Sega Nerds

Rumour: Burning Rangers sequel in the pipeline?

Posted by Graham. Filed under G, News. Tagged with Burning Rangers, Fan Stuff, Rumor Mill, Saturn.

Ok so this rumour is so flimsey, it can’t really be called a rumour yet, more like a ‘chinese whisper,’ than anything else.

But flimsey as it is, it is a rather exciting prospect!

In a recent interview with GamesRadar, Takashi Iizuka (the lead man behind NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams), was shooting the preverbial, about the upcoming Wii NiGHTS sequel, when he was also asked about whether Sonic Team, had any possible plans for bringing back, the Saturn classic, Burning Rangers.

Finally, when asked about a possible sequel to Sonic Team’s other forgotten Saturn title Burning Rangers, Iizuka said: “It’s not my title, so I can’t comment. But I hear there is a lot of demand for a sequel, to bring out Burning Rangers on Wii so… we’ll see.” Here’s hoping.

So could it be?  A possibility perhaps. 

Of course it could just be that we (and quite a few other sites, now), are reading far too much in these words, however, if there definitely was no current plan to bring back the game, then Iizuka-san would have most likely said a definitive “No.”  So finger crossed.

For anyone that doesn’t know, Burning Rangers was released on the Saturn, way back in that grand year of 1998.  And is a much loved classic among Sega/Saturn fans.  Not to mention one of my all time favourite titles.

The game is, pretty much, totally unique.  I certainly can’t think of a game that has the same premise, or plays the same.  Essentially you take on the role of a futuristic firefighter.  And you are sent into various buildings, in order to help contain any fire ourtbreak, (by using a gun, which crystalizes the fire… it is the future), and to try and save as many people as you can.  Trust me, it’s about 100x better than it sounds.

The game only had a few levels, but each level took a good while, the boss battles were epic, and you had quite a bit of stuff to unlock, including playing as the whole Burning Rangers team (you only have 2 default characters) - and each character’s path through the levels differed slightly, giving you a chance to save new people.  And explore new areas to the levels.

The game also had a nice feature, where the people you had saved would send you mail, which would appear on the menu screen the next time you played the game.  Little things that gave the title the classic Sonic Team feel, that many of us think has disappeared, with their last few titles.

With that in mind, one would have to question Sonic Team’s ability, to bring back another old franchise.  They have been hit and miss, of late.  But I think we should see how well they do with NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams first…. also we would have to find out if this rumour is actually true, before people start crying into their pillows.

[Special Thanks: Psycho_Echidna Via The Forums]