Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a fighting game in which players compete in battle using characters with different fighting styles and special attacks. Players select teams of three characters to engage in one-on-one combat, and can choose to switch between them at any point during the match. When all three opposing teammates have been eliminated a Victory is declared. Ultra attacks can also be performed, calling on Megazords to assist with the battle.[1]

Ranked Online, Arcade, Versus, Casual Online, Training and Tutorial modes were available at the game's launch.[2] A story mode, loosely based on the "Shattered Grid" storyline and written by Boom! Studios Power Rangers comic book writer Kyle Higgins, was added to the game in April 2019 along with three additional characters, voice acting and two new stages.[3] Mighty Morphin Power Rangers actors Jason David Frank, Austin St. John, David J. Fielding and Kerrigan Mahan reprise their respective roles as Tommy Oliver/Lord Drakkon, Jason Lee Scott, Zordon and Goldar.[3] An update in July 2019 added three characters via the first Season Pass, and additional features such as cross-platform play between the Switch Xbox One, and Windows versions;[4] cross-platform support for PlayStation 4 was added via a later update in February 2020,[5] making it the first fighting game of the eighth generation of video game consoles to support fully platform-agnostic multiplayer.[6] A second season pass was announced alongside the game's Windows release.[7] A third season of content was announced on May 25, 2020.[8]

The game features twelve playable characters, with nine additional characters available as downloadable content via three season passes.[4][7][8]

^a Added via free post-launch update
^b Paid downloadable content character; number denotes which season pass the character is included in

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are training in the Command Center when it is breached by Lord Drakkon, an alternate future version of Tommy Oliver trained by Rita Repulsa who killed her and the other Rangers in his dimension. Despite the arrival of Time Force Ranger Jen Scotts from the future, Drakkon manages to kill the younger Tommy and escapes. With his Chaos Crystal now charged by Tommy's green chaos energy, Drakkon and his forces begin travelling across time and space, using his Dragon Cannons to remove Rangers' powers and steal their morphers. Zordon sends a warning through the Morphin Grid and, with Jen's help, begins sending Rangers through time to protect other Rangers being pursued by Drakkon.

During an encounter with the Ranger Slayer, a future version of herself from Drakkon's universe, Kimberly Hart manages to free her from Drakkon's control, though Ranger Slayer continues to feign loyalty to avert suspicion. The Rangers regroup at Corinth, where Dr. K is working on a way to disrupt the Dragon Cannons, but they come under attack by Drakkon's forces, including several Power Rangers placed under his control. Drakkon, who has powered himself up using the stolen morphers, arrives and overwhelms the Rangers, forcing them to retreat to the Command Center. Ranger Slayer arrives and reveals Drakkon's plan is to gain full control of the Morphin Grid and rewrite reality, using the morphers to increase his resonance with it. She suggests destroying his tower in their home dimension, preventing him from crossing dimensions and sharing his morphers' powers with his armies. Knowing they will be unable to do so alone, Zordon asks Rita to help stop Drakkon.

Led by Jason Lee Scott, a united group of Power Rangers storms Drakkon's tower. They are attacked by Drakkon and the Rangers under his control, but Mike Corbett is freed by the spirit of the Magna Defender and defects back to Zordon's forces. Rita infiltrates the tower and uses a Powerdraining Candle to weaken Drakkon, forcing him to retreat to stop her. Trini Kwan uses her Dragon Armor to grow and topple the tower's antennae, causing Drakkon's forces to lose their powers and breaking his control of the other Rangers. Rita attempts to kill Drakkon, but his minion Finster-5 disarms her and the other Rangers. Finster-5 attempts to stop Drakkon from using additional morphers to restore his powers, believing the process will be fatal, but Drakkon kills him and proceeds. As he powers himself up, he is challenged by Tommy, restored to life through the Chaos Crystal's powers. Tommy defeats Drakkon, whose body has become unstable due to the morphers' power, and he escapes as Drakkon explodes, destroying himself and the tower. Zordon thanks all the Rangers for their help, and Ranger Slayer reassures Tommy that he will never become like Drakkon thanks to his bonds with his team.

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic (NS) 61/100[9] (PS4) 65/100[10] (XONE) 53/100[11] Review scores Publication Score IGN 6.8/10[12] Nintendo Life [13]

Power Rangers Battle for the Grid has received mixed reviews, with reviewers praising the gameplay but criticizing the presentation and lack of content at launch.[9] IGN gave the game a 6.8 rating, praising the fighting system and tag mechanics but criticising the graphics, lack of modes and characters.[12] Mike Fahey of Kotaku also criticized the launch roster but praised the accessibility of the fighting mechanics for players at various skill levels.[14] Screen Rant praised the game for using the Marvel vs Capcom tag-team fighting system while adding new features like the assist-takeover move. They too criticised the lack of characters, non-existent story and highlighted the fact that for a game that was celebrating 25 Years of Power Rangers, it only featured characters from four series at launch.[15]

• Official website