Mighty Morphing Power Rangers Ritas Rewing PS5 Review MMPR Ritas Rewind PS5 Review PS5 Review

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind Review (PS5) – Back To Action!

Mighty Morphin Power Range: Rita’s Rewind PS5 Review. The 30th Anniversaries have been coming thick and fast lately. Doom, Donkey Kong Country, PlayStation and of course everyone’s favourite teenagers with attitude – The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Netflix marked the occasion in 2023 with the fan service special episode Once and Always. It was so awesome to see some of those heroes back on the TV screen seeing as both the brilliant Boom Studios comic series and the excellent Battle For the Grid PS4 game had revitalised my interest in this beloved series.

Digital Eclipse brings the latest blast of nostalgia with a character from the Netflix special – Robo Rita.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita’s Rewind – Back To Action!


Retro Rewind

Not only is this a nostalgic trip down memory lane with Jason, Kimberly, Zack, Billy, Trini and Tommy, but also recalls a trip to the arcade thanks to the games use of retro pixel art and classic arcade game design. Games like Streets Of Rage 4 and TNMT Shredders Revenge have recently hit the nail on the head with what they delivered for those respective franchises so its nice to see the GOAT of the Power Rangers franchise MMPR also get this retro treatment.

Unlike those games though this game leans a lot more heavily into the arcade era of games. This is very evident in how the game feels and controls giving that extra nostalgic hit for those who played the games of that generation. So it is not just a pixel art skin over a modern designed game as every aspect here gives that old style feel.

Players begin by picking their favourite ranger to play as, from the original five – Red, Pink, Black, Blue and Yellow with a max of four players in co-op on PS4 and PS5. A lot of people are probably going to favour Tommy Oliver, but the Green Ranger is only playable once you’ve beaten the story so there is reason for an additional playthrough as the Dragon Dagger-wielding badass.

One option that I do wish was available was to play through at least one level as the teens without the suits on. The first level opens up with the characters this way but you never get to play as them in this form. Any fan of the original show will know that the group of teens fighting Rits’s minions in their civilian outfits was a constant of the series. And, while the original cast would have been a nice treat here, the voice actors have still done a great job to capture the essence of each of the rangers. The soundtrack too from the off hits the vibe and being great throughout.

CRT filters add that extra feel of playing a retro title and if these aren’t something you are fond of they can be disabled from the menu.

Classic Action

This is not just your typical side-scrolling beat-’em-up where you whoop bad guys and pull off special attacks. The levels are interspersed with different gamplay as you get to pilot the individual Zords in a third-person shoot-’em-up and also get to take the controls of the Megazord in some Punch Out style action. It’s a nice change of pace at each turn.

While some may say that things get repetitive, well, they’ve clearly not seen an episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Repetitiveness was a mainstay of the original show – fight a mosnter, beat it together, watch as Rita used her magic staff to make her monster grow huge, call in the Megazord and whoop the monster again… and sometimes call in the Power Sword for good measure.

This cycle was rinsed and repeated episode after episode back in the day and we gobbled up every bit. The game is by no means a straight forward run with some difficult spots especially playing solo. Grabbing a co-op partner or two is definitely recommended. Also utilising the Pink Ranger for the shoot-’em-up sections has its advantages. The fact her Zord is an airborne Pterodactyl mitigates the ground hazards allowing you to focus on the shooting.

Rewind

A unique mechanic in the game is the use of time disruptors that are dropped in the levels by Rita’s bad guys. These capsules rewind your gameplay over and over until you destroy them. Each rewind keeps any damage you inflicted on the capsule intact so taking care of these as quickly and efficiently as possible will go a long way to you achieving the coveted S-Rank for the level. Some nicely coordinated teamwork with your co-op buddies is also key here.

The game offers replayability with the slight variety in each character but also with its varying difficulty settings with the hard mode not being for the faint of heart. Add to this the collectibles hidden throughout the levels and the speedrun mode and you’ve got some goals to aim for. There are also some arcade cabinets to try your hand at in Ernie’s Juice Bar in your Angel Grove downtime from saving the world.

My only main gripe with the game is the length of the story which would have been nice to see fleshed out a bit. This lands just behind the previously mentioned Battle for the Grid as my second favourite Power Rangers game. Hopefully some team out there goes full hog and delivers a Power Rangers RPG that takes on the Boom Studios story lines. Now that would be Mighty!

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is out now for PS5, PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One.

Review code kindly provided by publisher.

Score

7.5

The Final Word

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind leans heavily into the arcade era of video games with its look, sound and gameplay. It's a tonne of fun especially in co-op, but its short runtime will leave you wanting for more. If you're a fan of the MMPR series then this will definitely put a smile on your face.