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It came to me as a surprise that in 1991 Toei created a video game based on these colorful heroes called Choujin Sentai Jetman. Everything in the TV series is adapted into the game: 5 rangers, the monstrous Megazord, big bad monsters, and that generic gray-suited foot army.
Each character has his or her own specific attack that varies from a sword, blaster, or powerful punch. In addition to these normal abilities, there's a one-time special "kill-everything-around" move in the same nature to Storm's "fly-across-screen" special attack in the arcade and SEGA Genesis X-Men games. (Pressing Start will trigger this.) The game stages are divided into 5 areas (A-E), each keeping a specific theme-- i.e. shipyard, cavern, and standard city.
Jetman's gameplay is tight, and not just by slang standards, but a literal strap-on of control holdage. It's a molding pot of the platforming in Batman with the furious fighting in Ninja Gaiden. The most interesting and absorbing part of the game, however, is the battle sequences. At the end of each level dwells a big-ass beast that can only be taken on through the help of calling forth your own big-ass beast of sorts--Megazord. C'mon, everyone say it together now: Megazord.
GO! MEGAZORD! GO! FIGHT FOR JETMAN! Some of these battles can be won by simply mashing buttons. Others will require strategy (especially the last one!). Your bottom power meter continually rises throughout the fight to give you the ability to use a number of block attacks to repel the foe's onslaught, perform your own special attacks, or dash. Everything in these type battles is done so bad-ass that you almost forget your robot looks like a Matchbox car mashed inside of a Sony Walkman.
When you manage to deplete the enemy's life bar, Megazord steps back to deliver a final blow with a missile robot-hand or a "flying phoenix", depending on which character you're playing as. This last act of cartoon violence will trigger the completion of the stage you're on and will then let you continue on to another. Big-Ass List of Big-Ass Monsters:
There are two difficulty levels, easy and normal, and the game is a breeze on both settings (save for a few tricky boss battles). These robot fights should prove a good, healthy challenge to you without causing too much frustration. At the menu screen there's also an option to jump right into the robot battles to skip that 'other' stuff.
Weird-looking baddies, satisfying gameplay, fan service for Power Ranger nuts, and an all-around fun experience, Jetman is of high enough worthy to fill up your free time and is a great way to start things off.
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#9: Choujin Sentai Jetman
In
the '90s, one of the biggest kid sensations to take over the airwaves,
big screens, and toy store chains was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Kimberly, the pink; Jason, the red; Zack, the black; Billy the blue; and
Trini, the yellow, formed the diverse (both ethnically and in color palette)
teenaged five some from Angel Grove set out to battle the evil Rita Repulsa
and her legions of larger-than-life minions that seek to destroy the Earth.
Corny, dumb, weird? Oh sure, but it captured imaginations across the globe
and gave us some pretty neat action figures to close the deal.
