“How Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind remixes history while remaining authentic.”

Do you know what’s fun? Time travel. This is particularly useful if you’re developing a game based on a major franchise with a 30-year history – such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. So if you want to add to this wealth of knowledge, you better be prepared to consider three decades of world-building in television, movies, games, and comics. That’s exactly what the Digital Eclipse team set out to do when it was created Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind.

Avid fans know every episode, every fight, every line of dialogue. The story of Rangers means a lot to fans because it reflects the hours of imagination and emotion that they have invested in these characters and events that have brought them so much joy, and as such have created a new story that will be part of this franchise is worthy and, by extension, gaining the respect of his fans is no easy task.

Our starting point for the story of Rita’s Rewind was the Netflix 30th anniversary special. Once and always. In the special, Robo Rita – a synthetic, 100 percent evil evolution of the series’ original villain, Rita Repulsa – creates a time portal and kidnaps Power Rangers from different eras.

Instead of simply retelling this story, we came up with a “What if?” Scenario – If you were an evil sorceress with a time portal, wouldn’t you be tempted to go back in time and make fun of your past self for all those stupid mistakes? Imagine fighting your greatest enemies in their earliest and weakest days and using all your future knowledge to wipe them out in the past. It’s a dream team and a nightmare scenario at the same time. (And to be clear: None of this is canon, so relax and have fun.)

Our story team enjoyed delving deep into Rangers history to craft something that felt new, but still consistent with everything fans know by heart. After deciding on the core plot, we came to a few realizations: If Robo Rita knows the same 30-year history that fans know, she can start picking enemies from other eras and putting them where they don’t belong, what can both confuse and delight fans. The Feathered Tenga Warriors, a staple of MMPR Season 3, now appear early in our first episode set in Season 1.

And which of Rita’s scary champions could we adopt from other timelines in the name of interesting gameplay mechanics? Intertwining elements from different periods of Power Rangers history makes it even more important to include every detail. It’s not something that writes itself – it can actually get pretty tricky. But like I said, it’s also fun.

We also worked hard to incorporate the personalities of Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Trini and Zack and accurately reflect their characters from the early years of MMPR. For example: Billy always uses the most confusing and erudite language possible when explaining scientific things to his teammates. otherwise he wouldn’t sound like Billy. And when Kimberly doesn’t quite understand what Billy is talking about, Trini often steps in to make it clearer. We believe these types of elements make a project “feel right” like a Power Rangers adventure. Hopefully fans who see these details will realize that our development team respects the franchise as much as they do.

With “Rita’s Rewind,” we tried to balance the authenticity of “Power Rangers” with nostalgia, which often makes the memory something more than it actually was. A “what if” retelling of the first 20 or so episodes of the TV show, the story of Rita’s Rewind takes place in the mid-90s, so we wanted to make our gameplay an idealized version of the arcade games of that era. to.

In gameplay segments reminiscent of some of the greatest arcade games, players of Rita’s Rewind drive at high speeds, battle giant monsters, blast hundreds of enemies and beat everything in their path. Thanks to innovative development teams breathing new life into a long-abandoned genre, brawlers have been on the rise again of late. We’re honored to be able to contribute to this renaissance, and we believe we have a game that will feel very familiar, yet ultimately fresh.

When we showed Rita’s Rewind at PAX West this year, we actually heard some people walking past our brand new game and exclaiming, “Oh yeah, I remember playing that back then!” Uh, no, you don’t – but thank you, because that is exactly our goal.

The current resurgence of ’90s nostalgia isn’t just limited to games; Bands like Oasis and Blur are back on stage and the acclaimed X-Men animated series is back X Men ’97. So we were thrilled to be able to utilize the talents of three actors who worked on this series, as well as several other professionals. Here’s a quick overview of the cast:

• Red Ranger: AJ LoCascio (“Gambit,” X-Men 97 and “Han Solo,” LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga)
• Yellow Ranger: Holly Chou (“Jubilee,” X-Men 97 and “Chiki,” Blue Eye Samurai)
• Black Ranger: Isaac Robinson-Smith (Bishop, X-Men ’97 and CO Cunningham, Batman: Arkham Shadow)
• Pink Ranger: Christina Vee (“Shantae,” Shantae and “Noel Vermillion,” BlazBlue)
• Green Ranger: James Willems (“Dolph,” Camp Camp and “Rich Dad,” Psychonauts 2)
• Rita Raub: Ally Dixon (“Eep,” The Croods: Family Tree and “Nikki Narwhal,” Thelma the Unicorn)

That leaves the Blue Ranger, where things get personal. I was a SAG/AFTRA actor for several years before joining the Digital Eclipse team (that’s me singing in The Sims: Bustin’ Out for the original Xbox!), so it was an honor to be to be able to play the role of Billy. I’m proud to add my voice to a professional cast that delivers dialogue with intensity and energy, providing a perfect complement to the game’s frenetic arcade action.

From super-scaling gameplay segments that feel like they came straight from a vintage arcade to a story full of chronological impossibilities, every crucial element of Rita’s rewind is about time. There is only one critical date left: December 10, 2024. Then you can play the game on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. We hope you will enjoy your time with us Rita’s rewind!