Rendering Ranger: R2 Rewind

From the people who brought you Turrican comes Rendering Ranger: R2, a rare run ‘n gun shooter from the 1990s that never came to America ... until now! An explosive mix of Contra and Gradius, this stylish action game represents the last gasps of the 16-bit era, back when pre-rendered graphics were all the rage. But is this long-lost shooter a hidden gem or something that should have stayed buried? That’s what we’re about to find out when I review Rendering Ranger: R2 Rewind.

First-released back in 1995 on the Super Famicom, Rendering Ranger: R2 rode the wave of pre-rendered side-scrollers popularized by the success of Donkey Kong Country. Much like Sega’s similarly pre-rendered hero, Vectorman, the titular Rendering Ranger is a run ‘n gun hero fighting through a post-apocalyptic hellscape. What sets this game apart from pretty much every other run ‘n gun shooter on the market is that it will occasionally shift from action/platforming stages to lengthy shoot ‘em up levels that resemble games like Gradius and R-Type.

There’s a story here about the Rendering Ranger, a special forcers soldier who is on a mission to defend Earth from an alien invasion. In other words, it’s Contra with pre-rendered graphics and a life bar. It was developed by Rainbow Arts, who had previously sharpened their teeth on the Turrican franchise. In fact, the designer responsible for Rendering Ranger, Manfred Trenz, was also the director of Turrican, so fans of that classic platform shooter will feel right at home taking on the alien horde.

As a run ‘n gun shooter, Rendering Ranger gets most of the fundamentals right. It features a large, glossy hero who runs from left to right shooting down space invaders and upgrading several different weapons, all of which he can switch between at a push of a button. What’s nice is that the action isn’t always a linear affair, as there’s a fair bit of exploration in some of the bigger stages. You may need to investigate a factory or large building full of elevators and dead ends. It’s not quite at the level of a Metroidvania (or even Turrican), but the level designs tend to be a bit more complicated than what you find in the average Contra game.

Rendering Rangers is seen these days as a bit of a cult classic, due in large part to it never getting released outside of Japan, where it only sold around ten-thousand copies. If you want to call it a hidden gem, then go right on ahead, but this is not one of my favorite run ‘n gun shooters. It pales in comparison to the side-scrolling games of that era, like Gunstar Heroes and Contra III. A lot of this has to do with annoying gameplay decisions that hurt the overall game. A great example of this is that there’s no way to stand in place and shoot in different directions. If you want to shoot at a diagonal, then prepare to run forward. That’s annoying.

Speaking of running, I found that our hero ran a little too close to the right of the screen. Normally, you would want the character to be back a little bit, since a majority of the bad guys and obstacles you run into are coming from the right side. This leads to a lot of annoying and cheap hits, which can really add up in the later levels.

This is not a problem when it comes to the shoot ‘em up sections of the game, which are a real standout. Once you’re flying around in your outer space jet fighter, you can freely move about the entire screen, which is nothing new to the genre. What is unique is the ship’s ability to turn around, aiming all of your shots backwards. This is great, because you’ll have enemies coming from both sides of the screen, and flipping the ship gives you a fighting chance.

If you played the original Super Famicom version from the 1990s, then you already know that Rendering Ranger is tough. Even if you boost your lives up to seven, there are no continues, forcing players to memorize the stages through multiple playthroughs. This brand-new “Rewind” package has gone out of its way to alleviate some of this frustration by adding a couple of extremely helpful quality of life upgrades. For one thing, you can now save at any point, including the middle of a level. And, as the title suggests, we’re able to rewind time, allowing the player to take another stab at some of the tougher sections.

This update also includes the typical extras you normally get from this style of retro game package, including various borders, screen options, filters and so on so forth. There’s also a music player and museum where you can look at the box art and read the manual. This is all fairly standard stuff, but it’s certainly appreciated.

The best new addition is Targa, which is the original version of Rendering Ranger. Back before it got a pre-rendered facelift, the game was called Targa, and it was more in line with Contra and Turrican. While it looks like there are still pre-rendered enemies and designs that were probably used to complete this version of the game, Targa does feel like a different experience and has its own pros and cons. It wouldn’t surprise me if there are people who prefer Targa over the more polished Rendering Ranger. I just wish that the package would do a better job explaining these two versions of the game. This needs an interview with Manfred Trenz or just a historical blurb that puts everything in context.

As a package, Ziggurat has done a good job of giving Rendering Ranger: R2 a second life. As a champion of game preservation, I love that we finally have a way to play this game that doesn’t require going into debt. That said, I would argue that Rendering Ranger has not aged particularly well, and this package is more compelling for its history than its gameplay. It’s fun, but not a 16-bit essential.