It has been over 25 years since Power Rangers—known as Sentai Rangers in Japan—began airing in the west, but even today, fans exist. We here at Honey’s Anime love both versions of the superheroes dressed in spandex and the monster suits but have always had mixed feelings about the games that released with the brand. Power Rangers has been on numerous consoles, arcades and even portable devices, but many of the games have ranged from great to downright horrid. When Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid was announced, we had excitement in our hearts but were also afraid that it would once again fall victim to the failings of the past. Finally released, did Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid bring us the nostalgic greatness we hoped for or did it bring us one step closer to losing hope in the gaming entries the series receives? We have our answer to that but for you to find out you need to read below and see our full review of Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid.

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a fighting game title with a 3 vs 3 set up akin to titles like Marvel vs. Capcom or Dragon Ball FighterZ. Players will choose from 9 available fighters—more planned for later release—and create teams of rangers from across the different series. Go online to see if your power team can beat down the opposition or fight against the computer to practice and grow stronger! Each ranger uses a different style allowing for players to adhere to making teams varied in numerous ways.

As of right now, there is no story mode for Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid. However, there is a confirmed story mode patch that will release at a later date. We will update our review at a later time when the story mode drops to talk about what to expect and if it changes our opinions of the overall game.

Power Rangers has been part of our childhoods just like many others in the world. There was just something so amazing seeing teenagers with attitude—we pray you get that reference—donning suits and beating down monsters to save the day each and every day! Though as one gets older, Power Rangers can feel a bit silly and goofy, but it never made us dislike the series. Many fans—now adults—watch Power Rangers with their kids and can enjoy where the series has come and even talk to their kids about their past experiences with the series. That being said, the games are one thing we’ve loved and hated due to a lot of them being made as quick cash grabs for the super loved series. Does this newest title from nWay Games called Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid fall victim to the past failings, or does it shine just like some of the better titles from the long past? We will find out in our review of Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid for the PS4!

Akin to many 3 vs. 3 fighters, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid has a very simple set up that acts as a strength and weakness for the title. Players get to choose from various rangers that span from the original series to Power Rangers Megaforce. The roster—as of now—is quite small with only 9 playable characters, but one thing Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid does incredibly well is how each fighter isn’t just a clone of one another. Fighting games that aspire to be like Marvel vs. Capcom have a large amount of work to do to succeed, but Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid pulls off greatness with a fighting game system that works incredibly well.

Take the Red Ranger—better known as Jason Lee Scott the first Red Ranger. Being the leader of the original Power Rangers, Jason is quick, strong and pretty well rounded. In Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, the same applies with a wide range of attacks that utilize his might sword and his blaster when the need arises. The Green Ranger—everyone’s favorite Tommy Oliver—is similar to his partner but utilizes more agile moves with an emphasis on quick and in your face dagger attacks. The Mastodon Black Ranger comes from the comic book series—World of the Coinless—uses his rifle that shoots laser projectiles and equally hits with power and force. Meanwhile, Goldar—who also is included in Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid—acts as a grappler type character alongside the lesser known Magna Defender from Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid keeps the classic fighting game mechanics in check, but it doesn’t just do that well…it plays quite well too.

In terms of fighting system, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a blast to play. If you’re a fan of other well-known 3 vs 3 tag fighters, then you’re going to find Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid quick to master and even easier to enjoy. Utilizing a 4-button system and adding tag components, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid surprised us with how well it felt to make combos and unleash brutal beatdowns. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid also adds an emergency mechanic in the form of a combo that unleashes one of three giant Zords—one being Goldar so actually a monster—as a screen hitting series of attacks. We never felt this was a cheap move either as the attacks come with a danger screen and can only be used for three attacks and when you’re down to two characters. The combat whether against online opponents or CPU is a blast to play and makes Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid one of the better fighters we’ve enjoyed from a licensed brand.

ow, we’ve mentioned only good things about Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, but there are some negatives we’ve found while playing. It’s important to note though that a lot of these issues can—and might be—corrected as updates continue to release for Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid. For example, as of right now there is no story mode which kind of hurts the longevity of Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid and hurts as a fan wishing there was a cool story being told for why the rangers are duking it out among themselves. As we mentioned in the story section of our review, there is a story mode to be included at a later date and we’re excited to see that. Another issue with Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid can be seen in the lack of voice acting. While the story mode missing from action can be forgiven, why are there no voice actors used in Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid? We understand there’s probably a ton of money needed to get voice actors to reprise their roles from the series, but even sound clips would have been then the occasional grunts or mute moments the characters have…

That also in turn leads us to the graphics. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid at times can look pretty good with strong character designs and a clear understanding of the source material. The backdrops and stages though look subpar. We understand that at the end of the day, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid only costs twenty bucks—which is a steal by the way—but more stages need to be included at some point just to give more variety to fights. Though it seems like a lot of content is coming to Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid—already three new fighters have been announced—which gives us hope nWay Games will add stages as well.

At the end of the day, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is an impressive 3 vs 3 fighter that really floored us here at Honey’s Anime. We saw the initial trailers but worried the end product wouldn’t live up to how it looked. Then we got our hands on Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid and were shocked that it looked good and played even better! Yes, there is a lot of missing content—no story mode and no vocal roles—but a fighting game needs to work system wise to be good and Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid does just that, it plays really well. Online matches have been smooth—if not a little underpopulated—and we’ve loved each fighter for offering different styles of play. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid at the moment seems like an investment for a better game to come, but it’s an investment that we recommend everyone put in towards.

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid feels like an early release title with the makings of being something incredible. A lot of early release games suffer from various problems and bugs but Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid doesn’t have that problem. Right now, we want a story mode and more characters—and some voice acting—but even with what it has now, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is an awesome title that fans of the series as well as fighting games will love. Are you going to purchase Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid or already have? Let loose your comments below and for more game reviews be sure to keep stuck to our hive here at Honey’s Anime!