Power Rangers has been going strong since Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers first graced television screens in America back in ’93. While I might not have started on the train until Dino Thunder was all the rage (then lapsed after SPD for a number of years), I’ve enjoyed going back to the start to watch all the way from that starting series to the current end. I’ve been less impressed with the few games I’ve played, though.

There’s been a few that managed to at least be okay, but not a single one could be considered truly great. Then Legacy Wars came, a mobile hit that celebrated the franchise with its simple rock-paper-scissors fighting mechanics. From that came Battle for the Grid, a console 3v3 2D fighting game that attempted the same tactic of celebrating the franchise (though leaned heavily in Mighty Morphin’s favour at launch).

Across these last few years, we’ve had some great content that has added to the franchise. The comic series that expanded on the Mighty Moprhin’ Rangers, bringing with it a host of alternate versions of powers and a new set of Rangers in the Solar Rangers. The 2017 movie that, while not the greatest, gave a new interpretation upon the original team. The Hyperforce RPG series that also introduced a new team, incorporating them into the lore of Time Force.

With Hasbro now holding the reigns of the series, bringing new life to the franchise with Beast Morphers and hopefully repeating that success with Dino Fury, as well as another movie coming soon and more comics in the pipeline, the franchise certainly looks to be on top form. With expansion coming from all these forms of media, it’s time for the one remaining link to get in on the fun.

Yes, I’m going to be concepting ideas on how a Power Rangers game could be made to see success. I’ll be going through the two genres that I expect will make for a great Rangers game, as well as how I would set the story to work with those genres. The team will start as three, with another three added as the story progresses.

The first of those genres would be an Action RPG. There would be two large towns and a mid-sized one that make up the world, with a forest and a lake separating them, as well as some open country. Outside of those towns would be several other facilities, which would be home to the villain factions along with some secret factions that can be a help to the Rangers.

To start with, you’ll control one of the three prospective Rangers as you run through some basic combat, which then moves on to stopping a robbery nearby. That robbery would be performed by one of the villain factions, who are intent on nothing but causing trouble within the town. Having fought them off, the three will talk while walking about what had just happened, only to be stopped by someone who will tell them to head into the forest as more creatures are around.

The three agree to help, but once in the forest, the person who had guided them into the forest had disappeared. They are attacked by robots, pushed deeper into the forest as they defend themselves, where they come across one of the facilities of the forest. Hiding within it, the robots still pursue until the three find themselves trapped within a room. The robots freeze, with the person from before appearing to talk on everything that is happening.

There is a villain who approached the company this person belongs to, forcing them to create armour that would make themselves powerful. Aware that their actions would be devastating should the villains get that armour, the company devised a secret plan to hand the armour to those who would do good with it. The watches were handed over which would enable the transformation. The villain has arrived, aware that the company have been delaying for a long time, so quickly the scientist tells the three new Rangers how to use the teleport and to not return.

With what would be the opening episode of a series closed, new quests present themselves that introduce the other two evil teams that the Rangers will battle against. Since this is a game, there’s choice in which quest you can tackle first. Each of the two will introduce separate Ranger powers, though both melee combat and the blaster will be weak to start with. After all, a game requires growth, so there’s new equipment to find and abilities to unlock through experience.

You can explore the world in civilian form, with the ability to morph at any time. Like most teams, your identity must remain hidden, so if someone can see you, the ability to morph will be unavailable. Quest-givers will also only give them if you are in the form they expect, which means they’ll react to which form you’re in. Some won’t mind which form you’re in, but will still have different dialogue.

Zords are still a thing here, with them able to join up to form the Megazord, though you won’t get them until a few main quests in. At first, you’ll only have the main combination of the three zords, but once more are claimed you can call them in to help and even swap them out. Some of them will be unlocked through the main questline, though others are available in side quests. You can swap into other zords whenever you want, but you will always call the main zord attached to the Ranger you control first.

That should give a general idea for how I would set an Action RPG. There’s plenty more I could say about it, such as going deeper into the mechanics and story, but there’s the second game I want to be talking about. And that second game is a strategy game. A turn-based tactical strategy game, to be precise.

Much the same as the Action RPG there would be three villain factions, though unlike the Action RPG there will be multiple teams on the same map on occasion. Sometimes the objectives of the missions won’t be about defeating all enemies on the screen, with protecting of stationary objects or moving people being more important (though if you can defeat all enemies on the map, that would go some way to achieving the objective).

Major scenes will be full video either before or after the mission, with a few being during missions, though during missions the story will mostly be told during text and voiceover. Much the same as the Action RPG, the story starts with the robbery and the three prospective Rangers, with them becoming Rangers to protect the work of the various companies that have been developing technology to help the world that the villains want to use for their own ends.

There’s a world map, with only the main quest and a few bonus missions to work toward completing. For each mission, you control all Rangers taking part in the mission, with a set amount of points that can be used for moving and attacking enemies per unit per turn. As you progress through the game, you’ll get more points per unit but also new abilities which will use more of those points for more powerful attacks.

Zords also work the same, with you controlling their movement and attacks per unit with a set amount of points. If you bring them all close together, you can form the Megazord, but only by using up all the points for all units – effectively using a turn just to form it. However, forming it will bring the heavy attacks into play at the cost of movement speed, so it’s best to save it for the end.

Nearly all missions will have you be in Ranger form, though the first few (before gaining powers) and a few others scattered throughout the game will have you in civilian form. There’s little difference to how the two forms control unlike the Action RPG (that comes under the various combat mechanics I haven’t talked of), but obviously while unmorphed you won’t have access to as many points or abilities.

Both of these are brief looks with little detail going into them, as I’d said. They give small ideas for how the games could work, though anyone who knows the genres wouldn’t be surprised at most of what I’ve described. These are the two genres away from fighting and beat ‘em up that I feel will give a great experience for fans. But are they the only ones? I’m sure there’s others and I’m sure people in the comments can give them to me.

Images Taken From:
Power Rangers Jungle Fury
Power Rangers Operation Overdrive
Power Rangers Beast Morphers Season 2
Power Rangers Dino Thunder