Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger and Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger (video game)

Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger and Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger (video game)
Protagonist(s): Gaorangers Hurricanegers Genre(s): Beat 'em up Fighting Rating(s): E for Everyone CERO A (All Ages) Platform(s): PlayStation Release Date: 2001 (Gaoranger) 2002 (Hurricaneger) Developer(s): Natsume Publisher(s): Bandai Namco Country: Japan Series: Super Sentai

Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger and Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger (百獣戦隊ガオレンジャー/忍风戦队ハリケンジャー) are action beat-em-ups released for the PlayStation only in Japan. They are based off the TV shows of the same names.

Why They Rock

Both Games

1. Incredible graphics for PlayStation 1 games. They are really detailed, especially the cities where the buildings have a ton of detail. Heck, the graphics in both games are better than some PS2/GameCube/Xbox games and even a few PS3/Xbox 360/Wii games that came out way after these games.
2. The games capture the frantic fast paced high energy nature of the TV shows really well.
3. The games use the openings from the TV shows, complete with the theme song, for the intro cutscenes, which is a really nice touch.
4. The controls are extremely simple, but they are both tight and responsive, even for kids.
5. Both games, while different, do play almost the same, meaning they are both good games.
6. Extremely fun gameplay, as they are really simple but fun 3D side scroller beat-em-ups, even kids are enjoy for both games.
7. Great animations that capture the fast paced action of the show.
8. You start out with a single player story mode and a 1 Vs 1 fighting mode, and when you beat story mode you unlock survival mode.
9. You can clearly tell both games were made by fans of the series, as they both have a lot of love and care put into them even for kids.
10. Both games have a ton of little details that fans or kids of the show will love (such as images from the shows appearing during the credits)
11. Amazing soundtrack. Some of the songs are taken straight from the TV shows.
12. For some of the cutscenes, the games actually use clips from the TV show, while other cutscenes are done with the game models.
13. The fighting mechanics in both games are great, as they are very similar to Street Fighter's mechanics, just a lot more simplified to make thing easier for kids.
14. Great voice acting as all the actors from both shows reprise their roles in the games.
15. At launch, both games were only 30 dollars (4.290 yen) each, making them great bargain games.
16. Non-Sentai/Power Rangers fans may enjoy the games for their graphics, design and fun gameplay.
17. Even though the games are Japan exclusives, you don't need to read Japanese in order to play them.
18. At the end of each level, you get a Megazord boss fight. The battles actually have some depth to them, as you can't just press the attack button as you will need to block and dodge as well. There are also third person sections during the fights.
19. While the games start off easy, they get challenging during the later levels (especially on difficult). The final Megazord boss fights are rather tough, requiring you to have some pro gamer skills in order to beat the final bosses.
20. Both games still hold up very well, and even outshine many modern day licensed beat-em-ups (such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle, and all the beat-em-ups made by Outright Games)
21. Overall, these games are great examples of licensed TV show games done right (as a lot of licensed games are rather terrible).

Gaoranger

1. While you only play as Gaored, the other Rangers are available as support characters, and they are very useful when you are in a sticky situation.

Hurricaneger

1. You can play as all six rangers (Hurricane Red, Hurricane Blue, Hurricane Yellow, Kabutoraiger, Kuwagaraiger and Shurikenger), as well as Gaored in a special bonus stage
2. Each Ranger plays differently and aren't clones of each other, unlike a lot of Power Rangers games (such as Super Legends and Mega Battle)
3. You can use a special code to play as the Gaoranger mechas.
4. Way more replay value than Gaoranger, as you unlock not only the survival mode, but a lot more content, including different game modes.

Bad Qualities

Both Games

1. Unfortunately, the games remain Japan-only to this day, as they were sadly never released in North America and European as Power Rangers Wild Force and Power Rangers Ninja Storm games, even though PS1 games were still being made when Wild Force and Ninja Storm aired (heck, they could have ported them over to the PS2!).
   • It would be easy to localize them, as they just needed to translate the text into English, switch the opening intros with the Wild Force and Ninja Storm intros, dub over the voices and remove all instances of the Japanese actors and replace them with the American/New Zealand actors, while keeping the gameplay the same.
     • There are however fan translations and pirated copies that have translated the game into various languages, such as English, Mandarin, Spanish, Portugese, Hindi and Indonesian.
2. Very short length, you can beat both games in one sitting, as they only have six levels (with Hurricaneger having a secret bonus level) and 1 hours to complete.
3. Unfortunately, despite these games being terrific, they were the last Super Sentai games that Natsume has developed, as they never made games based on Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger, Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, Mahou Sentai Magiranger and Gogo Sentai Boukenger (the last Sentai to air during the PS1's lifespan) possibly due to the PS1 being outdated in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, despite games still being released during those years.
   • Ironically, Abaranger's counterpart, Power Rangers Dino Thunder, did get a game in America only (made by a different developer), but it sadly wasn't very well-received

Gaoranger

1. Gaored is the only playable character in the game, so fans hoping to play as the other Rangers will be disappointed.
2. Not much replay value as after you beat the game all you get is a survival mode.

Hurricaneger

1. For an unknown reason, Perfume Ninja Kira-Cologne was grown with the help of the Copy Giant despite the fact that Kira-Cologne is a Masked Ninja Corps member and not a Puppet Ninja Corps member.
2. It is technically a reskin of Gaoranger, however it does do a lot of different things from it.

Reception

The games were very well-received by fans of the show and gamers alike.

On GameFAQS, Gaoranger has a 9 out of 10, while Hurricaneger has a 10 out of 10.

On Ebay, Gaoranger has a 5 star rating.

Notes

Gaoranger

• All of the game's files are dated to September 30, 2001.
• The Orgs are defeated by different methods from TV series.
  • Boat Org is destroyed by normal Gaoking instead of GaoKing Spear.
  • Bulldozer Org is destroyed by normal Gaoking instead of GaoMuscle.
  • Shuten is destroyed by Animal Heart instead of weakened by Super Animal Heart before being killed by Ura.
  • GaoHunter Evil is defeated by GaoMuscle Striker instead of GaoKing Striker.
  • Rasetsu is destroyed by GaoMuscle Striker instead of GaoKentaurus.
    • This is justified because the game was released before Quest 44 was aired.

Hurricaneger

• This is the only time where Tenkuujin uses Kabuto Spear in any media.
• GaoIcarus have the game-exclusive special move that shoots fireballs from GaoFalcon's mouth.

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