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For the last year, Mathias and I have been introducing the kids to a piece of his past, and an all around great series: Power Rangers. We started, naturally, on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and intend to see that story to its conclusion, especially after meeting Austin St. John in person. I missed the show as I was growing up, so he has delighted in keeping secrets about the Megazord changes, cast member changes, scenes and episodes—not just from the kids, but from me.
Part of why I’m so eager to get us further in to the series is because it gives us all a chance to introduce ourselves to a new story in a new way, with characters some of us have grown up loving, and others have grown to love. That new story is Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid.
Check out the first teaser below, and keep your eyes open for the return of an old friend.
Developer nWay is no stranger to Power Rangers, as they are currently helming the mobile fighting game Power Rangers Legacy Wars. It’s an interesting experience; it eschews button combos in favor of an energy point-based attack system, while keeping the traditional fighting game aspect of positioning yourself throughout the fight. If you’ve never heard of Legacy Wars, check out this promotional video, with returning voice and live action actors from the franchise. This makes it so clear that nWay loves the series just like we do.
When I originally heard about the game, I was nervous. Casual, licensed games are frequently terrible. But given nWay’s track record on Legacy Wars, and the apparent carryover of some mechanics from that title, I’m definitely going to give Battle for the Grid a chance. Regardless of its differences from the mobile title (which they have stated quite clearly is not a port), nWay has made clear that they are working to create an accessible title (story-wise and mechanically), particularly relative to other fighting games.
“Power Rangers fans have been asking for a high fidelity fighting game on console and PC that match up iconic Rangers and villains across the expansive Power Rangers multiverse for quite some time now,” said Taehoon Kim, co-founder and CEO of nWay. “We wanted to deliver this to the fans and make sure it has cross-play and cross-progression capabilities as we believe playing with friends across multiple platforms at the same time is where the future of gaming is headed.”
Another important feature of the game will be cross-play. Somehow, unlike Bethesda, they managed to get the PS4, XBox One, Switch, and PC to play nice together. This is great not just when we’re in the house together, but when we’re taking trips. When Mathias is in Minnesota, and the kids and I are in D.C., we can play together just as easily. According to the press release, “Even when players change their platform, their mission progress they have worked to achieve will still be available to them, allowing for cross-progression and true seamless gameplay no matter where they play.”
Thank God. Server-side account-based gameplay makes play that much easier, and and $20 per copy means that you’re not breaking the bank in doing so. Seeing how games are evolving with the influence of mobile development (such as Pokemon Go and Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee/Pikachu) is exciting to watch.
And while Legacy Wars was more about collecting Rangers to battle with, Battle for the Grid promises an Arcade Mode, giving us a Power Rangers story that can’t be done in live action. The roster hasn’t been announced yet, but this game does include characters from the fan-favorite Shattered Grid such as the BOOM! comics villain Lord Drakkon.
I’m excited to see how this looks in 3D.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is already available for preorder for Xbox One, Switch, and PC; Playstation preorders should be available shortly.
(co-written with Mathias DeRider)
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