Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind Review (Xbox Series X|S)

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers celebrated their 30th anniversary last year with a special television film reuniting some of the original cast members and paying respects to a few of the others, and now to continue the legacy, Digital Eclipse has followed this up with a brand-new video game channelling the arcade classics of yesteryear. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind revives the classic cast once more and warps them back in time as their old nemesis Rita Repulsa teams up with Robo Rita to “rewind, rewrite, and remix the past” in an attempt to stop the formation of the heroic group.

For the most part, this is a 2D side-scrolling brawler where you select a ranger, add some friends and jump right into the action – duking it out against Rita’s endless army of Putty Patrollers (and other minions) across all sorts of urban and outdoor environments. The brawling is inspired by pixel beat ‘em up experiences like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and X-Men, and there’s a quick tutorial to go with it – teaching you the controls including punches, dive kicks, special attacks, and how to evade incoming attacks. You can also link attacks together once you get the hang of it. While it is rather straightforward, according to Digital Eclipse it’s been designed to be “simple and accessible” and it definitely achieves this – with anyone able to hop in and have some fun beating up Putties.

As you travel across Angel Grove, you’ll face-off against all sorts of Power Rangers’ bosses, equipped with unique abilities. This starts with Goldar, but Rita’s got plenty of other formidable foes at her disposal. Time disruptors must also be destroyed, or you'll be stuck in an endless loop of beat 'em up action. To help you in battle, up to six rangers can join the fight locally (with the sixth slot unlocking once you beat the game) and Digital Eclipse will be adding online support for up to two players on Xbox in the future. While online might not be ready for release, it will no doubt be a welcome addition when it does arrive. Online matchmaking will also apparently be expanded to six players at a latter stage.

Where Rita’s Rewind really mixes up the gameplay is during the “super scaler” segments. These scenes, which take place in-between the beat ‘em up action, reference arcade classics from earlier eras and will see you piloting the Power Rangers’ Zords in 3D-like environments. You’ll be racing down a highway shooting bad guys on a bike, going behind enemy lines, and beating up giant monsters in your Megazord in true Power Rangers style. Many of these scenes are heavily inspired by certain genres like shoot ‘em ups and even rail shooters such as Space Harrier, and although some of them might be a bit confusing at first, anyone struggling should work it out in time with a bit of trial and error.

Alongside all of this are locations like the Juice Bar, where you’ll chat and relive certain moments with characters from the original series and even play some fun little minigames that also act as a homage to the arcade glory days. You’ve got the usual difficulty options as well – with our initial run on ‘normal’ just shy of three hours. The average play time from start to finish is the same runtime according to Digital Eclipse, and you unlock a speed run mode (and another surprise) at the end of it. It's short-lived, but this is nothing out of the ordinary for beat ‘em ups, and there’s obviously replay value on harder difficulties and with the multiplayer option.

Screen filters are also part of the package, including CRT options, but if you want something a little easier on the eyes, you can swap to a modern clean-cut aesthetic. One other thing worthy of note is the funky and rockin' soundtrack throughout Rita's Rewind. Composer Sean ‘CosmicGem’ Bialo (TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, Penny’s Big Breakaway) has done a top job delivering what might be one of the best retro-like soundtracks in 2024 - and yes, the main theme song is included. To top it off, there’s even some voice work, with characters making all sorts of quips during combat.