Ranger X

About Ranger X

Ranger X (1993) is GAU Entertainment's Genesis run and gun in which a jet-packing exoskeleton pilot and his robot motorcycle fight off an invasion, with graphics that seemed to break the console's colour limits.

Ranger X in Depth

The player is Ranger X, pilot of a powered exoskeleton leading the fight to reclaim his home planet from the invading Rahuna forces. A jet pack allows short flights limited by its temperature, forcing a landing to cool down when it overheats. Alongside a standard pulse rifle, Ranger X has special weapons such as a flamethrower and homing attacks, which drain a power bar that only recharges under a bright light source, and more are added by collecting power-ups. On some levels he is joined by a support vehicle, an Ex-Up such as Indra, a futuristic motorcycle, a premise described as "RoboCop on a Harley", which moves and fires independently but can be ridden for its separate shielding.

Each level opens with a wireframe 3D cut-scene setting out the targets, and the player must fight through enemy forces, destroy every objective and then the stage boss to advance. Critics praised the tactics offered by the weapons and the need to manage the support vehicle; GamePro said "the unique dual action of flying and riding a motorcycle gives this game a step up against over other shooters". The graphics impressed most, with some reviews claiming it broke through the Mega Drive's colour limits and EGM calling them "some of the best graphics ever seen" on the system, though MegaTech noticed some sprite flicker.

Making Ranger X

Designers Toshio Toyota and Toshio Yamamoto led development, with artist Ree Senfhu co-creating the pixel art. Yamamoto said the team relied on intuition rather than copying other games, aiming for a high-quality Mega Drive title, and that polish gave the visuals "a lot of shine too". Toyota, who had long wanted to make a side-scrolling robot action game, said they started by asking what makes a game fun and found the Mega Drive easy to work with, its colour problem being "a question of subtlety on the designer's part". Sega published it in 1993, and reception was generally positive, though some found its difficulty too high.