failures of big budget superhero IP games like Marvel's Avengers, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and Gotham Knights speaks to the industry's overreliance on unwieldy scale. Less is more for the Power Rangers in their first serious foray as a gaming franchise. Rita's Rewind may lack the same heft as other major superhero games, but it doesn't belay future Power Rangers games from picking up where it leaves off.

When Mighty Morphin aired on Saturday mornings, pop culture phenoms like The Simpsons, X-Men: The Animated Series, and even the Alien and Predator films (via the hit Alien vs. Predator) inspired iconic arcade beat 'em ups that fundamentally shaped the genre. It was a party to which Power Rangers was never invited. In pre-release interviews, Digital Eclipse's developers have explicitly said their goal was to make the Power Rangers game of 1993 that never was. We can't rewind and redo the past, but we can make up for lost (morphin') time.