Of all the nostalgic beat 'em ups to follow in TMNT: Shredder's Revenge's footsteps in the last couple of years, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind has been the most promising. It features excellent pixel art, 6-player local co-op, and online play. Rita's Rewind has finally arrived on consoles and Steam just in time for the holidays, and it's making good on most of its promises, though some versions don't have online play just yet.
Multiplayer DeetsIn a post on its website, developer Digital Eclipse helpfully explained both the local and online co-op features as follows:
Local co-op:
Xbox: Six players PlayStation 4 and 5: Four players Switch: Six players when using Pro Controllers or a mix of Joy-cons and Pro Controllers Steam: Six players when using both keyboard and game controllersNote that only 5 players are supported out of the box. Beating Story Mode will unlock the Green Ranger, allowing for 6-player co-op.
Online co-op:
PlayStation and Steam: 2-player online at launch Xbox and Switch: No online at launch; 2-player online to be added via future update6-player online multiplayer will be coming to all platforms eventually, but there's a catch: it will be 6 players across two consoles. In other words, three local players will be able to join an online game and play with another 3 players who are on a different console. That's not as impressive as Shredder's Revenge's 6-player online support, but it's still pretty good. Most beat 'em ups don't have online play, and if they do, it typically tops out at 2 players, after all.
It's Morphin Time!In Rita's Rewind, Robo Rita (the villain of the Netflix movie, Mighty Morphin: Once and Always) travels back in time to team up with the original Rita. Only the original Power Rangers, who have just gained their powers, can stop the terrible twosome. The story comes to life via a fairly decent animated intro (complete with the classic MMPR theme song) and pixel art cinematics.
Players choose the Ranger of their choice and then battle the Ritas' army in beat 'em up, driving, and Zord stages. When fighting, our heroes can perform a robust arsenal of moves, including standard punches and kicks, dashing attacks, uppercuts, ground pounds, and throws. They also have a dodge move and a super move that charges up over time. Not only are the enemies nice and authentic, but the stages are filled with lush details, animations, and breakable objects that make them a pleasure to fight in.
We've only played the first stage of Rita's Rewind so far, but it already seems like the quality beat 'em up that fans have been hoping for. Stay tuned for our full co-op review!
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind sells for $34.99 on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and Steam. The Steam version is fully Steam Deck compatible.