Rendering Ranger To Be Re-Rendered On Modern Systems

In 1995, we were supposed to get a run-and-gun action game called Rendering Ranger on the SNES. Due to plans falling through, the game was only released in Japan, and only in limited quantities: only 10,000 copies are believed to exist. It’s now considered one of the rarest SNES games in the entire world…if ever there was a candidate for a reprint, you’re looking at it. We can report that it’s finally happening: publisher Ziggurat Interactive has acquired the rights to the game and has arranged a deal for Limited Run to publish physical copies. It took thirty whole years, but Rendering Ranger is finally seeing release in the US. The new edition is called Rendering Ranger: R² Rewind and Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC are all getting it. The “Rewind” edition will literally contain the feature to rewind — you’ll be able to take back mistakes or painful collisions with an enemy with one hold of a button. (Or not, if you prefer to play the intended way.) Other modern frills include a save and continue feature and a CRT filter. The original plan for Rendering Ranger was to localize the game in the US and […]
Read original article here:

This is cool and all, but Limited Run has a habit of taking forever to actually ship their games. I’m excited, don’t get me wrong, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re waiting until 2026 to actually get these in hand. Also, a hundred bucks for the collector’s edition? I get that it comes with goodies, but at that price, I’d expect a replica SNES cart or something more substantial. Still, I have to admit, it’s nice that a game this rare is becoming more accessible.

I’ve played Rendering Ranger before, and I can tell you right now—it’s worth it. If you’re into run-and-gun shooters like Contra or Turrican, you’re going to love it. The visuals were insane for the SNES, almost like something you’d see on the PlayStation. The soundtrack? Absolute fire. The rewind feature is nice for newer players, but if you’re going in, do yourself a favor and play without it first. This game was meant to be a challenge.

I love seeing these old-school games get new life, but I wish they had done more with this re-release. It’s basically just the original game with a rewind feature and a CRT filter. Would it have killed them to include a remastered version with updated visuals and music? Even something like an optional HD sprite mode would have been nice. I’ll probably still grab it, but it feels like a missed opportunity to modernize it a bit.