Review: Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid (Nintendo Switch)

Power Rangers Battle for the Grid was released initially digitally on the Nintendo Switch back in March of 2019 and in November of the same year, released physically through Limited Run Games. The collector’s edition is now getting another physical (not from Limited Run Games) release. This time it comes with the first season of DLC and a few exclusive skins. 

Let’s get this out of the way: I am only familiar with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The Generations to follow I have little to no familiarity with. I wouldn’t call myself seasoned at fighting games. I’ve played a few over the years but never got to be very good at them. That said, per its website, Battle for the Grid offers “A streamlined combat system [that] welcomes newcomers with simplified controls while maintaining depth for the most dedicated competitor to learn and master.” Let’s see how that checks out.

You play as Power Rangers from multiple generations. The story is told of Lord Drakkon, Oliver’s character if he had never left Rita’s side even after having her control spell broken. He is searching down Morphers from different generations, which results in power rangers for multiple generations teaming together to stop him. 

The story mode had nothing too advanced, but despite that, it was still enjoyable to play. Original cast members even did some of the voice acting between cutscenes. One of the things I noticed that I found odd is it said player and enemy above the health bars. At first, I found this to be abnormal but then when playing story mode. It turned out that it was because, occasionally, during the story mode, you would play as the villain. 

The game controlled very well. It was straightforward to pick up and learn. The longer I had played it, the more I felt I understood the controls and about fighting games in general, as well as some concepts I had previously been told about fighting games. Things such as do your best to get along as a combo of attack and do your best to defend while trying to regain control to make another attack. 

Interestingly enough, it doesn’t have rounds traditionally. Instead, it has numbers at the end of the health bar; once the health bar is depleted, the number decreases by one, and players can continue to fight until all the numbers are completely gone from the health bars. This keeps the fighting going until the battle is over. I really like this style in the fighting game because it does not break up your combo flow once the health bar is empty to restart the round.

What is Power Rangers without the Zords? Well, don’t worry, they are included too. It might not be one-hundred percent what fans were hoping for. Building up enough combos and attacks fills a bar. Once that bar is full, players can release the power of a Zord to help attack in battle. This is usually something like a sword attack, punch, or kick from above, causing a substantial amount of damage. 

I found that each character in story mode seemed to play slightly differently. Some characters who are larger were more powerful hitters but slower. Others moved quicker but didn’t do as much damage others were somewhere in between, but they all were fun enjoyable to play, and it was undoubtedly fun figuring out your preferred characters. 

Battling online is nice because there are tournaments as well as challenges throughout the year. It also offers cross-platform play, which makes match-ups relatively easy.

One thing that has stuck with me over the years was the intro to the original power rangers series; while the game did not have it exactly as I remembered, it was certainly there in the title screens of a more modernized version fitting the game well. 

While it is marketed as the collector’s edition, players should be aware that the asking price of $39.99 only comes with one of the three DLC packs. Leaving two more to be purchased at the expense of $14.99 each. Which, depending on the level of fandom, may or may not be too much.

Power Rangers Battle for the Grid was undoubtedly a lot of fun to play. It does a great job of making the game easy for beginners to learn and feel enjoyable for the more experienced player. Despite not knowing many of the characters, I still enjoyed playing through the game.