is a 1998 action game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. Players control one of an elite group of firefighters, the Burning Rangers, who extinguish fires and rescue civilians in burning buildings in a futuristic society. Most tasks involve collecting energy crystals to transport civilians to safety. In lieu of an in-game map, Burning Rangers features a voice navigation system which directs players through corridors.
Development began shortly after the release of Christmas Nights in November 1996. Producer Yuji Naka wanted to create a game which involved saving people rather than killing them. Sonic Team used firefighting as they thought it was an effective way of having players identify with heroism.
Burning Rangers received mostly positive reviews. Critics praised the soundtrack and audio, particularly the voice navigation system. Some critics felt the graphics were among the best on the Saturn, but the collision detection and glitches were criticised. Burning Rangers was among the final five Saturn games released in America.
Gameplay
thumb|left|upright=1.14|In this screenshot, the player-character is extinguishing a fire. From left to right, the interface displays the time, number of crystals collected, [[Health (gaming)|health meter, danger meter, and water nozzle.|alt=In this screenshot, the player-character is tackling a fire with his water nozzle. The interface on the screen displays the time, number of crystals collected, health meter, danger meter, and water nozzle.]]
Burning Rangers is a third-person shooter game in which players complete missions involving extinguishing fires and rescuing civilians. They can also swim and dive underwater.
Since there is no in-game map, the player character relies on a voice navigation system to find their way. The mission controller gives the player directions depending on their location, which can be repeated at any time. The selected character is introduced to the other members of the team, Chris Parton, Reed Phoenix, Big Landman and the non-selected playable character, before being taken on missions. The missions take place in a power plant, underwater habitat, space station and spaceship in zero gravity, respectively. In addition to the Sonic Team staff, Sega allotted a full consumer software team to the project.
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 as they felt that fire was the most appropriate way to create fear and tension. In a retrospective interview, Ohshima said that many of the things done by firefighters—along with rescuing people—were "the very essence of a Sonic Team game", and that they recognised that a firefighter was a hero with whom people could identify. The team wanted to make a game with a rescue theme as Naka thought there were few games based on that concept. An offline two-player mode was also attempted; a pre-production copy near the end of development allowed two players to battle each other in a large arena, although bugs made it impossible to play this mode for anything but short stretches. Although the target audience of Burning Rangers was people who enjoyed action games, the developers also wanted to attract fans of other Sonic Team games. Ohshima stressed that he was aiming at a wider audience and not the type of person who only played Sonic the Hedgehog, adding that "players should recognise the Sonic Team touch immediately" with Burning Rangers. For the English version, Sonic Team hired several voice actors who had appeared in American television programs, including Benny Grant (Shou Amabane), Janna Levenstein (Tillis), Yvette Lowenthal (Chris Parton), Michael McGaharn (Lead Phoenix), Roger Rose (Big Landman), Carolyn Lawrence (Ilia Klein), Michael Reisz (Commander and Victims), Jeannie Elias (Victims), and Kimberly Brooks (Victims). Because the professional voice actor work was not recorded in time for the Tokyo Games Show, the Sonic Team staff did the voice acting themselves for the version demonstrated at the show. It was released exactly nine months before the Japanese release of Sega's next console, the Dreamcast. Burning Rangers was among the final five Saturn games released in America. Sega in fact planned for it to be the final Saturn game released in America, but the third-party game Magic Knight Rayearth came out later. IGNs Levi Buchanan characterized the release as an example of the Saturn's "ignominious send-off", writing that "sunset Saturn games like Panzer Dragoon Saga and Burning Rangers demanded far better launches. The way these games were slipped into retail with zero fanfare and low circulation was insulting to both hard-working developers and Sega fans."
| Allgame = 4/5
| CNG = 8/10
| CVG = 4/5
| Edge = 8/10
| EGM = 7.5/10
| Fam = 32/40
| GI = 7.25/10
| GameFan = 79%
| GSpot = 6.2/10
| HC = 92%
| IGN = 8/10
| NGen = 4/5
| rev1 = Sega Saturn Magazine (UK)
| rev1Score = 90%
| rev2 = Sega Saturn Magazine (Japan)
| rev2Score = 80%
| rev3 = GMR
| rev3Score = 8/10
Burning Rangers received favourable reviews. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 32 out of 40.