Game of the Day 4/17/2016: Ranger X (Genesis)

[celerystalker]

Ranger X is one of the later-generation Sega Genesis games that really drew attention for its graphics. It's a horizontally-scrolling... um... basically run 'n gun in which you control the powerful giant robot, Ranger X, and you seek and destroy a nimber of pre-set targets in each stage. Doing so will complete the area and take you to that stage's boss fight. Destroy the enemy commander in the heart of his stronghold to win the game!

Controlling Ranger X takes a second to get used to, but is a breeze after that. In each stage, you control the Ranger X directly while being followed along by a courier ship or the Indra, a sort of motorcycle. You can enter these in order to change secondary weapons you have collected, and in the Indra's case, ride around inside of it, which lessens your firepower, but can absorb extra damage and turns your regular fire into a homing shot. The Ranger X itself can walk, jump,and thrust about as long as you have energy to do so, which refills almost instantaneously as you touch the ground. Your secondary weapons are very powerful, but have their own gauge to deplete, which can refill by standing in light. This can be sunlight or artificial light, such as light from shooting out the windows of a skyscraper *cough stage four cough*. If you find an energy transfer station, you can transfer weapon power into life power, so clever use of these and light can keep you alive through most stages.

Unfortunately, those stages are over very quickly, as they aren't particularly long, and there are only a handful to begin with. Playing through it again tonight, I had forgotten how quickly the game passes by, and while it is satisfying enough, normal mode is a breeze. Still, what stages are there are well-designed, colorful, and look great.

Matter of fact, pretty much everything in Ranger X looks great. Yes, a lot of larger sprites are fairly pixelated, but they make great use of color, making you quickly forget about any Genesis color limitations. The animation is good on the characters, there's tons of background and foreground scrolling effects, and bosses are huge. It all looks, feels, and sounds excellent, and it left me wanting more.

I like Ranger X a lot, as it scratches that Assault Suits series itch while playing better than many games in that franchise. It's one of the Genesis' real showcase games for action and graphics, and it's aged better for me than I'd have expected.

Played it?