Retro Review: Burning Rangers

The number of people who have played this game are few I'm sure, but as a Saturn owner this was one of the few titles that I look back foundly on. Burning Rangers had really good graphics for the time and amazing graphics for a Saturn game. More importantly, it was (still is) a unique gaming experience. The premise of the game is that you take control of a Burning Ranger who must rescue civilians from fiery deaths. You go around blasting fire with your water gun and collecting crystals in order to be able to send them to safety. But enough about the premise, just watch the video and you'll get the idea:

Gameplay: 8.5/10
Pros: Very fun to play, different and unique. Really exceptional controls for the time allowed you to perform jetpack acrobatics with ease. Great Boss Battles.
Cons: Horrible "flying mission" at the end of the game where you are basically playing a shootemup...a really bad shootemup- just frustrating. What makes that even worse is the fact that there are only 4 missions and this is how they expend some of that time.

Graphics: 9/10
Pros: Based on a modified version of the Nights engine, Burning Rangers is one of the best looking Saturn games ever to be released. Only Panzer Dragoon Saga & Guardian Heroes can compete, and only the Saga was 3D. Burning Rangers is one of the only 3D Saturn games to use Transparencies. The game focused on fire and the fire looked damn good.
Cons: In retrospect, the characters, levels, fire all still look fantastic, but the crystals and watersphere effect have to go.

Sound/Music: 9/10
Pros: Good Voiceacting and fantastic in game voice notifications. The Whoosh sound effect that symbolized a backdraft or fire hazard was exhilirating. Solid Soundtrack.
Cons: Corny theme song: "Burning Rangers Go!...etc." Over the top menu music.

Lasting Appeal: 6/10
Pros: Randomly generated civilians and civilian locations, backdrafts, etc. gave the game immediate replayability. Additional Rangers to Unlock. Great Gameplay.
Cons: ONLY 4 Missions! This game was way too short and worse was that the final Level sucked and was mostly flying around in the burning rangers stupid ship. While, the randomly generated stuff did squeeze a lot more out of the 4 missions, Burning Rangers leaves A LOT left to be desired. I could only imagine what a sequel could hold.

Average: 81.25%
Tilt: -1.25%

In this day and age, the length of this game is even more glaring. The sad thing is that the length of the game probably had a lot to due with the dying Saturn System and the need to squeeze as much revenue out of each game. I think Burning Rangers gameplay was a perfect fusion of classic platforming gameplay with new twists and 3D. Sonic Team actually did better with Burning Rangers than any 3D Sonic title I've played. Hopefully, the Nights Sequel will spur some sort of Burning Rangers sequel as well. One that's more than 4 missions long.

Verdict: 80%