Power Rangers Legacy Wars: Street Fighter Showdown (Short Film)
By: RogueSymbiote
[arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luI0jRMUjFo" /]
Summary
M. Bison has teamed up with Rita Repulsa to corrupt and control the Morphin Grid. The Power Rangers recruit Ryu and Chun-Li to take on this dangerous new duo and their army of evil rangers. Before being abducted, Ninjor forged a new power coin to help protect the Morphin Grid. After fending off evil rangers, Ryu and Chun-Li are teleported to ranger sanctum and approached by Tommy Oliver (Mighty Morphin Green Ranger) and Gia Moran (Yellow Megaforce Ranger). They explain the dire situation and Ryu accepts the Crimson Hawk power coin. The four allies confront M. Bison, but appear to be outmatched. Tommy, Gia and Ryu morph into their ranger forms and unleash a powerful combination of attacks to incapacitate their foe. After a short celebration, M. Bison arises and calls upon his evil rangers. The opposing forces rush towards one another leaving the audience in suspense.
Review
My 90's kid brain nearly exploded when I heard about this Power Ranger/Street Fighter crossover. Even though it was just a video to promote the Power Rangers Legacy Wars mobile game, it was a blast to watch. The short film was a collaboration between All Spark (A Hasbro Company), Lionsgate Games, Bat in the Sun, nWay Games and presented by Qualcomm Snapdragon and G Fuel. Currently approaching 2 million views, this short film is everything I hoped for the Power Rangers property after being acquired by Hasbro. Bat in the Sun has featured both the Green and White Power Rangers in their Super Power Beatdown YouTube series, so it is no surprise that they played a major role in bringing this concept to life.
The visual effects and set pieces look fantastic. There was clearly a lot of hard work put into this project. What puts this short film over the top is having Jason David Frank and Ciara Hanna reprise their iconic Power Ranger roles. I mean, can you even have a Power Ranger special without the original Green Ranger? I think not. Bat in the Sun redesigned the Green Ranger suit for their Super Power Beatdown, so it was fun to have Tommy explain the change as an upgrade from Ninjor. Can we talk about how amazing it was to see past rangers show up? Red Mighty Morphin, Pink Time Force and Phantom Ranger Turbo just to name a few. These fan favorite rangers are a nostalgia overload and I love it. The Ninjor suit also deserves a shout out because it looked incredible. Whoever was in charge of costume and design did a fantastic job on both the ranger suits and Street Fighter characters.
Power Rangers Legacy Wars: Street Fighter Showdown flows very well with the current shattered grid storyline in the Power Ranger comics. If you love Power Rangers and haven't been reading the comic series, do so IMMEDIATELY! The writing is phenomenal and captures the feeling of Power Rangers while aging up the plot. While the film was to promote the recently added Ryu Ranger to Legacy Wars, here's hoping we get a sequel when Chun-Li gets a power coin! Power Rangers Legacy Wars is available to download on both the App Store and Google Play. Make sure to check out the Bat in the Sun YouTube channel to see more work from Peter Hang (Ryu) and Kevin Porter (M. Bison). Now download and play because you know what time it is... IT'S MORPHIN TIME!
