This week’s game is about a heroic ranger.
Hang on, that’s not right.
No, that’s…much worse.
Ehh, close enough.
Ranger X is a run and gun shooter released exclusively for the Sega Genesis, meaning it it literally does what Nintendon’t. You play as the title mech, Ranger X (I assume this is pronounced “Ranger X” and not “Ranger the Tenth,” but I’ll leave that up to you), who has to defend his planet from a relentless alien force.
In each level, you need to locate and destroy a series of machines (whose locations are indicated in that radar/arrow business at the top) while dealing with tons of other enemies. I’m really not exaggerating on that point – there are a lot of enemies, and they come at you pretty much non-stop. Thankfully, you also have a bit of help in the form of a vehicle (sometimes it’s a motorcycle-esque thing, other times it’s a less helpful airship), which you can use for travel or a bit of extra firepower. This can be especially handy in the game’s boss fights, which tend to be surprisingly epic:
Sweet! As you’d maybe expect from a game like this, Ranger X is very difficult, but it remains exciting enough to keep you drawn in. The control scheme, in which the A and C buttons are used to fire left and right, respectively, isn’t especially intuitive. Once you get the hang of it, though, it’s really not bad. Aside from one level that consists of a tricky vertical climb as opposed to the traditional side-scrolling style, I never found it especially aggravating.
You’re also given an arsenal of cool special items, which range from a flamethrower to homing weapons. You have to switch between these while inside your vehicle for the level, which is also a bit of a weird choice, but hardly a dealbreaker. Most of these seem to have strong uses in various situations, too. Unlike a lot of games like this from that era, Ranger X has a level of complexity that’s actually well thought-out, and the result is a real delight.
This one is often dubbed a “hidden gem” in the Genesis library, and it’s pretty easy to see why – it’s frantic, gorgeous, and super fun. It’s not perfect, and the control scheme and difficulty may be off-putting, but the good far outweighs the bad. If you enjoy having fun or video games, I highly recommend Ranger X. A cartridge-only copy runs around $20-25, with a complete copy being in the $40 range.
We’re sticking with the Genesis yet again next week for a game that was one of my childhood favorites. What could possibly go wrong? Find out next week.