In the videogame industry there are few titles about "Mechas", that is, giant robots like the Eva's of Evangelion, and although I have done some reviews of games focused on this genre, there are still very few. What I like most about this type of games is the variety and type of designs of these giant robots, having some of these exceptional and very original designs. Last week, while I was "resting", I played several games, including one focused on this specific topic: Mechas. I discovered a very little known game that is also highly entertaining.
Ranger X tells us the classic story of human salvation, as an alien race searches for a new place to live, because their home planet was being destroyed. This alien race chose to make planet earth their new home, however, to achieve their purpose they want to eliminate the entire human race so they can have maximum control. They made several attacks in several areas of the planet, however, the human race in spite of being technologically less advanced than this race coming from outer space are facing it, and using their own military technology they have managed to counteract the enemy attacks, but they still have an even greater military force and for that they use a powerful large robot in which we will have to control it to defeat this highly dangerous alien race and return peace to the planet.
Graphically Ranger X is exceptional, one of the best games in terms of graphics that can be found in the Mega Drive catalog. With a highly impressive level of detail on screen for such an old game. The design of robots, especially, the robot that controlled, has a great design, quite original. The enemies also stand out in terms of design quality, look great on screen and has an old anime style that fits very well. Similar to the old "Gundam" anime.
Ranger X is a 2D game, but we can also find some three-dimensional effects, which in addition to being a pretty good playable, in terms of graphics makes it even better, these three-dimensional affects greatly enhance the game experience, it is very exciting to see them when we are fighting against our enemies. As for the scenarios, are varied and with a care in the details quite right, some scenarios, in their funds have animations and although they are simple, it gives enough personality to the game.
As I mentioned before, the robot design is quite good, very varied and original, with a quite correct use of colors that make them stand out a lot on screen. The sprites have a good size, especially the final bosses, and which, due to that large size, comparing them with our robot, these are really giant and the fights against these heads are really a visual spectacle and this is because the animations in Ranger X are also of high quality, our robot moves with great ease and speed, which is a very important aspect due to the genre of video games that is Ranger X, ie a Run and Gun.
On screen will always be happening, there will be enemies on it and that means that we will be in constant attack, so that on stage will appear a lot of enemies, so visual effects such as explosions, shots, enemies of different sizes and many particles makes this game quite frantic, but very fun.
The music in Ranger X is in a nutshell: Great and varied. We barely hear the first few seconds of any of the tunes that this game has at our disposal, it will take us several years to go back in time. The retro style that transmits this video game with its soundtrack is something that few games have the ability to achieve, really is one of the games of this style that I liked the soundtrack more. With quite varied rhythms and very different musical styles between them, the Ranger X soundtrack achieves its purpose with great ease. The melody Stage 1-1 (Desert) and Stage 1-2 (Temple) are undoubtedly my favorites. Also the sound effects sound very good, they are forceful and contribute a lot to the game's atmosphere.
As I mentioned before, Ranger X is a Run and Gun and with some platforming elements. And although it is quite conventional in terms of gameplay and variety in mechanics, it has some aspects that make it playable and fun, and therefore I recommend it very much. I believe that the most important aspect about this video game is that we will be able to control a robot of great size and without a doubt that it is the biggest attraction of Ranger X. To control a robot of that size and with a quite destructive arsenal of weapons is something that sometime in the life we imagined (or perhaps only I have imagined it), but in short. In Ranger X we will have to cross a series of phases which will be full of all type of enemies, from terrestrial to enemies that can fly, to counteract, our robot is equipped with certain weapons that will serve us to destroy them. First of all we can use a cannon which will shoot a long range laser, this would be the standard attack that our robot can make, but it also has a flame thrower, which causes more damage than the laser shot but in terms of range it is much less, besides that it consumes energy. We also have a jetpack, which is of great help for those times when we need to attack enemies who are in the air, reach a certain target or simply avoid enemy attacks or avoid an area where there are many enemies and do not want to fight them, using the jetpack we can avoid them, is quite useful but has a limit of use.
In addition to all this weaponry, we also have a machine very similar to a motorcycle, which we will use to attack, as this "bike" will attack in unison with our robot, being able to use it to cause greater damage to our enemies, we can also ride on it and use it as a transport vehicle, being able to shoot while we are on it. This vehicle also we will be able to use it individually so that they can be created strategies of attack, using to the vehicle, whose name is Indra, as a shield. Our robot and Indra may "merge" and in this way we can use a laser gun of greater impact, also when we are on the vehicle we can change the secondary weapon, is quite useful. As all game of this style while we advance on stage and defeat enemies will appear the typical items that we recover the bar of life and energy bar. Something that is quite useful because the difficulty curve of Ranger X is quite appropriate to the style of game that is, as we advance the difficulty is raised and adding that on the screen appear a lot of enemies, can appear on the stages many projectiles and attacks, makes this game quite frantic.
Ranger X is a jewel of videogames that I'm very happy to have discovered, a quite addictive title, with a basic but well developed and implemented gameplay, with an exceptional graphic style and a very retro and great soundtrack.
