Power Rangers Time Force (PS1)

Power Rangers Time Force (PS1)
If only we could go back in time to stop this game from being released.
Genre(s): Action Platform Platform(s): PlayStation Release: NA: November 5, 2001 EU: December 7, 2001 Developer(s): Climax Studios Publisher(s): THQ Series: Power Rangers Predecessor: Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue

Power Rangers Time Force is an action game released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance, the Game Boy Color, the PC and for the PS1.

This page will only focus on the PS1 version of the game which is considered by many to be the worst version of the game.

Plot

A mutant by the name of Ransik attempts to take over the world by traveling back through time, and it’s up to the Time Force, a time-traveling police force, to apprehend him and prevent history from being altered in a harmful way.

Gameplay

The PlayStation version, developed by Climax Studios is a 3D action platform game that featured single and 2 player battles, the latter having only the Megazords and the main bosses. The player can find a Time Artifact hidden in each level, and a health bar bonus is awarded if the level is completed within the time limit. All seven artifacts must be collected to unlock the Quantum Ranger.

Why It's Can't Go Back In Time

1. This game is a massive downgrade from Lightspeed Rescue on the same console, which while not a great game with tedious levels and poor controls, it was still much better than this game which had downgraded not only the controls but every other things from Lightspeed Rescue that we're already bad and was made much worst than that game.
2. The graphics in this game are even worse than the one in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, as the 3D models are awful and the game looks more like a 1997 Sega Saturn game, even for a PS1 game released in 2001.
   • The Rangers models in particular are very badly made as they are horribly pixelated and look more like an amateur 3D character model than a real 3D model for the characters, thanks to how bad the graphics are.
   • The colors palette is also really awful with the drab colors palette; the colors also look extremely bland and not colorful at all, which makes the graphics even worse than they already are. Even the predecessor, Lightspeed Rescue, had more colorful colors than this, whether it is the PS1 version or even the Nintendo 64 version.
   • The textures also look extremely awful and just bland, as they have an awful color palette just like the other graphics and visuals of the game, and they are undetailled to the point of looking like they came from Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout, a 1997 PS1 game that even looks better than this.
   • Even games such as Mortal Kombat 4, Bomberman Land, Ape Escape, Doraemon 3: Makai no Dongeons, Pac-Man World and South Park on the N64 look better than this, and they all came out in 1997-2000.
3. Awful controls that are as bad, if not worse than in Lightspeed Rescue, as the controls are even more unresponsive and clunky, despite the fact that the gameplay is faster than it was in Lightspeed Rescue.
   • This also makes the level design even worse than it already is, as the controls are so bad that the platforming is extremely awful (see WICGBIT#3 for more infos about this) and the controls could literally make the game almost, if not unplayable on some occasions, thank to how bad it is, even the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color version have better controls than this (despite the latter being a good game).
   • The combat is also a victim of this; much like Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles, the combat is very delayed and can cause cheap deaths because of this, the infos about why the combats is awful is on the WICGBIT#6 pointer to describe it more about why it so awful.
   • The jump in particular are extremely horrible to control and is the main reason of why this game had some of the worst controls you will ever see in a 3D platform game, as it shows about how bad the platforming of this game is (see WICGBIT#3 for more infos about that), and the jump is also the reason of why this game is almost, if not unplayable and also create an awful difficulty spike later in the game, it's also doesn't help that even the jumps are horribly delayed and can cause cheap deaths a huge amount of times due to how bad it is.
4. The platforming is extremely bad, as due to how bad the controls of the game are, the jump is not tight enough and the platforming phases can be extremely hard because of this, not to mention that in the fourth level of the game (which might be the worst of the entire game), the platforming is almost impossible to do without dying a lot, kind of like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus.
   • This is without a doubt the second absolute worst part of the game due to how horribly terrible it is and the fact that this also creates fake difficulty due to this and the awful controls of the game, even in Lightspeed Rescue on the same platform is less bad for the platforming, the level design, and in general being much better than this game despite still being incredibly mediocre at best.
   • This is especially true in the level 4 and 7 where the platforming is at it's absolute worst in this game (especially at level 4), with the platforming sections being almost impossible to pass and that also the main reason about why these levels are so awful and horribly hard for having an awful difficulty spike that make the game almost impossible to complete or not rage quit, thank to how bad the platforming of this game is.
5. The game is horribly short and even shorter than Lightspeed Rescue, as you can beat it in less than an hour and at 50 minutes, the game can be finished. For a 2001 PS1 game, this is unnaceptable since there are other games that are longer than that and they were released the same year. Even the Game Boy Color version of Lightspeed Rescue is longer than that despite that game being also pretty short but still very good compared to this.
6. The hit detection is very terrible and makes the combat even worse than it already is, as the enemies can skip a lot of animation frames and hit you instead of taking hits and doing nothing until you finish your combos. This makes this game have little to no fun whatsoever and creates even more fake difficulty, in fact the hit-detection is so horrible that it's might be the worst that you will ever seen in a game, it's even worst than the hit-detection in Bubsy 3D and Doraemon: Nobita to Fukkatsu no Hoshi, and no this is not even a joke!
   • For exemple, both you and your opponent will continuously swing at each other, with a hit being landed a third of the time if either of you are lucky. Your Zord also has special abilities, much like the rangers, good luck hitting with them due to how bad the hit-detection is.
   • At least in Lightspeed Rescue, the hit-detection was pretty poor but not that bad and not one of the worst that you could see in a game as it's work a bit better, but here they gone way too far with the atrocious hit-detection as the ennemies will sometime not be attacked as they hasn't got a hit, yes the hit-detection is this bad.
7. Poor story that doesn't really follow the story from the Time Force season and instead had a generic story that is much worst than most bad Power Rangers seasons due to how poorly written and generic the story is.
8. Awful combats that is so horrible that it's on par with the DS version of Astro Boy: The Video Game and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, as it is horribly delayed and the combats just aren't fun at all. Even when you kill an enemy, it will not satisfy you when you kill one.
   • It is also delayed mostly due to how bad the animations are, and the enemies can still easily hit you when you give them an attack, especially because of how unresponsive the combat is. You could easily stop fighting due to this, and the enemies will attack you. Yes,  it's this bad.
   • The combats is even worst in the boss fights before the Megazor battles as some of the bosses are absolutely annoying and the combat doesn't help for them not being too hard, as it is delayed, like Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, this mean that it's create another fake difficulty, not to mentions that it's not even the worst part of the game, which say about how bad this game is.
9. The Megazor battles are awful, as they are horribly easy, just like the GBA version of this game, as you can just keep attacking the boss and making the fights way too easy, although it is still better than in the GBA version and Lightspeed Rescue (PS1) we're they are even worse than in this game due to how easy and poorly programmed they are in these games too.
10. The normal boss fights are no better as they are either extremely easy to take down or they can be horribly hard to beat due to how bad the hit-detection is, and their attacks for the most parts are weak and don't deal that much damages.
    • Brutius in the first level is extremely easy, as you can just spam your kicks attacks and you will take it down really easily, in fact even the players who suck at games could beat him without even taking damages, even if it supposed to be the first boss of the game, it is still a pathetic boss that is horribly easy.
    • Barbatron of the first level is the easiest due to the fact that you can beat him in only 20 seconds without even stopping to combat him, he would also get a hard time to kill you as you can just do nothing for like 5 or 10 seconds and he will still not be able to take you down.
    • Festulous of the level 2 is an absolute joke, as you can just spam your special attacks and he will not be able to hit you or dodge the attack, this mean that he can litteraly be beaten in only 10 seconds.
    • Stormwing of the second level is extremely easy and somehow very annoying at the same timeg, as you can just spam the special attack, replishing it and start again until he go to the other platform that you can't reach with a jump, you will had to do your special attacks at the right time for the second phase of the boss.
    • Pincator from level 3 is more challenging than the previous bosses but he is very annoying to take down as you can still spam your special attacks to take him down easier but his attack deal you a ton of damages.
    • Nadira from level 4 is a horrible boss and possibly the most frustrating boss of the entire game as she deal you a ton of damages and you can had a hard time to take her down due to how awful the hit-detection is and also how much she move to not take damages from you, she also conclude the overral horrible level 4 on an atrocious note.
    • Gluto from level 5 is a very easy boss as you can spam your special attacks and the jump kicks very often and take him down really easily, although despite that he still a much better boss than Nadira.
    • Hornotaur from level 6 is a very easy boss that can be taken easily down as you can just spam your special attacks and your jump kicks and you kill him in just 10 seconds.
    • Frax from level 6 is a really annoying and long boss, that all we can say.
    • Both Nadira2 and Frax2 in level 7 are much easier than their first conterpart as from level 6 much like most bosses from this game, you can just spam your special attacks and jump kicks them and take them off extremely easily, especially Nadira2 that is easy.
    • Ransik is an extremely annoying final boss who can take you down really easily and can even take you lot of lives, although fortunately you can replishing your special attacks bar and spam these to deaths but that still doesn't change the fact that it's an awful boss.
11. The level design is extremely awful and possibly some of the worst you would ever find in a Power Rangers game; it is incredibly bad. The reason why it's extremely bad is because of how badly placed the platforming sections are and can cause cheap deaths for no reason at all. This is especially true with level 4.
    • Level 1: The Path to Silver Hills is not really a bad level, mostly due to the fact that it's not horribly hard by the standards of this game, but it's still a very generic level that is just a tutorial that is pointless and a filler level that is just here to pad the game length, which, as said before, is horribly short.
    • Level 2: Hostage of Time is a confusing level for the middle of it and is the first level to feature the awful platforming sections that will cause you cheap deaths due to how bad the controls are and how badly designed the level is, not to mention that the level lasts for way too long, lasting 10 minutes.
    • Level 3: Peril on the High Seas is a confusing level that is one of the worst levels that would be the worst if not for the absolutely terrible level 4 that will follow after this, as in this level you will most likely get lost and not find the way that you have to go, not to mention that there's a lot of enemies to fight, making this even worse than it already is.
    • Level 4: The Dawn of Time is the absolute worst level of the entire game, as it is filled with the worst platforming sections of the entire game. The platforming in this level is also extremely terrible, with poorly placed platforms to the point that you will most likely fall to the water even if you master the controls of the game, not to mentions that the level last horribly long and last 10 minutes which mean that the torture of the platforming is even worst due to how long the level is.
    • Level 5: Midnight Castle, while it's a short level, is still a very confusing level that can make you lose in the level very easily, and it's also filled with a lot of enemies, making it a bland level.
    • Level 6: The Coliseum of Frax is a bland level and maze-like level that lasts horribly long, that all we can say.
    • Level 7: The Final Mutation is a pretty annoying level with a lot of hard and awful platforming sections that are annoying once again, and the level is very unbalanced due to how awful the difficulty spike is. Despite that, it is still a fitting level to end this horrible game.
12. The FMV clip of the season are in an awful quality, even for PS1 standards, as it is very blurry to look at to the point that it's almost on par with South Park on the PS1, yeah they are this bad.
13. This game had one of the worst main menu of the entire video game history, as there's not any other modes to play other than the main game with either 1 or 2 players, and it's the main reason of why this game had not many replay values, the only replay values is to play with 2 players, that about it, there isn't even a credits mode where you can watch them or an option mode where you can choose the difficulty that you want to adjust, it's even on par with Elf Bowling 1 & 2 on the GBA and Dr. Dolittle on the PS2.
14. As said before, there many levels that are maze like, which is the lain reason of why the level design is so awful in this game, not to mention that in these levels you can get lost very easily due to how confusing it is.
15. You need to beat the game at 100% to unlock the Quantum Ranger, this is likely to pad the game lenght but the problem is that as said before, due to how bad the game is, you will likely give up to trying to get all the secret to unlock him, to make matter worst that ranger once again had barely any different stats than the other, making 100% the game being almost useless except if you really want to do it or unlock that ranger.
16. Awful character animations, especially when the rangers run.
17. The tutorial at the start of the game is awful and treat the players like an idiot as they tell you want action to do such as jumping where it is obvious that you had to jump to pass that part, the tutorial also serve absolutely no propose except when they told you about the special attacks which is required to beat most bosses and to beat the game.
18. The soundtrack is very generic even when compared to the poor soundtrack from Lightspeed Rescue, save for the theme song of the season, which is still is catchy in this game.
19. It was way too late to be released on the PS1, as in November of 2001, both the PS2 and the GameCube came out, and the game could have been released for these platforms instead, which would probably have helped the game be better than what we got.
20. The rangers stats are mostly the same with barely any difference so selecting which rangers you want to play as will mostly be a skin due to how not many differences there are in their stats, when you will discover who had the best stats, you will just play as that ranger for the rest of the game and not play as the others.
21. Long loading times that are on par with Mega Man X7 and Doraemon: Nobita to Fukkatsu no Hoshi, as the loading will take mostly 5 or 8 seconds to boot up a level or other parts of the game, not to mention that the loading times are boring to look at.
22. No replay values other than trying to collect the secrets of all the levels to unlock the Quantum Ranger, as all of the levels are repetitive and as said before there isn't any fun to be had in this game due to how incredibly bad it is, this is unnaceptable considering that the game is way too short and that due to how terrible the game is, you will likely not replay it ever again until a long time.
23. Awful voice acting that sound extremely compressed and doesn't even feel like it's came from a Power Rangers voice actor, this is especially true with the characters that guide you at the beginning of the game for the tutorial.
24. The gameplay is extremely awful and repetitive too, as most of the time you will just do platforming, combat the ennemies and progress, and that pretty much about it, not to mention that due to how awful the controls are, the gameplay is awful and probably one of the worst gameplay in a Power Rangers game.
    • Not to mention that most ennemies and the Megazor battles are extremely repetitive and most ennemies are the same in all of the levels, which is even worst than in Lightspeed Rescue (PS1) since at least that game had more variaty in ennemies and level design.
25. The camera is not even safe from being bad, it's extremely choppy as sometime it will abruptly change it's direction in a platforming section and make you getting cheap deaths, it's even as bad in the combat as it can sometime go too close to your character or the ennemies, even worst, you can't even control the camera, making this situation even worse.
26. Horrible ending, much like the other versions of the game.
27. Overral, this game is so bad that it might even be the worst game of the entire Power Rangers franchise; yes, it is even worse than Megaforce on the Nintendo 3DS, Super Legends on both the PS2, GameCube and DS and even the Nintendo 64 version of Lightspeed Rescue, not to mention that even the bad GBA version of the game is so much better than this and looks like a masterpiece along with the other aforementioned games in comparison to this game, despite being horribly bad games with the exception of Super Legend and Time Force on the Game Boy Advance that are just mediocre games.

Redeeming Qualities

1. At least this game had the potential to be a decent action game, but unfortunately, it was so badly executed to the point of being a horrible game that it is barely playable.
2. Despite how horrible the gameplay is, it's still play a bit faster than Lightspeed Rescue on the PS1 and Nintendo 64, as the rangers run more fast than in these games.
3. At least you can choose which ranger you want to pick before a level, unlike Lightspeed Rescue in which in that one you can't select the rangers you want at any level.
4. Despite how generic it is, the soundtrack can be catchy at times.

Reception

While the game doesn't received that much critics reviews at the times, the game received mixed to overwhelmingly negative review, the game was mostly criticized for it's awful gameplay, the awful graphics and the short lenght of the game, it is mostly considered to be the worst version of the game, right before the GBA version.

On Gamefaqs, the game had a score of 2.92/5.00

Also in Gamefaq, in CyanRouge review he explained that he doesn't really except high quality in licensed game but that kids deserve better than this and that he even said that the SNES and Sega Genesis (including the mediocre fighting game on Sega Genesis) are miles ahead from this game, he also given the game a score of 1.9/10 (actually 2/10 but in his review he give the game a 1.9/10)

Trivia

• This is the only version of Power Rangers Time Force to be a 3D game, as both the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance versions are 2D platformers.
• It's the last Power Rangers game on the PS1.

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