Super Sentai Battle Ranger Cross

Super Sentai Battle Ranger Cross
A Gokaiger game without all the past 35 Sentai teams is a no-no.
Genre(s): Action beat-'em-up Platform(s): Wii Release: JP: September 9, 2011 Developer(s): Paon DP Publisher(s): Bandai Namco Games Series: Super Sentai

Super Sentai Battle Ranger Cross (スーパー戦隊バトル レンジャークロス, Sūpā Sentai Batoru Renjā Kurosu) is an action beat-em-up game for the Wii based on Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, the 35th entry on the long-running tokusatsu franchise, Super Sentai.

The game was developed by Paon DP (who also made games like Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast and the Wii remake of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile) and published by Bandai Namco Games. It was released on September 9, 2011, in Japan only to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Super Sentai franchise.

Plot

The game involves teams from 5 Sentai series, Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Tensou Sentai Goseiger, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, Engine Sentai Go-onger, and Himitsu Sentai Gorenger fighting against an evil force known as Devil Jark.

Why it Sucks

1. Somewhat poor grasp of the original source material. There aren’t a lot of past Sentai teams that appear in this game especially from the Pre-Zyuranger era (any Super Sentai show that aired before the franchise being adapted into Power Rangers series such as JAKQ Dengekitai, Sun Vulcan, Bioman, Liveman, and Jetman), the only past Sentai teams that appear in this game are: Gorenger, Go-Onger, Shinkenger, and Goseiger. However, the other two teams in this game: Magiranger and Dekaranger only appeared in the Gokai Change finishers. This game is supposed to take place after the Gokaiger vs. Goseiger crossover film, so perhaps this would explain the lack of past Sentai teams. Hardware, space, and/or time constraints could also be likely reasons for the lack of past Sentai teams.
2. Repetitive and boring gameplay. The basic formula is this: beat up the enemies (as well as boss enemies) by mashing the attack button, collect tokens to fill up your “V-Gauge”, and watch a cutscene of the rangers performing their finishing move (which you can only activate when a boss’s health is depleted). Rinse and repeat.
3. Mecha battles also suffer the same problem, only this time your mech moves slowly and the fight is on a 2D plane (with the exception of the final boss, which is fought on a 3D plane much like regular battles). Since Mechas didn't debut in Sentai until Battle Fever J, the Gorenger team doesn't have this problem, though they still fight a giant monster Shadow of the Colossus-style (something which other teams also do at certain points).
4. Mediocre music.
5. Somewhat repetitive boss battles.
6. Before every boss battle, the player must do a rock paper scissors “Roulette Battle”. If you win, you get stat boosts, but if you lose, the boss itself gets stat boosts instead.
7. Easy and Normal mode are pretty much identical, only “Easy mode” has tacked-on motion controls.
8. Much of the game's art assets and music are recycled from the arcade game, Super Sentai Battle Dice-O (with the exception of the Devil Jark characters, who are specific to this game). The game does have the theme songs of the respective Sentai series, though they are instrumental renditions just like in the show itself when they performed the past Sentai Gokai Change.
9. They had one of the bosses be a shapeshifter as an excuse to recycle previous bosses for one part of the Go-Onger Arc.
10. One of the bosses in the Goseiger Arc, Aigaion, looks similar to the Large Body Heartless from Kingdom Hearts, which may cause players familiar with said series to attack him from behind (as that was the strategy for defeating Large Bodies in Kingdom Hearts).
11. Sentai teams other than the playable 5 (such as Magiranger and Dekaranger) only make non-playable cameos in the form of Gokai Change finishers in the Gokaiger Arc. This renders them (as well as Gokai Change as a whole, which was a major element in Gokaiger) underutilized.

Redeeming Qualities

1. The graphics look nice.
2. Passable soundtrack.
3. The Gokaigers' voice actors in this game are the same ones from the show itself especially the Mobilates' voice (Tomokazu Seki).

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