Burning Rangers (Some info from Green Hill's BR page. Photos from ST's site)
By Jeffrey Couto
System: Sega Saturn
Developer: Sonic Team

One last Hurrah for Sega's Saturn

In 1998 the Sega Saturn was all but dead. Never being able to stand up to Sony’s Playstation system's success in the marketplace, Sega decided to move forward with plans for their next generation game platform, the Dreamcast. However, before parting ways with the Saturn system, Sega’s Sonic team gave video game enthusiasts one final game for the discontinuned machine.

The Story

An unidentified spacecraft headed for Earth has been discovered. The vehicle, covered by several layers of junk, is on a collision course with the planet and if it’s not stopped in time it could cause destruction on a global scale. In order to avoid disaster the Burning Rangers are deployed and its now up to them to save the Earth.

The Game's Setup

Burning Rangers was a great departure from previous Sonic Team games like Sonic Adventure and Nights. The game featured a very anime-inspired design with over-the-top characters (voiced by famous anime voice talent & art conceptualized by Hiroyuki Ochi) and a futuristic sci-fi setting.

The object of the game is to complete four different mission (Fallen Memory, Silent Blue, Gravity Zero and Winged Cradle), the objective in each being to rescue people who are stuck in the burning structures. This is accomplished by collecting enough crystals in each level to warp those characters out of the stage and into safety. Each level will present different challenges for whichever character you choose, but all of them also have some elements in common like environment fires, enemy robots and a stage boss. There is also the danger meter, which can only be controlled by constantly putting out the fires on each stage, if it gets out of control your character will be engulfed by flames.

A Sonic Team Treasure

Burning Rangers was not experienced by many video games fans when it made its debut on our shores. This was due in part to it being released at a time when the Sega Saturn was considered dead by most in the industry and gaming communities. It's limited lenght of only four levels also contributed to this with many who did try the game finishing it in a relatively short amount time and feeling it was not worth the investment.

Despite this Burning Rangers is considered by many to be one of Sonic Team's finest's works along with their previous Saturn game, Nights (whose game engine Burning Ranger borrows). While the game is short on stages, it does make up for it with several bonuses which are released as several tasks are completed within the game. Some of these bonuses include game art, a bonus game, sounds, poetry (!), etc.

Our Heroes' Future

Like Sonic Team's Nights we might never see the Burning Rangers again in a full-fledged game sequel. The world is full of surpises however and now that Sega is focusing solely on software one day we might see a new chapter for this fantastic game. Till then let's keep looking forward to any cameo appearances that our heroe might make in future Sega games, much like Nights has been doing in recent releases.

Jeffrey Couto