For the first time since the still great Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition was released on the Super Nintendo, the Power Rangers will take their superhero brawling to video game consoles with Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid.
On Thursday, nWay, Hasbro, and Lionsgate announced the new Power Rangers game which adapts the popular mobile title Power Rangers: Legacy Wars for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The game will be released in April 2019 (no official release date yet) for $19.99. A collector’s edition with extra goods and a season pass will sell for $39.99. You can pre-order it here.
While the game bears a strong resemblance to Power Rangers: Legacy Wars, nWay insists it’s a new experience built from the ground up.
Here’s everything we know about Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid.
A New Game
In the game’s official announcement, as well as in tweets responding to initial fan criticism, nWay affirms that Battle for the Grid is an entirely new game built exclusively for consoles and PC.
“We seen [sic] a lot of comments on whether or not @Battle4TheGrid is a port from @PRLegacyWars,” said nWay, via the game’s official Twitter. “Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a brand new fighting game for consoles. The combat system is built from the ground up and is not taken from the mobile game.”
Cross Platform Play
Battle for the Grid is significant for being another game with an esports following to promote cross-platform play, in the vein of Rocket League and the mega-popular Fortnite. But unlike Fortnite, the cross-platforming will be limited to Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC, and does not include PlayStation 4. At least for now.
“Easy to Learn, Hard to Master”
nWay promises a fighting game that is “easy to learn, hard to master,” a philosophy that puts the game in the same light as Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series.
While Legacy Wars was also easy to learn but a challenge to really know how to dominate, nWay says the game will feature a new battle mechanic, which suggests the gameplay will not be a direct lift from the mobile title.
“Truth be told, this game will feature a completely brand new battle mechanic,” nWay said in a tweet, “including different movesets from each character that we plan on adding to our game.”
“No Cards”
Jason Bischoff, Hasbro’s Creative Franchise Director for Power Rangers, confirmed additional details that differentiate Battle for the Grid. Bischoff confirms that the game will have “No cards” (referencing the game’s daily unlockables) as well as new characters and a single story mode.
The Multiverse Opens Up
The mobile version of the game, which launched in conjunction with the 2017 reboot movie from Lionsgate, spanned the entire Power Rangers franchise and continues to add fan-favorite heroes and villains from different iterations of the series. The game currently boasts 51 characters, including guest characters from Capcom’s Street Fighter franchise. This crossover resulted in a live-action short film starring actors from the Power Rangers television series.
It is unknown if Battle for the Grid will contain the same number of characters; the released previews have only featured three Power Rangers (the original Red and Green Rangers, and the Super Megaforce Yellow Ranger). It is also unlikely the new game will retain the Street Fighter crossover, but one can hope if the Ryu Ranger can stick around.
Official screenshot of the Red and Green Rangers in 'Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid.'
The new game is sporting its own seasonal downloadable content and bonuses. Upon the announcement, nWay confirmed that the “Green Ranger V2” skin (a costume introduced in an episode of the fan series Super Power Beat Down on YouTube) will be included as a pre-order bonus.
The Season One DLC pass will include “three new characters” as well as new costumes for Lord Drakkon (Evo II, from the comic book series) and a new skin for the original Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid will be released in April 2019 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Related video: Rewatch the live-action crossover between Power Rangers and Capcom’s Street Fighter.
