It's Morphin Time!
While I was a tad too old for the Power Ranger craze when it first debuted in 1993, I nonetheless enjoyed the campy nature of the show, its martial arts hijinks, and the over-the-top nature of the whole experience. While the show was pretty enjoyable, it was the 1995 movie that really made me love the original cast. While Power Rangers games over the years have varied anywhere from good to awful, few have been great, which thankfully is why Rita’s Rewind stands above the rest.
Developed by Digital Eclipse, Rita’s Rewind looks to capitalize on the 2D beat’em up craze that was reinvigorated by 2022’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, a game that itself was a throwback to the nostalgia many players craved from the old school beat’em ups. While Shredder's Revenge certainly feels more polished with snappier combat, Rita’s Rewind is no slouch, and stands shoulder to shoulder with the best in the genre, down to some smart design choices and its varied gameplay.
Right from the jump, Rita’s Rewind offers 5-player local co-op, with six-player co-op available once you've completed the game and unlocked the Green Ranger. That said, PlayStation is currently locked to 4-player co-op until an upcoming patch addresses this. Online co-op is planned, but will only support two online players at once. While the game certainly teases a next adventure, the story here fast tracks most of the original show’s road to the rangers' confrontation with Tommy and his eventual inclusion into the group.
Far into the future, Robo-Rita discovers a way to travel back in time to the moment the power Rangers were first formed to hopefully defeat them at their inception. As she teams up with the Rita of that time, their power doubles and becomes a significant threat for the five young teenagers. What I love about the story is that this feels written by passionate fans of the original show. The butting of heads of both Rita’s, to even the dialogue from series mainstays; Bulk and Skull, all help define what a fun show the original was. While there is a cast providing voices to the central cast, and its villains, it's used a bit too sparingly, unfortunately.
Spread out across fifteen levels, the Power Rangers will have to contend with two Rita’s and her Putty army, as well as the crows from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, which are likely here to add a bit of variety as the game can suffer from a lot of repetitive putty-like foes. Levels are broken into episodes, with each ending with some sort of boss. From Goldar and Crabby Cabbie, you'll either take to your Megazord or the Zord’s themselves to deal out some Power Ranger justice.
What is so great about Rita’s Rewind is that you have both classic beat’em up levels and those that borrow from the era of Sega's Super Scaling effect of pseudo 3D levels that play almost like old school racing games. Your Zords can fire off various blasts, enhanced and changed by a variety of pickups, to eventually form into the Mighty Megazord for a punch-out-like battle where you are dodging incoming attacks and laying in the hurt to build up your sword meter to end the battle. These distractions from the standard brawling levels are a treat and allow Rita’s Rewind to stand out from the Karate Kid: Street Rumbles, and Double Dragons: Rise of the Dragons’ of the world.
Combat as your Ranger of choice is simple, but has a decent level of depth, even if I wish each Ranger had their own unique combos and attacks. While there are differences in speed and strength, each Ranger regardless feels far too similar. Each Ranger has a series of punches, kicks, and drop attacks, that are flashy and show off their notable weapons, even if those weapons are sadly not used in combat. You can taunt to build up a power meter that allows you to screen clear the battle with your Zord. Occasionally, you'll have to destroy a time crystal, that can rewind time if you take too long. Thankfully, the damage sustained to the crystal remains. While the idea is interesting, it rarely is more than just a surface-level gimmick that felt there to reflect the title of the game.
Rita's Rewind is also a very challenging game in the final few levels. Myself and my co-op partner kept adding controllers once we died to live again as players three, four, and five, just to survive the last two battles. We found that Kimberly’s Zord is nearly invincible in the game's second last battle as most attacks by the enemy wouldn't even hit her.
Visually, Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind is top-notch for what it is trying to do. Both the fighting and arcade-like levels all shine in their own way. Animations are solid, albeit simple, but it is the Zords and Megazord encounters that really pull it off. There is a fun approach to what has been crafted here that is so refreshing in this genre.
While its visual presentation is rock solid, the audio portion of its offerings is hit and miss. I think the cast hired here does a wonderful job, they just don't get a lot to work with. Each Ranger or villain feels as if they have less than four or five lines, with many of them constantly repeating. That said, I don't even recall many of the villains even talking, despite names credited to them in the credits. While it was made clear that voices were barely even added to the game, I'd love to see this cast get more to do should a sequel ever happen.
Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind may show its budget across the whole package, but it is certainly money well spent. There is a care and passion behind every pixel that is present across both the brawling stages and the arcade-like experiences of piloting the Zords. There is a joyous energy to this game that is infectious, and while it certainly has its own share of issues, I am eager to see what this team can do with a sequel that is refreshingly hinted at.
Developer - Digital Eclipse.
Publisher - Digital Eclipse. Released - December 10th, 2024. Available On - Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC. Rated - (E 10+) - Fantasy Violence. Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X/S. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.