Ranger X (Sega Mega Drive (Genesis))
One of the most impressive mech games available on the Mega Drive
Ranger X (Ex-Ranza in Japan) came out pretty much towards the end of the Mega Drive’s life (1993), but was the wait really worth it? This game isn’t the most technically advanced game for the system but it’s pretty damn close.
As a kid, I took a risk on the box art. It literally looked too awesome not to buy. Still to this day, I think the game feels really polished. The graphics are incredibly, everything has weight to it and the fighting can be very intense.
Unfortunately as a kid, this isn’t an easy game to pick up and play. The controls are unusual (A to shoot backward, C to shoot forward. XYZ control your motorbike), the energy draining and charging was lost on me and after the first stage, the game starts to rapidly increase the difficulty.
Massive bosses, heaps of weapons and some pretty innovative stages keep the action fresh, Ranger X is just done really well. Production values are high, the artwork is great and the hectic feeling of a full scale robot war is really here. On another note, some of the stages are a little dull and frustrating, like when you head underground and there’s limited headroom and some really annoying enemies. The controls also require a bit of practice, they work well enough, but with a button to short forwards and one to shoot backwards, as well as vehicle control, it can get a little overwhelming.
This is one of those titles that showed the Megadrive was powerful enough without extras like the 32x and Sega CD and with 3D on its toes, it’s a reminder that a fun game is a fun game. Even though the Mega Drive is showing its age, titles like Ranger X show you that its still got a lot of heart.