Retro|Spective 145: Burning Rangers

[Neon Ignition]

History in Games:
1998 - Burning Ranger

Overview:
One of the last games of the Saturn, this action title fought against the hardware to provide a fully 3D adventure with a range of lighting and transparency effects as environments exploded and burst into flame around you as you attempted to work your way through each stage rescuing the survivors trapped within. Using an advanced for the time voice navigation system players took on the role of one of two futuristic firefighters. The game was well received but buried by the death of its host system and became another victim of Sega's poor choice to disassociate performance to the situation at the time meaning the franchise remains a one shot effort.







Do you look back fondly on Yuji Naka's final Saturn game?

[Dogg Thang]

Burning Rangers was a victim of the tech, looking very dodgy at the time. And if I'm being totally honest, the game itself wasn't hugely exciting to me. And yet with the design, atmosphere and characters, I loved it. Those elements elevated it above its flaws. It had a great intro too.

I do wish we'd had a sequel on a system that could do it justice but then I think about what happened with Nights Into Dreams...

I did, however, love seeing it in Sonic Racing Transformed and it looked wonderful there. It's a bit of a forgotten classic and I feel it had potential to build on that just wasn't ever realised.

[Asura]

I do wish we'd had a sequel on a system that could do it justice but then I think about what happened with Nights Into Dreams...

Yeah, I always come back to this specific example as well.

I got rid of my Saturn the summer after the N64 launched, so I didn't play Burning Rangers until maybe 2002. That being said, whilst I could see there were good things about it, and though the 3D engine was a herculean effort on the Saturn... I guess I just found it really difficult to get into. I loved the concept, the art-style, but just never got into the actual game.

Does it even deserve a remake? Again, I'm not sure. It's such a product of its time, and it looks really shonky in HD through emulation from what I recall.

[Neon Ignition]

It's a concept that would need a complete restart to work on modern systems but if doen right could be absolutely brilliant and unique still to this day. That being said it's a million miles outside of Sega's skill set these days, Sonic Team are a shell of their former selves so it would need outsourcing and a lot of cash behind it to stand a chance.

The game was a bit of a struggle back in the day and a bit clunky, something that really stood out in the final mission which is more platforming based than the ones before it but were it not for Saga it'd be the king of the Saturns final days releases. It's charms just ooze through it's faults.

[wakka]

Such a cool aesthetic, such a cool idea. It doesn't play amazingly well to be honest, but, to echo everyone else, the charm, the atmosphere, and the overall vibe are just brilliant.

It would make a great jumping off point for a brand new game based on the same concept. Maybe by Platinum. Maybe you could have abilities kind of like the ones in Attack On Titan. I'm picturing aeroaquabatics as you arc through the air, dousing fire, sucking up smoke, holding up falling down bits of buildings, scooping up survivors, all with a Devil May Cry style rank in the corner of the screen.

[Hirst]

I've never played it. I fancied it, wanted it, couldn't find it, prices went insane.

[wakka]

Yeah I played it on a CD-R I burned. Otherwise it's £500 for the US version so you can have 60Hz and English language, which...lol.

[Neon Ignition]

I did a little searching as Sonic Team games, especially MD/SS era titles have often drawn a lot of fan dedication but the low exposure of Burning Rangers meant that you never see or hear the quirks of the game as much as you do Sonic, Nights or even their other quirky one offs. In my travels I discovered this:

[JazzFunk]

I had it back on PAL back in the day, I liked how colourful and ambitious it was but it was too messy to look at and the core gameplay felt meh, at least to me.

Deffo not a classic.

[CMcK]

I picked it up on PAL at release and really enjoyed it but it was really rough in places. The concept could work as a modern game quite easily and would be well suited to expansion to being a team based game. Even just some two player split screen would be great.

[Leon Retro]

In my travels I discovered this:

Looking at that makes you wish Sega had made a Dreamcast version of Burning Rangers. It would have looked really nice.

[Neon Ignition]

Resurrection!

I'm around halfway through the game and it's an interesting contrast to Sonic Adventure 2 which I'm also replaying. SA1 hit me on replay as its properly aged to the point where its playability comes into question. SA2 is much better but there are issues a plenty.

Oddly, by comparison it makes Burning Rangers all the stronger. The visuals have obviously aged and the biggest issue is the camera which often gets in the way of your view but its manageable and most critically, the game still plays well. Knowing the circumstances in which it launched, it really is criminal that Sega left the property to rot as it's so much more compelling than the vast majority of Sonic Teams offerings in the 25+ years since.

[egparadigm]

I think BR looks superb. I fully intend to play it as some point. Just have to get the Saturn down from the loft.

[Neon Ignition]

The concept is so good, a new version wouldn't even need to be that grand in scale. I'd certainly take it over say any new attempt to revive the likes of more usual legacy ip such as Golden Axe

[Dogg Thang]

The concept is so good, a new version wouldn't even need to be that grand in scale. I'd certainly take it over say any new attempt to revive the likes of more usual legacy ip such as Golden Axe

Yep, the concept wouldn’t need to be a huge game by any means and could be designed with a lot of replayability. Definitely a missed opportunity letting this one rot, especially as I feel the IP - the characters, look, vibe etc - has a lot to offer them beyond just the game, if they chose to use it. But that’s a familiar story with Sega.