Burning Rangers

n/a

Burning Rangers
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega CS3 (Sonic Team)
Supporting companies: Kyokuichi Tokyo Movie (animation), Sega Digital Media (audio, visual materials)
Distributor: Ozisoft (AU), Tec Toy (BR)
Sound driver: SCSP (1/3Track)
Peripherals supported: 3D Control Pad
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1998-02-26 ¥5,8005,800 GS-9174 US 1998-06-03 $49.9549.95 81803 EU 1998-06-12 MK81803-50 DE 1998-06-12 MK81803-50 PT 199x UK 1998-06-12 £49.9949.99 MK81803-50 PL 1998 AU 199x FBUR02SSC BR 199x 191566

Burning Rangers (バーニングレンジャー) is a Sega Saturn firefighting action game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. First released in Japan in February 1998, players take on the role of a new recruit in a futuristic firefighting organization, and are tasked with rescuing survivors and extinguishing fires in a variety of unique levels. Boasting high production values and an emphasis on characterization, Burning Rangers is one of the more fondly remembered of Sonic Team's original games, and one of few that have not been ported to any other platform.

Story

The Burning Rangers

“	Prime Directives: Save human life Protect our future Keep hope alive It is the near future. The world has changed; the people are the same. Humanity still survives on dreams and hope. But the dreams are being forgotten, the hope is fading. It is the Burning Rangers' task to face the man-made terrors of the new age, entering the most dangerous areas to save the lives of those trapped by disaster. Their task is not only to rescue people, it is to rescue hope from the dark path the world has taken.	„
— US manual

The game is set in a futuristic society in which fire is one of the few major hazards remaining. The Burning Rangers are an elite group of firefighters who are dispatched to emergency incidents to fight fires and rescue people in danger.

Gameplay

Mail

The game is a 3D action platformer with a third-person perspective played in the corridors of burning buildings and space ships. Each mission has an objective for completion, and the Rangers must also locate and rescue stranded civilians by collecting energy crystals dropped from extinguished fires. Rangers occasionally encounter hostile robots during their missions. Each stage ends with a boss battle, which include fire-breathing flowers and robotic fish. The player assumes control of one of two apprentice Rangers, Shou or Tillis. Since there is no in-game map, the Rangers rely on a voice navigation system to find their way. The player can move the camera by holding and moving the D-Pad. The player can also swivel the viewing angle 90 degrees left with and 90 degrees right with , which can be used to look around corners while running through them.

Rangers are moved with the D-Pad (or the analogue stick when using a 3D Control Pad). Rangers are equipped with a jet pack, which is activated with or . The jet pack thrusts the Ranger into the air. The Ranger can get an additional boost when in the air by pressing or again; holding the button engages the thrusters for longer. The player can perform rolls and somersaults by pressing in a direction after boosting. Rangers automatically jump over small gaps while running over them. They also grab automatically grab ledges if they fall short of clearing a jump. Sometimes a wall or floor explodes; explosions are preceded by whistling sound, and the Ranger can backflip to avoid the explosion by holding . Rangers can also swim underwater, rising with or and diving with .

Rangers are equipped with laser guns for putting out fires. They fire a pulse with . The intensity of a fire can be determined by its color: red flames are weak and generally extinguished in one shot, while blue flames are strong and require multiple shots. Green flames belch fireballs at the Rangers. Fires leave crystals when they are extinguished, which can be collected by moving the Ranger near them. Red crystals are worth one crystal energy unit, and green crystals are worth five crystal energy units. Additionally, the Rangers can charge a powerful laser blast by holding and fire by releasing. These blasts are the only way to damage enemy robots and bosses; the Ranger automatically aims at the nearest enemy. They are also more effective at extinguishing fires than standard pulses, able to extinguish regular fires in fewer hits as well as able to extinguish larger fires that pulses cannot, but fires put out with laser blasts do not leave crystals.

Crystals function similarly to rings in the Sonic the Hedgehog games: possessing at least one crystal allows the Ranger to survive damage from an enemy or fire. Taking damage scatters the Ranger's crystals, which can be collected again, and renders the Ranger vulnerable to death. In addition to finding crystals after extinguishing fires, crystals can be found preplaced in levels. Rangers are equipped with remote transportation devices and use crystals to transport survivors after locating them. Survivors are automatically transported when a Ranger walks near one, at the cost of five crystals. The player receives a continue for transporting a survivor with ten crystals. Rangers are revived at the last rescued survivor after dying (as long as the player has continues remaining).

Players are guided through each mission by Chris, the team navigator. She provides directions to survivors as well as helpful information about nearby hazards and objectives. The player can radio back to Chris at any time with or .

Environments contain several doors. Blue-striped doors can be passed through, and yellow-striped doors are locked. Doors with red stripes on the other side cannot be re-entered after they close. Rangers can unlock doors by finding consoles and activating them with when standing in front of them. Sometimes the Rangers must obtain an ID card to proceed.

The Danger Limit Readout System acts as a timer for each mission. It increases gradually as the mission progresses. For every 20% that the limit increases, the surrounding area is engulfed in flames and explosions for a few seconds. If it reaches 100%, the area is constantly bombarded with explosions. The meter is reduced by extinguishing fires and rescuing survivors but cannot be lowered past the last 20% threshold. A bar at the top of the screen visually indicates how close the limit is to the next 20% increment.

At the end of each stage, the player receives a rank, with S being the highest and D being the lowest. The rank is based on the number of survivors rescued, the number of crystals at the end of the mission (including crystals used to transport survivors), the time taken to defeat the boss, and the limit percentage at the end of the mission. Once the game is completed, a random generator mode is unlocked that mixes up the order of corridors in the game's missions, with a potential total of 3,125 unique routes, as well as the locations of switches and survivors. The player can replay completed stages to earn higher ranks and to find more survivors. There are 108 total survivors in the game.

Every survivor has a name and sends mail to the player after being rescued (which can be accessed from the main menu). Sonic Team members make cameos as survivors, including Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima. Claris and Elliot from NiGHTS into Dreams also appear as survivors. Sonic Team members send secret passwords and bonus pictures when rescued, including passwords that allow playing as the other Rangers on each mission. The game uses the Saturn's internal memory or a backup cartridge for saving, but the password feature unlocks after completing the game for replaying the same randomly generated missions or accessing bonus content. Passwords are given after completion of a mission.

Characters

	Shou Amabane (ショウ・アマパネ)
	Sex: Male Age: 21 Hometown: Japan Area
	Shou is a new recruit to the Burning Rangers. When he was eleven, he was rescued by an unknown Ranger, who died in the attempt. Shou decided his destiny was to become a Ranger and repay his debt. He is energetic and eager to prove himself.
	Tillis (ティリス)
	Sex: Female Age: 19 Hometown: Unknown
	Tillis is a new recruit and the youngest member of the Burning Rangers. She is an orphan who lost her parents in a fire and decided to dedicate her life to saving others from similar loss. She is cheerful and upbeat.
	Lead Phoenix (リード・フェニックス)
	Sex: Male Age: 22 Hometown: Europe Area
	Lead is the field leader of the Burning Rangers. He joined firefighting after graduating high school for the experience rather than the desire to help people but quickly gained an appreciation for the job. He is cool-headed and circumspect. His name is pronounced as "Reed" in-game.
	Big Landman (ビッグ・ランドマン)
	Sex: Male Age: 35 Hometown: Africa Area
	Big is the oldest and most experienced member of the Burning Ranger. He was badly injured in an accident early in his career but, determined to continue his service, had his body rebuilt with mechanical implants. He is the strongest member of the team and possesses an iron will.
	Chris Partn (クリス・パートン)
	Sex: Female Age: 24 Hometown: America Area
	Chris' father was a Burning Ranger who died when she was young. Out of admiration for him, she decided to continue his legacy. She is the team leader and trains new recruits. As the team navigator, she stays on the ship and directs the other Rangers. She is cool-headed and astute even in the heat of the moment.

Missions

	Training Space
	Chris and Lead guide the new recruits, Shou and Tillis, through the basics and teach the player the controls and game mechanics.
	Fallen Memory
	The core reactor of the power plant has been breached, and the Rangers must save the workers and shut down the reactor before the plant explodes.
	Silent Blue
	An accident has occurred at an undersea marine research laboratory, and the Rangers must rescue the trapped researchers and the park visitors. The Rangers devise a plan to rescue all the visitors by destroying the joints connecting the lab to the park.
	Gravity Zero
	Flames are spreading through a space colony, fueled by its oxygen reserves. The Rangers must rescue any survivors and determine and eliminate the cause of the incident.
	Winged Cradle
	The Rangers are introduced to Iria Klein, a girl placed in suspended animation and sent into space after contracting an incurable disease. Iria informs the Rangers that her ship is set to crash into Earth, causing complete devastation, so the Rangers devise a plan to stop the ship and rescue Iria. There is only one person to rescue on this mission, Iria. She provides directions instead of Chris on this mission.

History

Development

The concept originated with the idea of rescuing people as opposed to killing them, which was an element that producer Yuji Naka felt was too common in contemporary video games. The team chose firefighters because they felt that fire was an effective way to create a suspenseful atmosphere.

“	We wanted to create a game where you could rescue people. Nowadays, there are so many games where you just kill people. Instead we decided to make a rescue game. In addition, right from the start, it seemed that fire was the most appropriate way to create that sensation of fear and tension. So in the end we combined these two elements.	„
— Yuji Naka

The game's characters were designed by Naoto Ohshima. The cover art was drawn by anime artist Hiroyuki Ochi. Yuji Naka has stated in interviews that Sonic Team wanted the silhouette of a Burning Ranger wearing a jet pack to resemble that of an angel.

Release

The game was one of the last Saturn games released in Western markets, followed only by Shining Force III and Magic Knight Rayearth in North America and by Shining Force III and Deep Fear in Europe.

Legacy

A downloadable mission making many references to Burning Rangers was created for Sonic Team's Phantasy Star Online. A race track based on the game, Burning Depths, was featured in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.

Production credits

Main article: Burning Rangers/Production credits.

Magazine articles

Main article: Burning Rangers/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

File:BurningRangers SAT JP CM SegataSanshiro.mp4

JP CM

File:BurningRangers SAT JP CM SegataSanshiro.mp4

PDF

JP flyer 1

PDF

JP flyer 2

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #108: "July 1998" (1998-0x-xx)

Print advert in Secret Service (PL) #52: "Grudzień 1997" (1997-1x-xx)
also published in:

• Świat Gier Komputerowych (PL) #59: "11/1997" (1997-xx-xx)
• Gry Komputerowe (PL) #41: "12/1997" (1997-xx-xx)
• Świat Gier Komputerowych (PL) #60: "12/1997" (1997-xx-xx)
• Neo (PL) #2: "Grudzień 1997" (1997-xx-xx)
• Świat Gier Komputerowych (PL) #61: "1/1998" (1997-xx-xx)
• Secret Service (PL) #53: "Styczeń 1998" (1998-xx-xx)

Artwork

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  Tillis

• 

  Shou

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source GamesMaster (UK) 81 №68, p52-54

	81
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Ação Games (BR) 85 Consoles + (FR) NTSC-J 95 Consoles + (FR) PAL 95 Computer & Video Games (UK) 75 Edge (UK) NTSC-J 80 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 75 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 80 Freak (IL) 97 Fun Generation (DE) PAL 70 Game Buyer (US) NTSC-U 75 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 78 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 69 Gamers' Republic (US) NTSC-U 75 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 66 Mega Console (IT) NTSC-J 92 Mega Force (FR) PAL 92 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 76 Neo Plus (PL) 70 Next Generation (US) NTSC-U 75 neXt Level (DE) PAL 75 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 70 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 78 Sega Magazin (DE) PAL 94 SuperGamePower (BR) 86 Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL 90 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 87 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 89 Super Power (FI) 89

	81
Based on 28 reviews

Burning Rangers

Saturn, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc Manual Jewel Case Inlay Reg Card Audio Disc Flyer Shinsaku Tsuushin Volume 7

Saturn, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Saturn, EU
Cover
Disc

Saturn, PT

Saturn, AU
Cover
Disc

Saturn, BR
Cover
Manual

Technical information

Main article: Burning Rangers/Technical information.

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	374,704,176		CD-ROM (EU)	MK81803-50 V1.001
✔	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	388,098,816	1998-01-27	CD-ROM (JP)	GS-9174 V1.003
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	136,446,576		Audio-CD (JP)	GS-9174 (Disc 2)
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	375,388,608		CD-ROM (US)	81803 V1.001
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1		1998-01-03	CD-R				Page
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1		1997-12-01	CD-R				Page

Track list

Game disc

1. Data track

2. CD Warning message (special) (0:09)

► Running time: 0:09

Audio disc

1. Burning Hearts: Honoo no Angel (4:01)
Burning Hearts ～炎のAngel～
Vocals: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi

2. We are Burning Rangers (4:37)
Vocals: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi

3. I Just Smile (4:15)
Vocals: Tomoko Sasaki

► Running time: 12:53

Extra content

This game has extra content which can be viewed when accessing the disc on a PC.

Saturn (JP) Extra files

Folder / File	Type	Size	description
\EXTRA\LARGE	Folder	11,803,128	It contains 9 wallpaper images of XGA size.
\EXTRA\SMALL	Folder	4,614,648	It contains 9 wallpaper images of VGA size.
\EXTRA\WAV	Folder	9,187,150	It contains 43 extra voices.
\EXTRA\READ_ME.TXT	TXT	58	Warning message about extra files.
BR_ABS.TXT	TXT (Abstract)	1	No message
BR_BIB.TXT	TXT (Bibliographiced)	1	No message
BR_CPY.TXT	TXT (Copyright)	42	Copyright

Save data

The game makes use of the Saturn's internal battery back-up as well as the Saturn Backup Memory to save progress through the game as either playable character. You can save up to three saves on either the internal back-up or the RAM Cart.

Saturn (NTSC-J) Save Data

Name	Comment	Blocks	Description
B_RANGERS__	BR data	30