Title: Rendering Ranger R2 Rewind
System: Steam (PC)
Price: $9.99
Release Date: 03/20/2025
Story
In this obscure, late era Super Famicom game, you take control of the Rendering Ranger as he sets off to fight an Alien invasion! The plot in the manual doesn’t make much sense, nor does the end credits, which goes toward an unexpected tone. Still, going in and shooting aliens is what you’re here to do, and this game does it well.
The scanned US manual does have a nice bit of background info on the game however, and why it ended up being Japan only to begin with despite being entirely in english. Pretty cool stuff, and a much needed addition considering the usual lack of context in these Carbon Engine ports.
Presentation
Starting up you once again have a very barren menu, as I’m kinda used to in these Carbon release by now. It’s very akin to Ninja Five-O, which I just recently covered, only you don’t get a cool animated intro here. Just the two regional variants, a music player, and a gallery with the limited amount of key art that exists for this game. I already noted how the US manual scan includes some handy context behind the different versions, but outside of that handy info this museum is light on details, though I still found it neat to see the CG renders from the box art in good quality. There’s also a cool remix track in the sound test, but otherwise the wrapper is pretty basic.
Thankfully the game itself emulates well, a gargantuan improvement from the last Ziggurat Carbon release I covered. You have the same sort of options as Ninja Five-O, with display options that properly save, albeit with the cool LCD filter being replaced by a lame CRT one since well, this ain’t a GBA game. Still, the display options for pixel scaling are done well enough, and when it comes to the actual game, I didn’t notice a single emulation error! No music dropping out, no graphical glitches, nothing but the game working as it would on a real SNES, which is pretty impressive for this game.
So how is Rendering Ranger as a SNES game? Well, the sound design is pretty basic, being a big step back from the Turrican games creator Manfred Trenz also worked on. The soundtrack is a lot more generic and doesn’t have the punch Chris’s soundtracks would have, but gets the job done. I will note that Stage 7’s theme had a pretty rad Techno vibe to it, but otherwise I found most of the OST unremarkable, save for that and the end credits theme.
When it comes to the visuals however, Rendering Ranger nails the pre-rendered look from the era, with plenty of impressive enemies and visual effects peppered throughout the game. If it wasn’t for the colors used throughout the game, I’d even go as far as to say Rendering Ranger R2 could have released on the PS1 with little changes and still turned out as a stellar 2D game for the platform. Not to mention just how smoothly the game performs without any crazy FX chip installed, which is especially remarkable in the spaceship shooting sections, since a lot of SNES shmups would have trouble maintaining a consistent framerate, yet Rendering Ranger nails it without issue and with impressive scaling and visual trickery along the way. All in all, an incredible technical marvel that I’m very relived emulates as well as it does in this port, since anything less than accurate would be a major disservice to this gem.
Gameplay
You have two different game versions to choose from the main menu, but before you get your hopes up in thinking the European Targa version has any major, game altering changes, I’m afraid to report that after playing both versions, one in full and one with half the game clear, that there really isn’t much of a change between the two variants because the appearance of the main character during the run and gun stages. He has no helmet on in Targa, but has his traditional Rendering Ranger look in well, Rendering Ranger R2. So just pick the sprite you like more and stick with that version.
Either way, Rendering Ranger is a game that kicks off with a cute touch available in the options menu. You can choose between a variety of character colors, which impacts both the ranger and his spaceship. Why? I dunno, they probably thought it was just neat to do, and I think so too. Once you start up the game, you’re thrust into the first run and gun stage, where you get to grips with the game’s controls. You have your usual shooting and jumping, along with the ability to swap between four different weapon types, and deploy their respective bombs, which slowly recharge over time.
So the controls feel pretty akin to Contra III in that regard, with Super Metroid-esque diagonal aiming on L1/R1 for good measure. Thankfully, this carbon port didn’t introduce any major input lag that I could notice, and I was able to get to grips with the game pretty quickly. Right away it becomes obvious just how tough Rendering Ranger R2 is, and while you do have a health bar, it depletes pretty fast if you bump into any hazard whatsoever. Thus, being very careful as you progress through the stages is key, along with knowing which weapon is best for certain situations and what their upgrades do. You only get one set of lives with no continues, though you can use a password to pretty much act as one if you so desire. (or just use the handy save state/rewind features in the port)
Just as you’d expect in a run and gun, there are also various boss battles, and in these run and gun stages they’re pretty average, I found. Nothing too outstanding, with a few fights being pretty fun, but even the final boss is underwhelming, and it felt like these stages were overall a lot more safer design wise than other games in the genre. I’d still take these stages over Contra III any day of the week, but that isn’t a hard accomplishment to pull off for any run and gun.
The true magic of Rendering Ranger R2 however, comes from the side scrolling shooting stages. Thanks to a genre shift that had no reason to be there, the Rendering Ranger will jump in a ship and fly between planets to take down airborne enemies, with multiple stages being done in this format. You still have your weapon switching and bomb/shoot mechanics from the run and gun levels, but now the jump button is one that instead flips your ship around horizontally, letting you fire at enemies coming from behind. And unlike the Turrican horizontal shooting stages, the ones in Rendering Ranger R2 are phenomenal.
Seriously, I cannot begin to understate just how good these stages feel to play. Compared to a ton of SNES shooters, especially horizontal ones? Yeah, you had your cool games like Axelay and Space Megaforce to enjoy, but even they would come across the occasional bit of slowdown or awkward jank as you tried to deal with high speed shooting action on a system where that wasn’t really a strong suit. Here in Rendering Ranger R2 on the other hand, these stages are smooth as butter and play very damn well too. The responsive controls are really handy here, and the enemy formations are a lot more fun to tackle in these levels compared to the run and gun segments.
The horizontal shooting levels are just well-tuned in all the right ways, and were a pure joy to play from start to finish. Even the bosses in these levels are a major step up from how they were in the run and gun stages, with some truly system-pushing feats being pulled off here. It honestly makes stuff like both of the SNES R-Type games feel like amateur work in comparison, and I still can’t believe just how good these levels are. If the entire game were nothing but the horizontal shooting stages, i’d even be inclined to consider this game as one of my top 10 SNES games overall, since the shooting levels are just that damn good, and the true highlight of the experience.
Sadly, the game still has a good chunk of run and gun peppered within, and while not bad, these levels really are a step back after experiencing the majesty of the horizontal shooting levels. Not bad by any means and still a very competent set of stages, but still a step down in quality from the horizontal shooting sections. The fact the final stage happens to be one of these, and a lackluster one at that is also a big bummer, since a truly epic horizontal shooting final boss stage would have made for a spectacular finale.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Rendering Ranger R2 Rewind is a pretty great port of an excellent SNES game. From stages that offer some of the best horizontal shooting action on the entire console without hesitation, to a fun romp of stages that still offer a lot of enjoyment even at the lowest lows, this game is an easy recommend for fans of SNES action games. Really if it was just the horizontal shooting levels, I’d even say it’s a game so good I could recommend to everyone.
But make no mistake, this game gets real nasty near the end of the game, and you’ll still have to do a ton of memorization to make it through those final levels without using the rewind/states. Still, it’s the fun kind of memorization, and one I can still easily recommend for an afternoon of great retro fun. The fact this is the first Carbon Engine release to have zero technical issues whatsoever for me was also a nice little bonus, and I’d much rather have more standalone, well-done ports like this compared to the sloppy collections we got in the past. Definitely worth its legendary status! (Though not the cost of a real SFC cart, even if the game was just the shooting bits…)
I give Rendering Ranger R2 Rewind an 8 out of 10.