March 6th
Today's challenge is: Best Combat.
Of course, since today's theme is about combat, I'm gonna talk about my favorite JRPG: Microsoft Excel.
Just kidding, I'm going to have exactly none of that here. Instead, I'll talk about
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie... For the SEGA Game Gear. Bet y'all didn't expect this right? Usually, when talking about this game, people usually think of the SNES and Genesis versions, but I'd argue the Game Gear version is the most impressive. Sure, it's pretty limited and the music sucks, but the controls more than make up for its shortcomings.
So how is this one different from the other two? Well, they pretty much scrapped the whole thing and instead of a side scrolling beat 'em up, they made a 1v1 fighter that sort of plays like a beat 'em up. You can play as any ranger, including the megazord whenever it's appropriate. You usually fight a bunch of goons, then the boss, then a Megazord/kaiju fight. Rinse and repeat, and the game will be over after half an hour or so.
So about those controls... How do you program like 20 moves per character, on top of general movement (like jumping, which you do a lot of), with only 2 buttons and a directional pad, and make it so all of them are super fun and easily pulled off, and so all the characters play so differently from each others they might as well each be from different games? Well I don't know, but this game does it and does it PERFECTLY. It's not like I had never seen this before, I've always thought that Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams on the Game Boy Color was one of the greatest titles in its franchise, but it's still not AS good as this Power Rangers game. Give it a shot and you'll see what I mean. I recommend messing around with the Pink Ranger first, as I think she's the most fun going up close and personal (yeah, I know, the one with the bow, but I don't care). That leg grab is so much fun.
This game is exclusive to the SEGA Game Gear, even though an arcade version of this would kick ass.