Burning Rangers Tribute

Tried the demo and its really good! i was surprised to see just how faithful it recreates the original title
Tho i would suggest adding some QoL improvements like strafing, better camera, a way to have some actions mapped to a button and a config menu
Other than that though i thought it was fantastic and i wish you the best of luck with the project and i can't wait to see where you take it next!

I had a bit of trouble here and there with this! I'm an old hand at BR so stuff like the movement was about what I expected, but I found the ability to move the camera with the analog stick created problems for me, I tended to put it in directions where it was hard to get it back to a "useful" direction for moving around, pointed at fire, etc. It was difficult to resist using it because new games really train you to go for it, but I found the game was much easier when I stuck to the shoulder buttons. A simple "snap camera to where the character is looking" button would be a real godsend, haha.

There seemed to be some movement bugs for me, this may have had to do with my computer, it's old, running Win7 (I was thinking the game might not even run at all!) but often times after landing from a jump, the character would stay in their dropping animation. Sometimes they'd land and continue to jump repeatedly, like the autojump at ledges was triggering (but I was on flat ground).

I also didn't seem to have a button for quick navigation tips. I got a bit lost in the second area and couldn't call for help! Is that feature not built in or did I miss it? On the topic of navigation, when I first started I jumped in as Lead Phoenix but forgetting there was no voice at all in that mode back on the Saturn. So that's probably going as designed but jumping in cold like that without navigation was pretty rough! It's cool that you can pick those characters right at the start, but I imagine if new players came at it with one of them from the start like that it might make for a pretty difficult experience. (I guess since the game requires a CD or backup it's not really meant to be a first-time-playing-BR experience but I can't help considering it from that angle, since a lot of my friends have never played it and I'd like them to.)

Anyway playing the game with cleaner graphics is a treat in any case. I was really surprised to see the Sonic Team logo on Lead's hockey stick weapon, I had no idea that was on there! I imagine adding in the burning-building time limit will come later but not having to worry about that also makes for a very different experience, it would be a friendly option to continue to include in later versions (or being able to slow the timer). But guys like me of course will want that meter, haha! Otherwise there isn't much incentive to rescuing people and putting out fires.... besides being a good person, I suppose. :)

Tastyflan said:

Tried the demo and its really good! i was surprised to see just how faithful it recreates the original title
Tho i would suggest adding some QoL improvements like strafing, better camera, a way to have some actions mapped to a button and a config menu
Other than that though i thought it was fantastic and i wish you the best of luck with the project and i can't wait to see where you take it next!

Click to expand...

Thanks for you feedback. I'm glad you liked it! Adding a config menu is a good idea.

gsilverfish said:

I had a bit of trouble here and there with this! I'm an old hand at BR so stuff like the movement was about what I expected, but I found the ability to move the camera with the analog stick created problems for me, I tended to put it in directions where it was hard to get it back to a "useful" direction for moving around, pointed at fire, etc. It was difficult to resist using it because new games really train you to go for it, but I found the game was much easier when I stuck to the shoulder buttons. A simple "snap camera to where the character is looking" button would be a real godsend, haha.

Click to expand...

Thanks for noting this. I already got that on my list and will give it a high priority.

gsilverfish said:

There seemed to be some movement bugs for me, this may have had to do with my computer, it's old, running Win7 (I was thinking the game might not even run at all!) but often times after landing from a jump, the character would stay in their dropping animation. Sometimes they'd land and continue to jump repeatedly, like the autojump at ledges was triggering (but I was on flat ground).

Click to expand...

Wow, that sounds crazy. I will make some tests with low framerate to see if i can reproduce this behaviour.

gsilverfish said:

I also didn't seem to have a button for quick navigation tips. I got a bit lost in the second area and couldn't call for help! Is that feature not built in or did I miss it? On the topic of navigation, when I first started I jumped in as Lead Phoenix but forgetting there was no voice at all in that mode back on the Saturn. So that's probably going as designed but jumping in cold like that without navigation was pretty rough! It's cool that you can pick those characters right at the start, but I imagine if new players came at it with one of them from the start like that it might make for a pretty difficult experience. (I guess since the game requires a CD or backup it's not really meant to be a first-time-playing-BR experience but I can't help considering it from that angle, since a lot of my friends have never played it and I'd like them to.)

Click to expand...

Sorry, the C-Button navigation help is not included in the tribute. Getting lost or loosing orientation is a general problem of the game. I didnt include the Limit % explosion feature in the tribute so you could experience in a more explorative way.

gsilverfish said:

Anyway playing the game with cleaner graphics is a treat in any case. I was really surprised to see the Sonic Team logo on Lead's hockey stick weapon, I had no idea that was on there! I imagine adding in the burning-building time limit will come later but not having to worry about that also makes for a very different experience, it would be a friendly option to continue to include in later versions (or being able to slow the timer). But guys like me of course will want that meter, haha! Otherwise there isn't much incentive to rescuing people and putting out fires.... besides being a good person, I suppose. :)

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Thank you! Also thanks for your feedback it is very appreciated.

Thanks for the demo, it's been great to revisit the game this way! There are a few things that (judging from memory) felt different compared to the original, one of which is collecting the crystals. I thought it was easier to collect them in the original game, it seemed a bit more difficult in the tribute demo. I'm also not sure but after getting hit by fire, I think there was an invincibility window where you couldn't get hit again? It seemed like it was easier to get hit repeatedly and die in the demo compared to the original game (where you admittedly actually had to go out of your way to accomplish that).

The thing that stood out the most was the camera. I seemed to be fighting it quite a bit more than in the original game, in several occasions it tried to give an overhead view while I really wanted to see where I was going. I also struggled with this in the boss fight. I'm not sure if the camera behaved differently in the original or if it was just easier to correct there. But overall I'm really impressed by how much you've managed to replicate the game in a new engine!

Draikin said:

Thanks for the demo, it's been great to revisit the game this way! There are a few things that (judging from memory) felt different compared to the original, one of which is collecting the crystals. I thought it was easier to collect them in the original game, it seemed a bit more difficult in the tribute demo. I'm also not sure but after getting hit by fire, I think there was an invincibility window where you couldn't get hit again? It seemed like it was easier to get hit repeatedly and die in the demo compared to the original game (where you admittedly actually had to go out of your way to accomplish that).

The thing that stood out the most was the camera. I seemed to be fighting it quite a bit more than in the original game, in several occasions it tried to give an overhead view while I really wanted to see where I was going. I also struggled with this in the boss fight. I'm not sure if the camera behaved differently in the original or if it was just easier to correct there. But overall I'm really impressed by how much you've managed to replicate the game in a new engine!

Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for your feedback! Glad you liked the overall experience. In general its not meant to be 100% the same experience as in the original game.

The project is great and it has the potential to have people to finally play this lost gem.

But first let's point out things that need to be corrected:
- Navigation: Even though some people don't use it much it's still very helpful for beginners and playing the other 4 variations of each level. I hope it's implemented in the next build
- Movement: Since the game itself is faster, many times when bursting flames comes out the actual movement feels slower and you don't have enough time to dodge after hearing the whistle. Enabling D-pad control, having a dodge button or tweaking controls for faster movement could fix the problem.
- Camera: Moving the camera is much slower than the original game and it affects the gameplay seriously, this may be the top priority when fixing the engine. Also being able to invert camera movement could be a huge help (since L/R camera pan is inverted form the original)
- Japanese version support: I hope Japanese version of the game could be supported soon, as I had to search for a US ISO to play.

Being able to hear the actual music from the stages is superb and the effects are great. Even though the upscaling don't do much favor to the characters visuals, it's really good to play not only with Shou and Tillis, but Lead, Big and even Chris and Illia. I hope the character gallery and mail collection for rescuing the characters are implemented in not too long.

Edward The Cat said:

The project is great and it has the potential to have people to finally play this lost gem.

But first let's point out things that need to be corrected:
- Navigation: Even though some people don't use it much it's still very helpful for beginners and playing the other 4 variations of each level. I hope it's implemented in the next build
- Movement: Since the game itself is faster, many times when bursting flames comes out the actual movement feels slower and you don't have enough time to dodge after hearing the whistle. Enabling D-pad control, having a dodge button or tweaking controls for faster movement could fix the problem.
- Camera: Moving the camera is much slower than the original game and it affects the gameplay seriously, this may be the top priority when fixing the engine. Also being able to invert camera movement could be a huge help (since L/R camera pan is inverted form the original)
- Japanese version support: I hope Japanese version of the game could be supported soon, as I had to search for a US ISO to play.

Being able to hear the actual music from the stages is superb and the effects are great. Even though the upscaling don't do much favor to the characters visuals, it's really good to play not only with Shou and Tillis, but Lead, Big and even Chris and Illia. I hope the character gallery and mail collection for rescuing the characters are implemented in not too long.

Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for the feedback. Glad you had some fun playing the tribute demo.

I might consider making an update (especially to support the japanese version) and might add some tweaks and improvements here and there that are on my list. In general the project is not intended to be a remake of the game, sorry for that.

Andreas Scholl said:

Hey, thanks for the feedback. Glad you had some fun playing the tribute demo.

I might consider making an update (especially to support the japanese version) and might add some tweaks and improvements here and there that are on my list. In general the project is not intended to be a remake of the game, sorry for that.

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Well it's a bummer, as it has potential to be an actual remake of the original game.
Anyway, good luck with the project