If you grew up in the world of arcades in the 90s, you probably have fond memories of some very specific games. Multiplayer beat-em-ups based on popular media in that era were the centerpiece of any arcade at the time. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time” and “The Tenth Men” were the kind of games that got kids excited whenever their mom said they would stop at the mall to buy clothes. While many great 90s shows got their own games, there was a glaring omission: The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers never got their own game.
Decades later, developer Digital Eclipse is finally looking to right this wrong. “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Raising Rita” is a bold new arcade-style game that looks like it was pulled straight from the 90s and the TV show’s storylines. When I went to the first demo, I was sure I knew exactly what to expect. Reviving retro games like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge” is perfect fun, but not entirely surprising. That’s not the case with “Raising Rita,” which goes the extra mile to make the Rangers’ adventure standout.
It’s Morphin Time
My demo started exactly as expected. I jumped into the TV, where another member of the press was playing with a developer from Digital Eclipse. I grabbed a controller and smoothly hopped in as the Yellow Ranger. It didn’t take me long to figure out what to do. Within seconds, I was attacking enemies and grabbing food from destructible crates. It’s a project of “how you remember old games you used to play”. My moves were fast and my attacks varied. I kicked some enemies with a jump kick and took them down with a combo of punches. Everything was fast, furious, and familiar.
Even the story needed a bit of an introduction. I quickly learned that Rita Repulsa had teamed up with Robo Rita to mess with time. This gives Digital Eclipse a lot of creative space, where they can retell moments from the original show, complete with actual dialogue from the show, while scattering enemies across the franchise’s history. It’s a classic premise for a game like this, one that’s meant to be taken as an “arcade logic” rather than an attempt to fit it into traditional lore.
Frankly, all that would be enough to make “Raising Rita” a hit of nostalgia that fans of the show will eat up – but Digital Eclipse didn’t stop there.
At the end of one of the stages, my team and I faced Goldar. We hit him while dodging fireballs and executing our special attacks to deal massive damage. Everything was going as expected until he turned giant. Suddenly, we were thrown into “Harrier Space” a spaceship shooter game, where each of us raced through a canyon in our Zords area. It was a complete and thrilling surprise as we blew up spaceships with rockets. Digital Eclipse says these perspective shifts make up about 30% of the game.
When we caught up to Goldar, things changed again. We formed into Megazord and suddenly the camera shifted into the cockpit. We were now fighting in a brave first-person view game, where each player takes turns trying to land enough hits to charge up a piece of the Power Sword. I ducked and weaved as he fired fireballs at the cockpit, waiting for an opening to land a running punch. It was like a Power Rangers Punch-Out battle. When we finally charged our sword, we all mashed the attack buttons together to deliver the final blow. It’s a childhood power fantasy delivered in all its glory in the 90s.
The more Digital Eclipse revealed, the clearer it became that this is not just a fast, easy side-scrolling game with a Power Rangers skin. Take, for example, the juice bar, which acts as a calming center between levels. This area features three arcade cabinets with entirely original games. They’re not Power Rangers branded games; they were invented entirely because Digital Eclipse wanted to explore the kind of games its heroes would already be playing in the universe.
It’s these details that elevate “Raising Rita” above a fun nostalgia project. It’s not just a love letter to Power Rangers, but to the era they thrived in. And its gameplay twists praise the arcade scene of the 90s in a way that makes the project look more authentic. It’s a particularly fitting style for a studio like Digital Eclipse, whose work revolves around preserving old games. “Raising Rita” is an extension of that mission, capturing the social energy that propelled the Rangers to stardom in the first place.
“Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Raising Rita” is set to be released in 2024 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
