Mean Machines Sega
1st November 1995
Publisher: Sega
Machine: Sega Game Gear (EU Version)
Published in Mean Machines Sega #38
Power Rangers
OK. Power Rangers. Not exactly the best programme in the world, is it? And now they've gone and made a film about it as well. Poncy actors dress in tight-fitting costumes bash the hell out of puppets from Jim Henson's Creature Workshop. Great fun. Not that I've seen it or anything, oh no. Ahem! Well, despite a minor flaw - it's crap - Sega feel it is an ideal concept to make a game out of and that is exactly what they have done. Onward Rangers!
There are three types of game on this cart. One is the standard versus beat-'em-up option a la Street Fighter, and the other is the story mode in which you fight the characters from the film in roughly the same order they appear in. The third option is the Link mode in which you and a mate can play each other by using two handhelds, although if you both own a copy of this you probably only have one chum anyway.
Go Go Power Rangers!
All the different Rangers are in the game, even the newest White Ranger (woo!). What this means is that there are many different moves for you to see with each character. And every time you beat one of the bosses, he comes back and you fight him as Megazord. In case you don't know, he's the sum of their combined powers. So you did know, after all, eh? Secrets out, saddo. Some of the characters you fight along the way include Goldar, Beam Caster and Hornitron (ahem).
Marcus
You can't enjoy games in the same way. This effort is an unoriginal punchfest, tarted up with some smart intro sequences and a bunch of kids in silly costumes. Hardly enough to lure anyone away from Mortal Kombat, and quite an expensive item for Power Rangers completists. For addicts only.
Steve
At first I was quite enjoying this game. Working out the moves and such like was quite entertaining, but as the novelty wore off I soon became frustrated with the repetitiveness. I also didn't like the fact that all the moes are the same for each character: If you do a fireball with button 1 for the White Ranger it will be the same for all the Rangers.
Not a good idea at all. The Mortal Kombat series, in comparison, is much better than this simply because of the variety of different moves available for each character. Because these fighters don't have many moves at their disposal this is definitely for die-hard fans only (which I am not before you ask!).Verdict
Graphics 76%
The presentation screens are quite well done.
Animation 69%
A few frames of note but not much.
Not bad Rangery type sounds.
Effects 67%
Again, nothing special.
Playability 75%
OK to start with. Gets boring quickly though.
Lastability 72%
A very put-down-able game.
Overall 70%
Not really any good - just gets too repetitive.
