I love the Super Nintendo. It’s my favorite game console and while I was around for the Atari 2600 and NES, it was the SNES that really cemented my love for console games.  And that’s why I love getting to check out SNES games I never got to play.  Such is the case with Rendering Ranger.  It was a game that was only released in Japan and it was a very limited release, too, so it’s pretty rare.  It’s a run and gun that uses pre-rendered graphics like Donkey Kong Country, which was big at the time.  The game is now available to download on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.

When you start you can choose from two different versions of the game.  One is titled Rendering Ranger and the other is Targa, which is what it would’ve been called had it been released in the US, supposedly.  You can also view a music player and art gallery, which is neat because you can also see the box art and instruction manual in English.  Very handy.

The game is a typical run and gun, but there are stages where you fly a ship in a horizontally scrolling shooter.  I didn’t get to those stages, though, because the game is too darn hard, even on easy.  Hold down a button to fire, and you can set it to auto-fire in the options.  Another button jumps.  You can also use a super screen clearing weapon but you have limited use of that.  The last button lets you cycle through your weapons.  You can get power-ups like a laser and spread shot, and can collect the same icon to improve those same shots as well.

The game isn’t bad, but it had too many turn-offs for me to get into it.  It’s way too hard and jumping feels a bit too weighty.  The pre-rendered graphics are ok, but not as good as the ones found in Donkey Kong Country or Super Mario RPG.  There’s just plenty of other run and gun games I’d rather play.  I read this was made by the same guy who made the Turrican games, and they certainly remind me of each other, so if you like those, you may want to check this one out, too.

Kid Factor:

Rendering Ranger R2 Rewind is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Fantasy Violence and Mild Blood.  I didn’t notice any blood, but you do shoot down all sorts of robots and spaceships with guns and they explode when defeated.  Reading skill is helpful for the text, but not necessary just to play.  Younger gamers may find it too difficult, though.

Tags: Game Reviews