Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind from developer Digital Eclipse aims to be much more than a nostalgia trip.
Boasting up to six-player local co-op (on all platforms outside of Sony at launch), the beat-em-up offering aims to perfect that old-school, sprite-based side-scrolling formula while weaving in a meaningful Power Rangers tale.
That alone should have players with even a general interest in side-scrolling action excited, especially given the recent successes of other similar offerings on modern hardware.
One look at Rita's Rewind is enough for onlookers to feel optimistic, too.
Graphics and Gameplay
One could confuse Rita's Revenge for a top-of-the-line 90s arcade game at a glance.
That's a huge compliment, too. The side-scrolling classical look will remind older players of past juggernauts like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles offerings. It's just old-school cool. The pixelated characters look great in action and even better when they're speaking, as a blown-up version of them appears with the text boxes. Environment backgrounds are colorful, varied, and notably distinct with landmarks.
Granted, the screen can get a little chaotic in action as abilities start flying, but it's never overwhelming. Everything from the health bars, attack animations and even sound design is just sleekly old-school in the best way.
Gameplay follows the same theme. At its most basic, players use light and heavy attacks, plus dash attacks, dives, uppercuts and more. It's not all offensive, either. There are dodges players can use to get i-frames, making them immune to ranged attacks, if timed right.
The fighting and combos can be a little more complex than one might expect, too. Juggling enemies is possible, to the point of literally grabbing them and throwing them at a teammate to keep a chain going.
There are a few notable enemy types beyond the silly gray goofs, like one that walks on screen with a crystal that players must destroy quickly or it does screen-wide damage.
It wouldn't be right if the game didn't feature notable boss battles to overcome, too, which plays into the genre and the episodic formula of the television show itself.
Rita's Rewind doesn't just limit things to on-foot action, either. There are some fun, quick mixups, such as racing on motorcycles during a chase -- and even entering the cockpit of various Megazords.
While these mixups won't flip the genre on its head or anything, they are incredibly welcome for pacing purposes and are just one part of a great whole that makes up an impressive fun factor.
Story and More
This is exactly what fans would expect from a Power Rangers episode, if not movie -- Robo-Rita jumps through time to team up with Rita Repulsa.
The goal? Carve out an alternate timeline that prevents Billy, Zach, Jason, Trini, and Kimberly from succeeding as Power Rangers. It is a tale weaved off a thread picked up from the 2023 Netflix special Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always to great effect.
While a short romp, the game puts a ton of love and care into the character voices and interactions, which long-term fans will appreciate.
Perhaps the best example of this is when the fists aren't flying. Brief breaks let players ease up between missions and chat with characters at the Angel Grove Youth Center. This comes with some fun, expected character tropes and even unlockable arcade cabinets.
In a nod to dedicated fans and those who want to seek out goodies to find, there are also lore-heavy collectibles scattered throughout the experience, too.
Notably, the online section of the game remains under construction and promises a steady rollout of online capabilities. At launch, only up to two players can play co-op online. A later promised patch will be implemented to co-up with up to six players online on all platforms.
Rita's Rewind runs well and boasts the necessary suite of options, too.
Conclusion
Power Rangers Rita's Rewind is basically the ultimate version of what kids imagined and hoped the arcade machine at the local Pizza Hut would have when they visited.
Which is to say Rita's Rewind fits right in with the mini-golden era for games like this, meaning amazing love letters to 90s classics while perfecting old-school games. Think, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge.
Quick, fun and enjoyable with friends, Rita's Rewind is a nice ode to a beloved franchise and era of gaming. Onlookers can debate where it might rank among other efforts with other superheroes as of late, but most will probably agree it is tops in the Power Rangers hierarchy with ease.
