VR Troopers

"It deserves of a look, if you're interested..."

How many people have been disgusted by Power Rangers? How many of them hated Saban’s for all that ugly things that passed on our TV screens? I hope that they caught the funny side of it… Well, after all the success (UGH!) that Power Rangers had all over the world, Saban’s decided to produce some so-called-new-TV-series (which I don’t remember well but they were as ugly as the first one).
Here in Italy, many of them had nearly the same success and the only one, which stood “greatly”, among all these Power Rangers-clones, was VR Troopers. Made by the same people, the only difference between them was the number of “heroes” and the landscape (virtuality?? What’s that??).
It was clearly obvious that such a “beautiful” series could have all these things that children love a lot: puppets, cars and many other toys. And, obviously, a video game.

Sega, which had the misfortune of producing all the Power Rangers stuff for Genesis, saw the opportunity of recovering all that money, asking to Syrox Development to find out something new and amazing from VR Troopers’ world. Ehm… Well, I think that it has been very hard for them. In fact, Syrox chose to develop a 1 vs. 1 fighting game (and that was not a very original thing). But, after all, it hasn’t been a mess like some Power Rangers game…

Story: the game starts with some nice screens and a text that explains you the entire story. One day, at the dojo where the three main characters practice, it appears a strange arcade. Their fighting master, Tao (how original!!), says that he is puzzled because he never asked for a video game. After he leaves the room, the arcade suddenly starts up. Kaitlin, JB and Ryan are impressed and hypnotized by it and, to free themselves, use their VR powers to transform into VR Troopers. As soon as they get transformed, Grimlord’s (the great villain… as usual) voice comes out from the game speakers and he brings them into the game. Your purpose is to survive to all the enemies that Grimlord put in the game. Strange: sometimes it can sound quite original. 6.5/10

Graphics: I have to admit it. The game engine works very good, with many special effects and very good animations. The backgrounds are very VERY good (I loved them) and also the sprites are nice, with fine animations and well coloured. Well done, Syrox!!! 9/10

Sound: Well, let’s says that the music can pass (they are not good but they aren’t so bad at all) and that the sound effects should have been more various and better. There are only two (I say 2!) digital voices!!! Imagine Kaitlin screaming with a male voice. UGH!!! 5.5/10

Gameplay: The game has been thought to be played by kids and there are a few game options (story mode, battle mode and VS) and very simple options. There is also a difficult level named “Kids”: good one! The controls are very simple: one button for throws, one for punches and one for kicks. If you choose easy or kids level, X, Y and Z buttons will be used to execute the special (1, 2 and 3), but, after normal level, they will be deactivated. Don’t worry: every time you have to choose your character there will be a nice screen that will show you all the combinations. That’s why I think that ANYONE will write a FAQ for this game.
I should say that enemies’ A. I. is quite strange: every time you fall, they will run toward you and will start to kick you with their sweeps and every time you will be pushed in the corner. Very disappointing… 6/10

Replayability: Well, in the Story Mode you can change your character (among the “good VR three”) so the game doesn’t display different endings. I won’t tell which will be the ending (Surprise!!), also because, if I do, you will never play this game. After all, playing the Battle mode or the VS is quite funny. If you find someone who wants to play with you…

To rent or to buy it? : What a question… Who has got a Genesis here? Well, as I always write in my reviews, I suggest rent it and then decide… But, who will be interested in it? I did because I saw some screens in a magazine (and I was amazed by them) and I wanted to know more about it, but after all it deserve of a look. But it also deserved of more attention by the developers…

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/11/01, Updated 08/11/01